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VISUDDHIMAGGA 



The Path of 
Purification 







The Classic Manual of Buddhist Doctrine and Meditation 



ranslated 



Pah b\ 



Bhikkhu Nanamoli 



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(I 



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The Path of Purification 



Visuddhimagga 






http://www.acces8toinsight.org 



Ciram titthatu saddhammo 
sabbe satta bhavantu sukhitatta 



To my Upajjhaya, 

the late venerable Palane Siri Vajiranana 

Mahanayakathera of Vajirarama, 

Colombo, Sri Lanka. 






The Path of Purification 

( Visuddhimagga) 



by 
Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa 



Translated from the Pali by 
Bhikkhu Nanamoli 






http://www.acces8toinsight.org 



©1975, 1991, 2010 Buddhist Publication Society. All rights reserved. 

First edition: 1956 by Mr. Ananda Semage Colombo. 

Second edition: 1964 

Reprinted: 1979 by BPS 

Third edition: 1991 

Reprinted: 1999 

Fourth edition: 2010 



National Library and Documentation Centre— Cataloguing-in-Publication Data 



Buddhaghosa Himi 
The Path of Purification: Visuddhimaga/ Buddhaghosa Himi; tr. by 
Nyanamoli Himi.- Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2010, 794p.; 23cm- 
(BPNO207) 

ISBN 978-955-24-0023-6 

i. 294.391 D DC 22 ii. Title 

iii. Nyanamoli Himi tr. 

1. Buddhism 2. Theravada Buddhism 



ISBN 978-955-24-0023-6 



The sponsor of this edition of the Path d Purification devoutly offers the merit 
to the beloved members of her family who have predeceased her, namely, her 
parents, Dr Harry and Mrs Mabel Amarasinghe, her husband, Joyce A. 
Fernando and her brothers, Dr Prasannatissa Harischandra Amarasinghe, 
Ananda Lakshman Amarasinghe and Dr Upali Amarasinghe, who lived 
happily in accordance with the Dhamma with great ki nd ness to al I , and with 
great social commitment and integrity. 



Printed by 

Samayawardana Printers 
Colombo 10. 






Contents 
(General) 

Bibliography xix 

Printed Editions of the Visuddhimagga xix 

List of Abbreviations for Texts Used xxi 

Message from his Holiness the Dalai Lama xxiii 

Publisher's Foreword to Third Edition xxiv 

Publisher's Foreword to Fourth Edition xxiv 

Translator' s Preface xxv 

Introduction xxvn 

The Path of Purification 



Part I — Virtue (Sila) 

Ch.I Description of Virtue 5 

[I. Introductory] 5 

[II. Virtue] 10 

Ch.II The Ascetic Practices 55 

Part II — Concentration (Samadhi) 

Ch.III Taking a Meditation Subject 81 

[A. Development in Brief] 86 

[B. Development in Detail] 87 

[The Ten Impediments] 87 

Ch.IV The Earth Kasina 113 

[The Eighteen Faults of a Monastery] 113 

[The Five Factors of the Resting Place] 116 

[The Lesser Impediments] 116 

[Detailed Instructions for Development] 117 

[The Earth Kasina] 117 

[Making an Earth Kasina] 118 

[Starting Contemplation] 119 

[The Counterpart Sign] 120 

[The Two Kinds of Concentration] 121 

[Guarding the Sign] 122 

[The Ten Kinds of Skill in Absorption] 124 

[The Five Similes] 130 

[Absorption in the Cognitive Series] 131 

[The First Jhana] 133 

[Extension of the Sign] 145 



[The Second Jhana] 148 

[The Third Jhana] 151 

[The Fourth Jhana] 156 

[The Fivefold Reckoning of Jhana] 160 

Ch. V The Remaining Kasinas 162 

[The Water Kasina] 162 

[The Fire Kasina] 163 

[The Air Kasina] 163 

[The Blue Kasina] 164 

[The Yellow Kasina] 164 

[The Red Kasina] 165 

[The White Kasina] 165 

[The Light Kasina] 165 

[The Limited-Space Kasina] 166 

[General] 166 

Ch. VI Foulness as a Meditation Subject 169 

[General Definitions] 169 

[The Bloated] 170 

[The Livid] 179 

[The Festering] 179 

[The Cut Up] 179 

[The Gnawed] 180 

[The Scattered] 180 

[The Hacked and Scattered] 180 

[The Bleeding] 180 

[The Worm-Infested] 180 

[A Skeleton] 180 

[General] 182 

Ch. VII Six Recollections 186 

[(1) Recollection of the Enlightened One] 188 

[Accomplished] 188 

[Fully Enlightened] 192 

[Endowed With Clear Vision and Virtuous Conduct] 193 

[Sublime] 196 

[Knower of Worlds] 198 

[Incomparable Leader of Men to be Tamed] 202 

[Teacher of Gods and Men] 203 

[Enlightened] 204 

[Blessed] 204 

[(2) Recollection of the Dhamma] 209 

[Well Proclaimed] 210 

[Visible Here and Now] 212 

[Not Delayed] 213 

[Inviting of Inspection] 213 

[Onward-Leading] 214 

[Is Directly Experienceable by the Wise] 214 



Contents (General) 

[(3) Recollection of the Sarigha] 215 

[Entered on the Good, Straight, True, Proper Way] 215 

[Fit for Gifts] 216 

[Fit for Hospitality] 217 

[Fit for Offering] 217 

[Fit for Salutation] 217 

[As an Incomparable Field of Merit for the World] 217 

[(4) Recollection of Virtue] 218 

[(5) Recollection of Generosity] 220 

[(6) Recollection of Deities] 221 

[General] 222 

Ch. VIII Other Recollections as Meditation Subjects 225 

[(7) Mindfulness of Death] 225 

[(8) Mindfulness Occupied with the Body] 236 

[(9) Mindfulness of Breathing] 259 

[(lO)Recollection of Peace] 286 

Ch. IX The Divine Abidings 291 

[(1) Loving-Kindness] 291 

[(2) Compassion] 308 

[(3) Gladness] 309 

[(4) Equanimity] 310 

Ch. X The Immaterial States 321 

[(1) The Base Consisting of Boundless Space] 321 

[(2) The Base Consisting of Boundless Consciousness] 326 

[(3) The Base Consisting of Nothingness] 328 

[(4) The Base Consisting of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception] 
330 
[General] 333 

Ch. XI Concentration — Conclusion: 

Nutriment and the Elements 337 

[Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment] 337 

[Defining of The Elements: Word Definitions] 344 

[Texts and Commentary in Brief] 345 

[In Detail] 346 

[Method of Development in Brief] 348 

[Method of Development in Detail] 349 

[(1) With Constituents in Brief] 349 

[(2) With Constituents by Analysis] 349 

[(3) With Characteristics in Brief] 357 

[(4) With Characteristics by Analysis] 358 

[Additional Ways of Giving Attention] 358 

[Development of Concentration — Conclusion] 367 

[The Benefits of Developing Concentration] 367 

Ch. XII The Supernormal Powers 369 

[The Benefits of Concentration (Continued)] 369 

[(1) The Kinds of Supernormal Power] 369 



Ch. XIII Other Direct-knowledges 400 

[(2) The Divine Ear Element] 400 

[(3) Penetration of Minds] 402 

[(4) Recollection of Past Lives] 404 

[(5) The Divine Eye — Knowledge of Passing Away and 

Reappearance of Beings] 415 

[General] 421 

Part III — Understanding (Panna) 

Ch. XIV The Aggregates 431 

[A. Understanding] 431 

[B. Description of the Five Aggregates] 439 

[The Materiality Aggregate] 439 

[The Consciousness Aggregate] 455 

[The 89 Kinds of Consciousness — see Table III] 456 

[The 14 Modes of Occurrence of Consciousness] 462 

[The Feeling Aggregate] 466 

[The Perception Aggregate] 468 

[The Formations Aggregate — see Tables II & IV] 468 

[According to Association with Consciousness] 469 

[C. Classification of the Aggregates] 481 

[Materiality] 481 

[Feeling] 484 

[Perception, Formations and Consciousness] 486 

[D. Classes of Knowledge of the Aggregates] 486 

Ch. XV The Bases and Elements 492 

[A. Description of the Bases] 492 

[B. Description of the Elements] 496 

Ch.XVI The Faculties and Truths 503 

[A. Description of the Faculties] 503 

[B. Description of the Truths] 506 

[The Truth of Suffering] 510 

[(i) Birth] 510 

[(h) Ageing] 514 

[(hi) Death] 514 

[(iv) Sorrow] 515 

[(v) Lamentation] 515 

[(vi) Pain] 516 

[(vii) Grief] 516 

[(viii) Despair] 516 

[(ix) Association with the Unloved] 517 

[(x) Separation from the Loved] 517 

[(xi) Not to Get What One Wants] 517 

[(xii) The Five Aggregates] 518 

[The Truth of the Origin of Suffering] 518 



vm 



Contents (General) 

[The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering] 519 

[Discussion on Nibbana] 520 

[The Truth of the Way] 524 

[General] 526 

Ch. XVII The Soil of Understanding — Conclusion: 

Dependent Origination 533 

[Section A. Definition of Dependent Origination] 533 

[Section B. Exposition] 539 

[I. Preamble] 539 

[II. Brief Exposition] 540 

[III. Detailed Exposition] 547 

[(i) Ignorance] 547 

[(ii) Formations] 548 

[(iii) Consciousness] 563 

[(iv) Mentality-Materiality] 579 

[(v) The Sixfold Base] 583 

[(vi) Contact] 586 

[(vii) Feeling] 588 

[(viii) Craving] 589 

[(ix) Clinging] 590 

[(x) Becoming] 593 

[(xi)-(xii) Birth, Etc.] 597 

[Section C. The Wheel of Becoming] 598 

[(i) The Wheel] 598 

[(ii) The Three Times] 600 

[(iii) Cause and Fruit] 600 

[(iv) Various] 603 

Ch. XVIII Purification of View 609 

[Defining of Mentality-Materiality] 609 

[(1) Definition Based on the Four Primaries] 609 

[(2) Definition Based on the Eighteen Elements] 612 

[(3) Definition Based on the Twelve Bases] 612 

[(4) Definition Based on the Five Aggregates] 613 

[(5) Brief Definition Based on the Four Primaries] 613 

[If the Immaterial Fails to Become Evident] 614 

[How the Immaterial States Become Evident] 614 

[No Being Apart from Mentality-Materiality] 616 

[Interdependence of Mentality and Materiality] 618 

Ch. XIX Purification by Overcoming Doubt 621 

[Ways of Discerning Cause and Condition] 621 

[Neither Created by a Creator nor Causeless] 621 

[Its Occurance is Always Due to Conditions] 622 

[General and Particular Conditions] 622 

[Dependent Origination in Reverse Order] 623 

[Dependent Origination in Direct Order] 623 

[Kamma and Kamma-Result] 623 



ix 



[No Doer Apart from Kamma and Result] 627 

[Full-Understanding of the Known] 628 

Ch. XX Purification by Knowledge 

and Vision of What is the Path 

and What is Not the Path 631 

[The Three Kinds of Full-Understanding] 631 

[Insight: Comprehension by Groups] 633 

[Comprehension by Groups — Application of Text] 635 

[Strengthening of Comprehension in Forty Ways] 637 

[Nine Ways of Sharpening the Faculties, Etc 639 

[Comprehension of the Material] 639 

[(a) Kamma-Born Materiality] 640 

[(b) Consciousness-Born Materiality] 641 

[(c) Nutriment-Born Materiality] 642 

[(d) Temperature-Born Materiality] 643 

[Comprehension of the Immaterial] 644 

[The Material Septad] 645 

[The Immaterial Septad] 652 

[The Eighteen Principal Insights] 654 

[Knowledge of Rise and Fall — I] 657 

[The Ten Imperfections of Insight] 660 

Ch. XXI Purification by Knowledge and Vision 

of the Way 666 

[Insight: The Eight Knowledges] 667 

[1. Knowledge of Rise and Fall — II] 667 

[2. Knowledge of Dissolution] 668 

[3. Knowledge of Appearance as Terror] 673 

[4. Knowledge of Danger] 675 

[5. Knowledge of Dispassion] 678 

[6. Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance] 679 

[7. Knowledge of Reflection] 679 

[Discerning Formations as Void] 681 

[8. Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations] 684 

[The Triple Gateway to Liberation] 685 

[The Seven Kinds of Noble Persons] 688 

[The Last Three Knowledges are One] 689 

[Insight Leading to Emergence] 690 

[The Twelve Similes] 692 

[The Difference in the Noble Path's Factors, Etc.] 695 

[9. Conformity Knowledge] 698 

[Sutta References] 699 

Ch. XXII Purification by Knowledge and Vision 701 

[I. Change-of-Lineage, Paths, and Fruits] 701 

[The First Path— First Noble Person] 701 

[The First Fruition — Second Noble Person] 704 

[The Second Path — Third Noble Person] 705 



Contents (General) 

[The Second Fruition — Fourth Noble Person] 706 

[The Third Path— Fifth Noble Person] 706 

[The Third Fruition — Sixth Noble Person] 706 

[The Fourth Path — Seventh Noble Person] 706 

[The Fourth Fruition — Eighth Noble Person] 707 

[II. The States Associated with the Path, Etc.] 707 

[The Four Functions] 721 

[The Four Functions in a Single Moment] 721 

[The Four Functions Described Separately] 723 

[Conclusion] 728 

Ch. XXIII The Benefits In Developing Understanding 730 

[A. Removal of the Defilements] 730 

[B. The Taste of the Noble Fruit] 730 

[C. The Attainment of Cessation] 734 

[D. Worthiness to Receive Gifts] 742 

Conclusion 745 

Index of Subjects & Proper Names 749 

Pali-English Glossary of Some Subjects and Technical Terms 774 

Table I The Materiality Aggregate 788 

Table II The Formations Aggregate 789 

Table III The Consciousness Aggregate 790 

Table IV The Combination of the Formations Aggregate and 

Consciousness Aggregate 792 

Table V The Cognitive Series in the occurrence of consciouness as presented in 
the Visuddhimagga and Commentaries 793 

Table VI Dependent Origination 794 



Contents 
(Detailed, by Topic and Paragraph No.) 

PART I — VIRTUE 

1. Purification of Virtue 

Para. Page 

Chapter I — Description of Virtue 

I. Introductory 1 

II. Virtue 16 

(i) What is virtue? 16 

(ii) In what sense is it virtue? 19 

(iii) What are its characteristic, etc.? 20 

(iv) What are the benefits of virtue? 23 

(v) How many kinds of virtue are there? 25 

1. Monad 26 

2.-8. Dyads 26 

9.-13. Triads 33 

14.-17. Tetrads 39 

Virtue of the fourfold purification 42 

18.-19. Pentads 131 

(vi), (vii) What are the defiling and the cleansing of it? 143 

Chapter II — The Ascetic Practices 

PART II — CONCENTRATION 

2. Purification of Consciousness 

Para. Page 

Chapter III — Taking a Meditation Subject 

Concentration 1 

(i) What is concentration? 2 

(ii) In what sense is it concentration? 3 

(iii) What are its characteristic, etc.? 4 

(iv) How many kinds of concentration are there? 5 

(v), (vi) What are the defiling and the cleansing of it? 26 

(vii) How is it developed? 

(Note: this heading applies as far as Ch. XI, §110) 27 

A. Development in brief 27 

B. Development in detail (see note above) 29 

The ten impediments 29 

The good friend 57 



Contents (Detailed) 

Meditation subjects, etc 57 

Temperaments 74 

Definition of meditation subjects 103 

Self-dedication 123 

Ways of expounding 130 

Chapter IV — The Earth Kasina 

The eighteen faults of a monastery 2 

The five factors of the resting-place 19 

The lesser impediments 20 

Detailed instructions for development 21 

The earth kasina 21 

The two kinds of concentration 32 

Guarding the sign 34 

The ten kinds of skill in absorption 42 

Balancing the effort 66 

Absorption in the cognitive series 74 

The first jhana 79 

Extending the sign 126 

Mastery in five ways 131 

The second jhana 139 

The third jhana 153 

The fourth jhana 183 

The fivefold reckoning of jhana 198 

Chapter V — The Remaining Kasinas 

The Water Kasina 1 

The Fire Kasina 5 

The Air Kasina 9 

The Blue Kasina 12 

The Yellow Kasina 15 

The Red Kasina 17 

The White Kasina 19 

The Light Kasina 21 

The Limited-Space Kasina 24 

General 27 

Chapter VI — Foulness as a Meditation Subject 

General definitions 1 

The bloated 12 

The Livid 70 

The Festering 71 

The Cut Up 72 

The Gnawed 73 

The Scattered 74 



The Hacked and Scattered 75 

The Bleeding 76 

Worm-infested 77 

A Skeleton 78 

General 82 

Chapter VII — Six Recollections 

(1) Recollection of the Buddha 2 

(2) Recollection of the Dhamma 68 

(3) Recollection of the Sangha 89 

(4) Recollection of virtue 101 

(5) Recollection of generosity 107 

(6) Recollection of deities 115 

General 119 

Chapter VIII — Other Recollections as Meditation Subjects 

(7) Mindfulness of death 1 

(8) Mindfulness occupied with the body 42 

(9) Mindfulness of breathing 145 

(10) The recollection of peace 245 

Chapter IX — The Divine Abidings 

Loving kindness 1 

Compassion 77 

Gladness 84 

Equanimity 88 

General 91 

Chapter X — The Immaterial States 

The base consisting of boundless space 1 

The base consisting of boundless consciousness 25 

The base consisting of nothingness 32 

The base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception 40 

General 56 

Chapter XI — Concentration (Conclusion): 
Nutriment and the Elements 

Perception of repulsiveness in nutriment 1 

Definition of the four elements 27 

Development of concentration — conclusion 118 

(viii) What are the benefits of concentration? (see Ch. Ill, §1) . 120 

Chapter XII — The Supernormal Powers 

The benefits of concentration 1 

The five kinds of direct-knowledge 2 



Contents (Detailed) 

(1) The kinds of supernormal power 2 

(i) Supernormal power as resolve 46 

(ii) Supernormal power as transformation 137 

(iii) Supernormal power as the mind-made body 139 

Chapter XIII — Other Direct-knowledges 

(2) The divine ear element 1 

(3) Penetration of minds 8 

(4) Recollection of past life 13 

(5) The divine eye 72 

General 102 

Part III — Understanding (Panna) 

The Soil in which Understanding Grows 
(Chs. XIV through XVII) 

Para. Page 

Chapter XIV — The Aggregates 

A. Understanding 1 

(i) What is understanding? 2 

(ii) In what sense is it understanding? 3 

(iii) What are its characteristic, etc.? 7 

(iv) How many kinds of understanding are there? 8 

(v) How is it developed? (ends with end of Ch. XXII) 32 

B. Description of the five aggregates 33 

The materiality aggregate 34 

The consciousness aggregate 81 

The feeling aggregate 125 

The perception aggregate 129 

The formations aggregate 131 

C. Classification of the aggregates 185 

D. Classes of knowledge of the aggregates 210 

Chapter XV — The Bases and Elements 

A. Description of the bases 1 

B. Description of the elements 17 

Chapter XVI — The Faculties and Truths 

A. Description of the faculties 1 

B. Description of the truths 13 

1. The truth of suffering 32 

2. The truth of the origin of suffering 61 

3. The truth of the cessation of suffering 62 

Discussion of nibbana 67 



4. The truth of the way 75 

General 84 

Chapter XVII — The Soil of Understanding (Conclusion): 
Dependent Origination 

A. Definition of dependent origination 1 

B. Exposition 25 

I. Preamble 25 

II. Brief exposition 27 

III. Detailed exposition 58 

(1) Ignorance 58 

(2) Formations 60 

The 24 conditions 66 

How ignorance is a condition for formations 101 

(3) Consciousnes 120 

(4) Mentality-materiality 186 

(5) The sixfold base 203 

(6) Contact 220 

(7) Feeling 228 

(8) Craving 233 

(9) Clinging 239 

(lO)Becoming (being) 249 

(11-12) Birth, etc 270 

C. The Wheel of Becoming 273 

i. The Wheel 273 

ii. The three times 284 

iii. Cause and fruit 288 

iv. Various 299 

3. Purification of View 

Chapter XVIII — Purification of View 

I. Introductory 1 

II. Defining of mentality-materiality 3 

1. Definitions of mentality-materiality 3 

(1) Based on the four primaries 3 

(a) Starting with mentality 3 

(b) Starting with materiality 5 

(2) Based on the eighteen elements 9 

(3) Based on the twelve bases 12 

(4) Based on the five aggregates 13 

(5) Brief definition 14 

2. If the immaterial fails to become evident 15 

3. How the immaterial states become evident 18 

4. No being apart from mentality-materiality 24 

5. Interdependence of mentality and materiality 32 

Conclusion 37 



Contents (Detailed) 

4. Purification by Overcoming Doubt 

Chapter XIX — Purification by Overcoming Doubt 

I. Introductory 1 

II. Ways of discerning cause and condition 2 

1. Neither created by a creator nor causeless 3 

2. Its occurrence is always due to conditions 5 

3. General and particular conditions 7 

4. Dependent origination in reverse order 11 

5. Dependent origination in direct order 12 

6. Kamma and kamma-result 13 

7. No doer apart from kamma and result 19 

III. Full-understanding of the known 21 

5. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is and What 
Is Not the Path 

Chapter XX — Purification by Knowledge & Vision of What Is 
and What Is Not the Path 

I. Introductory 1 

The Fifth Purificdation 2 

The three kinds of full-understanding 3 

II. Insight 6 

1. Comprehension by groups 6 

2. Strengthening of comprehension in forty ways 18 

3. Nine ways of sharpening the faculties 21 

4. Comprehension of the material 22 

(a) Kamma-bommateriality 27 

(b) Consciousness-born materiality 30 

(c) Nutriment-born materiality 35 

(d) Temperature-born materiality 39 

5. Comprehension of the immaterial 43 

6. The material septad 45 

7. The immaterial septad 76 

The eighteen principal insights 89 

Knowledge of rise and fall — (I) 93 

The ten imperfections of insight 105 

Conclusion 130 

6. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way 

Chapter XXI — Purification by Knowledge and Vision 
of the Way 

Introductory 1 

Insight: the eight knowledges 3 

1. Knowledge of rise and fall — II 3 

2. Knowledge of dissolution 10 



xvii 



3. Knowledge of appearance as terror 29 

4. Knowledge of danger 35 

5. Knowledge of dispassion 43 

6. Knowledge of desire for deliverance 45 

7. Knowledge of reflexion 47 

Discerning formations as void 53 

8. Knowledge of equanimity about formations 61 

The triple gateway to liberation 66 

The seven kinds of noble persons 74 

Tha last three knowledges are one 79 

Insight leading to emergence 83 

The twelve similes 90 

The difference in the noble path's factors, etc Ill 

9. Conformity knowledge 128 

Sutta references 135 

7. Purification by Knowledge and Vision 

Chapter XXII — Purification by Knowledge and Vision 

I. Change-of-lineage, paths and fruits 1 

II. The states associated with the path, etc 32 

1. The 37 states partaking of enlightenment 33 

2. Emergence and coupling of the powers 44 

3. States to be abandoned 47 

4. Four functions in a single moment 92 

5. Four functions separately 104 

Conclusion 129 

The Benefits of Understanding 

Chapter XXIII — The Benefits in Developing Understanding 

(vi) What are the benefits in developing understanding? 1 

A. Removal of the defilements 2 

B. The taste of the noble fruit 3 

C. The attainment of cessation 16 

D. Worthiness to receive gifts 53 

Conclusion (Epilogue) 



Bibliography 

Printed Editions of the Visuddhimagga 

Sinhalese script: Hewavitarne Bequest edition, Colombo. 
Burmese script: Hanthawaddy Press edition, Rangoon, 1900. 
Siamese script: Royal Siamese edition, Bangkok. 

Latin script: Pali Text Society's edition, London. Harvard University Press edition, 
Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 41, Cambridge, Mass., 1950. 

Translations of the Visuddhimagga 

English: The Path of Purity by Pe Maung Tin, PTS, London. 3 vols., 1922-31. 
German: Visuddhimagga (der Weg zur Reinheit) by Nyanatiloka, Verlag Christiani, 

Konstanz, 1952. Reprinted by Jhana-Verlag, Uttenbuhl, 1997. 
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Kalutara, 1949. (Also called Parakramabahu-sannaya. A Pali-Sinhala 

paraphrase composed by King Pandita Parakramabahu II in the 13th cent. 

CE.) Visuddhimargaya, Sinhala translation by Pandita Matara Sri Dharmavamsa 

Sthavira, Matara, 1953. Etc. 
French: Le Chemin de la purete, transl. by Christian Maes, Editions Fayard, Paris 

2002. 
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Antonella Serena Comba, Lulu.com, Raleigh, 2008. 

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London, 1892. 
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by W. Geiger, PTS London. 
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1879. 
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and Miss H. Kohn, Calcutta University, 1933. 
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xix 

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Path of Purification 

The Life and Work of Buddhaghosa, by B.C. Law, Thacker, and Spink, Calcutta and 

Simla, 1923. 
Mahavamsa or Great Chronicle of Ceylon, English translation by W. Geiger, PTS, 

London. 
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1928. Reprinted by BPS, Kandy 1994. 
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Ghosh, Calcutta University, 1943. 
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(Visuddhimaggamaha-tTka). Vidyodaya ed. in Sinhalese script, Colombo 

(Chapters I to XVII only). PC. Mundyne Pitaka Press ed. in Burmese script, 

Rangoon, 1909 (Chapters I to XI), 1910 (Chapters XII to XXIII). Siamese ed. in 

Siamese script, Bangkok. Latin script edition on Chattha Sangayana CDROM 

of Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri. No English translation. 
Theravada Buddhism in Burma, by Niharranjan Ray, Calcutta University, 1946 

(pp. 24 ff.). 
Vimuttimagga, Chinese translation: Jie-tu-dao-liin by Tipitaka Sanghapala of 

Funan (6th cent. CE). Taisho edition at T 32, no. 1648, p. 399c-461c (Nanjio 

no. 1293). 
The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga), privately circulated English translation from 

the Chinese by N.R.M. Ehara, VE.P Pulle and GS. Prelis. Printed edition, 

Colombo 1961; reprinted by BPS, Kandy 1995. (Revised, BPS edition 

forthcoming in 2010.) 
Vimuttimagga and Visuddhimagga — Comparative Study, by PV Bapat, Poona, 1937. 

((Reprinted by BPS, 2010)) 






List of Abbreviations for Texts Used 



All editions Pali Text Society unless otherwise stated. 


A 


Anguttara Nikaya 


A-a 


Ahguttara Nikaya Atthakatha = Manor athapuranl 


Cp 


Cariyapitaka 


Cp-a 


Cariyapitaka Atthakatha 


Dhp 


Dhammapada 


Dhp-a 


Dhammapada Atthakatha 


Dhs 


Dhammasahgani 


Dhs-a 


Dhammasahgani Atthakatha = Atthasalini 


Dhs-t 


Dhammasarigam Tika = Mula Tlka II 


Dhatuk 


Dhatukatha 


D 


Digha Nikaya 


D-a 


Digha Nikaya Atthakatha = Sumangala-vilasim 


It 


Itivuttaka 


J-a 


Jataka-atthakatha 


Kv 


Kathavatthu 


Mhv 


Mahavamsa 


M 


Majjhima Nikaya 


M-a 


Majjhima Nikaya Atthakatha = Papanca-sudanl 


Mil 


Milindapahha 


Netti 


Nettipakarana 


Niddl 


Maha Niddesa 


Nidd II 


Cula Niddesa (Siamese ed.) 


Nikaya-s 


Nikayasamgrahaya 


Patis 


Patisambhidamagga 


Patis-a 


Patisambhidamagga Atthakatha = Saddhammappakasinl (Sinhalese 




Hewavitarne ed.). 


Patth I 


Patthana, Tika Patthana 


Patth II 


Patthana, Duka Patthana (Se and Be.) 


Pet 


Petakopadesa 


Pv 


Petavatthu 


S 


Samyutta Nikaya 


S-a 


Samyutta Nikaya Atthakatha = Saratthappakasini 


Sn 


Sutta-nipata 


Sn-a 


Sutta-nipata Atthakatha = Paramatthajotika 


Th 


Thera-gatha 


Ud 


Udana 


Vibh 


Vibhahga 


Vibh-a 


Vibhanga Atthakatha = Sammohavinodanl 


Vibh-t 


Vibhahga Tlka = Mula Tlka II 


Vv 


Vimanavatthu 


VinI 


Vinaya Pitaka (3) — Mahavagga 


Vinll 


Vinaya Pitaka (4) — Culavagga 


Vin III 


Vinaya Pitaka (1) — Suttavibhahga 1 


VinlV 


Vinaya Pitaka (2) — Suttavibhahga 2 


VinV 


Vinaya Pitaka (5) — Parivara 


Vism 


Visuddhimagga (PTS ed. [= Ee] and Harvard Oriental Series ed. [= Ae]) 



XXI 






Path of Purification 



Vism-mht Paramatthamanjusa, Visuddhimagga Atthakatha = Maha Tika (Chs. I to 
XVII Sinhalese Vidyodaya ed.; Chs. XVIII to XXIII Be ed.) 

Other Abbreviations 

Ae American Edition (= Harvard Oriental Series) 

Be Burmese Edition 

Ce Ceylonese Edition 

CPD Critical Pali Dictionary; Treckner 

Ee European Edition (= PTS) 

EHBC The Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, E. W. Adikaram. 

PED Pali-English Dictionary 

PLC Pali Literature of Ceylon, Malalasekera. 

PTS Pali Text Society 

Se Siamese Edition 



Numbers in square brackets in the text thus [25] refer to the page numbers of the 
Pali Text Society's edition of the Pali. 

Paragraph numbers on the left correspond to the paragraph numbers of the 
Harvard edition of the Pali. 

Chapter and section headings and other numberings have been inserted for 
clarity. 






Message from his Holiness the Dalai Lama 

The history of the development of Buddhist literature seems to be marked by periods 
in which the received teachings and established scriptures are assimilated and 
consolidated and periods of mature creativity when the essence of that transmission 
is expressed afresh. Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga is a classic 
text of the latter type. It represents the epitome of Pali Buddhist literature, weaving 
together its many strands to create this wonderful meditation manual, which even 
today retains the clarity it revealed when it was written. 

There are occasions when people like to make much of the supposed differences 
in the various traditions of Buddhism that have evolved in different times and places. 
What I find especially encouraging about a book such as this is that it shows so 
clearly how much all schools of Buddhism have fundamentally in common. Within 
a structure based on the traditional three trainings of ethical discipline, concentration 
and wisdom are detailed instructions on how to take an ethical approach to life, 
how to meditate and calm the mind, and on the basis of those how to develop a 
correct understanding of reality. We find practical advice about creating an 
appropriate environment for meditation, the importance of developing love and 
compassion, and discussion of dependent origination that underlies the Buddhist 
view of reality The very title of the work, the Path of Purification, refers to the essential 
Buddhist understanding of the basic nature of the mind as clear and aware, 
unobstructed by disturbing emotions. This quality is possessed by all sentient beings 
which all may realize if we pursue such a path. 

Sometimes I am asked whether Buddhism is suitable for Westerners or not. I 
believe that the essence of all religions deals with basic human problems and 
Buddhism is no exception. As long as we continue to experience the basic human 
sufferings of birth, disease, old age, and death, there is no question of whether it 
is suitable or not as a remedy. Inner peace is the key. In that state of mind you can 
face difficulties with calm and reason. The teachings of love, kindness and 
tolerance, the conduct of non-violence, and especially the Buddhist theory that 
all things are relative can be a source of that inner peace. 

While the essence of Buddhism does not change, superficial cultural aspects 
will change. But how they will change in a particular place, we cannot say. This 
evolves over time. When Buddhism first came from India to countries like Sri Lanka 
or Tibet, it gradually evolved, and in time a unique tradition arose. This is also 
happening in the West, and gradually Buddhism may evolve with Western culture. 

Of course, what distinguishes the contemporary situation from past 
transmissions of Buddhism is that almost the entire array of traditions that 
evolved elsewhere is now accessible to anyone who is interested. And it is in 
such a context that I welcome this new edition of Bhikkhu Nanamoli's celebrated 
English translation of the Path of Purification. I offer my prayers that readers, 
wherever they are, may find in it advice and inspiration to develop that inner 
peace that will contribute to creating a happier and more peaceful world. 

May 2000 



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Path of Purification 

Publisher's Foreword to Third Edition 

Bhikkhu Nanamoli's translation of the Visuddhimagga not only makes available 
in fluent English this difficult and intricate classical work of Theravada 
Buddhism, the high point of the commentarial era, but itself ranks as an 
outstanding cultural achievement perhaps unmatched by Pali Buddhist 
scholarship in the twentieth century. This achievement is even more remarkable 
in that the translator had completed the first draft within his first four years as a 
bhikkhu, which is also the amount of time he had been a student of Pali. 

The Buddhist Publication Society first issued this work beginning in 1975, 
with the kind consent of the original publisher, Mr. Ananda Semage of Colombo. 
This was a reprint produced by photolithographic process from the 1964 edition. 
The 1979 reprint was also a photolithographic reprint, with some minor 
corrections.. 

For this edition the text has been entirely recomposed, this time with the aid 
of the astonishing electronic typesetting equipment that has proliferated during 
the past few years. The text itself has not been altered except in a few places 
where the original translator had evidently made an oversight. However, 
numerous minor stylistic changes have been introduced, particularly in the 
lower casing of many technical terms that Ven. Nanamoli had set in initial capitals 
and, occasionally, in the paragraphing. 

Buddhist Publication Society, 
1991 



Publisher's Foreword to Fourth Edition 

This fourth edition had to be retypeset again because the digital files of the 
previous edition, prepared "with the aid of the astonishing electronic typesetting 
equipment" (as mentioned in the Foreword to the Third Edition) were lost. 

Like in the previous edition, the text itself has not been altered except in a few 
places where Ven. Nanamoli had evidently made an oversight. A few minor 
stylistic changes have been introduced again, such as the utilisation of the 
Critical Pali Dictionary system of abbreviation instead of the PTS system 

The BPS would like to thank John Bullitt, Ester Barias-Wolf, Michael Zoll, 
Manfred Wierich and all others who helped with this project. 

Buddhist Publication Society, 
2010 






Translator's Preface 

Originally I made this translation for my own instruction because the only 
published version was then no longer obtainable. So it was not done with any 
intention at all of publication; but rather it grew together out of notes made on 
some of the book's passages. By the end of 1953 it had been completed, more or 
less, and put aside. Early in the following year a suggestion to publish it was put 
to me, and I eventually agreed, though not without a good deal of hesitation. 
Reasons for agreeing, however, seemed not entirely lacking. The only previous 
English version of this remarkable work had long been out of print. Justification 
too could in some degree be founded on the rather different angle from which 
this version is made. 

Over a year was then spent in typing out the manuscript during which time, 
and since, a good deal of revision has taken place, the intention of the revision 
being always to propitiate the demon of inaccuracy and at the same time to make 
the translation perspicuous and the translator inconspicuous. Had publication 
been delayed, it might well have been more polished. Nevertheless the work of 
polishing is probably endless. Somewhere a halt must be made. 

A guiding principle — the foremost, in fact — has throughout been avoidance 
of misrepresentation or distortion; for the ideal translation (which has yet to be 
made) should, like a looking glass, not discolour or blur or warp the original 
which it reflects. Literalness, however, on the one hand and considerations of 
clarity and style on the other make irreconcilable claims on a translator, who has 
to choose and to compromise. Vindication of his choice is sometimes difficult. 

I have dealt at the end of the Introduction with some particular problems. Not, 
however, with all of them or completely; for the space allotted to an introduction 
is limited. 

Much that is circumstantial has now changed since the Buddha discovered 
and made known his liberating doctrine 2,500 years ago, and likewise since this 
work was composed some nine centuries later. On the other hand, the Truth he 
discovered has remained untouched by all that circumstantial change. Old 
cosmologies give place to new; but the questions of consciousness, of pain and 
death, of responsibility for acts, and of what should be looked to in the scale it 
values as the highest of all, remain. Reasons for the perennial freshness of the 
Buddha's teaching — of his handling of these questions — are several, but not 
least among them is its independence of any particular cosmology. Established 
as it is for its foundation on the self-evident insecurity of the human situation 
(the truth of suffering), the structure of the Four Noble Truths provides an 
unfailing standard of value, unique in its simplicity, its completeness and its 
ethical purity, by means of which any situation can be assessed and a profitable 
choice made. 

Now I should like to make acknowledgements, as follows, to all those without 
whose help this translation would never have been begun, persisted with or 
completed. 



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Path of Purification 

To the venerable Nanatiloka Mahathera (from whom I first learned Pali) for 
his most kind consent to check the draft manuscript. However, although he had 
actually read through the first two chapters, a long spell of illness unfortunately 
prevented him from continuing with this himself. 

To the venerable Soma Thera for his unfailing assistance both in helping me 
to gain familiarity with the often difficult Pali idiom of the Commentaries and to 
get something of the feel — as it were, "from inside" — of Pali literature against its 
Indian background. Failing that, no translation would ever have been made: I 
cannot tell how far I have been able to express any of it in the rendering. 

To the venerable Nyanaponika Thera, German pupil of the venerable 
Nanatiloka Mahathera, for very kindly undertaking to check the whole 
manuscript in detail with the venerable Nanatiloka Mahathera's German 
translation (I knowing no German). 

To all those with whom I have had discussions on the Dhamma, which have 
been many and have contributed to the clearing up of not a few unclear points. 

Lastly, and what is mentioned last bears its own special emphasis, it has been 
an act of singular merit on the part of Mr. A. Semage, of Colombo, to undertake 
to publish this translation. 



Island Hermitage Nanamoli Bhikkhu, 

Dodanduwa, Sri Lanka Vesakhamase, 2499: May, 1956 






Introduction 

The Visuddhimagga — here rendered Path of Purification — is perhaps unique in 
the literature of the world. It systematically summarizes and interprets the 
teaching of the Buddha contained in the Pali Tipitaka, which is now recognized 
in Europe as the oldest and most authentic record of the Buddha's words. As 
the principal non-canonical authority of the Theravada, it forms the hub of a 
complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka, using the 
"Abhidhamma method" as it is called. And it sets out detailed practical 
instructions for developing purification of mind. 

Background and Main Facts 

The works of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa fill more than thirty volumes in the 
Pali Text Society's Latin-script edition; but what is known of the writer himself is 
meager enough for a page or two to contain the bare facts. 

Before dealing with those facts, however, and in order that they may appear 
oriented, it is worth while first to digress a little by noting how Pali literature falls 
naturally into three main historical periods. The early or classical period, which 
may be called the First Period, begins with the Tipitaka itself in the 6th century 
BCE and ends with the Milindapahha about five centuries later. These works, 
composed in India, were brought to Sri Lanka, where they were maintained in Pali 
but written about in Sinhalese. By the first century CE, Sanskrit (independently of 
the rise of Mahayana) or a vernacular had probably quite displaced Pali as the 
medium of study in all the Buddhist "schools" on the Indian mainland. Literary 
activity in Sri Lanka declined and, it seems, fell into virtual abeyance between CE 
150 and 350, as will appear below. The first Pali renascence was under way in Sri 
Lanka and South India by about 400 and was made viable by Bhadantacariya 
Buddhaghosa. This can be called the Middle Period. Many of its principal figures 
were Indian. It developed in several centres in the South Indian mainland and 
spread to Burma, and it can be said to have lasted till about the 12th century. 
Meanwhile the renewed literary activity again declined in Sri Lanka till it was 
eclipsed by the disastrous invasion of Magha in the 11th century. The second 
renascence, or the Third Period as it may be termed, begins in the following century 
with Sri Lanka's recovery, coinciding more or less with major political changes in 
Burma. In Sri Lanka it lasted for several centuries and in Burma for much longer, 
though India about that time or soon after lost all forms of Buddhism. But this 
period does not concern the present purpose and is only sketched in for the sake 
of perspective. 

The recorded facts relating from the standpoint of Sri Lanka to the rise of the 
Middle Period are very few, and it is worthwhile tabling them. 1 

1. Exact dates are not agreed. The Sri Lanka Chronicles give the lengths of reigns of 
kings of Sri Lanka back to the time of the Buddha and also of kings of Magadha 
from Asoka back to the same time. Calculated backwards the list gives 543 BCE as 
the year of the Buddha's parinibbana (see list of kings in Codrington's Short History 
of Ceylon, Macmillan 1947, p. xvi.). For adjustments to this calculation that bring 

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Path of Purification 

Why did Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa come to Sri Lanka? And why did his 
work become famous beyond the island's shores? The bare facts without some 
interpretation will hardly answer these questions. Certainly any interpretation must 
be speculative; but if this is borne in mind, some attempt (without claim for 
originality) may perhaps be made on the following lines. 

Up till the reign of King Vattagamani Abhaya in the first century BCE the Great 
Monastery founded by Asoka's son, the Arahant Mahinda, and hitherto without a 
rival for the royal favour, had preserved a reputation for the saintliness of its 



KINGS OF 
CEYLON 


RELEVANT EVENTS 


REFS. 


Devanam piya- 


Arrival in Sri Lanka of the Arahant Mahinda 


Mahavmiisa, Mhv XIII. 


Tissa: 


bringing Pali Tipitaka with Commentaries; 




BCE 307-267 


Commentaries translated into Sinhalese; 
Great Monastery founded. 




Dutthagamani BCE 


Expulsion of invaders after 76 years of 


Mhv XXV-XXXII 


161-137 


foreign occupation of capital; restoration of 
unity and independence. 






Many nam es of Great Monas tery elders, 


Adikaram, Early History 




noted in Commentaries for virtuous 


of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, 




behaviour, traceable to this and following 


pp. 65-70 




reign. 




Vattagamani 


Reign interrupted after 5 months by 


Mhv XXXni.33f. 


BCE 104-88 


rebellion of Brahman Lissa, famine, 
invasion, and king's exile. 






Bhikkhus all disperse from Great Monas tery 


A-a I 92 




to South SL and to India. 






Restoration of king after 14 years and return 


Mhv XXXHI.78 




of bhikkhus. 






Foundation of Abhayagiri Monastery by 


Mhv XXXHI.81 




king. 






Abhayagiri Monastery secedes from Great 


Mhv XXXHI.96 




Monastery and becomes schismatic. 






Committal by Great Monastery of Pali 


Mhv XXXIII.100; 




Lipitaka to writing for firs t tim e (away from 


Nikaya-s (translation) 




royal capital). 


10-11 




Abhayagiri Monastery adopts 


Nikaya-s 11 




"Dhammaruci Nikaya of Vajjiputtaka Sect" 






of India. 





the date of the parinibbana forward to 483 BCE (the date most generally accepted 
in Europe), see e.g. Geiger, Mahavamsa translation (introduction) Epigraphia Zeylanica 
1, 156; E. J. Thomas, Life of the Buddha, Kegan Paul, p. 26, n.l. It seems certain, however, 
that Mahanama was reigning in the year 428 because of a letter sent by him to the 
Chinese court (Codrington p.29; E.Z. Ill, 12). If the adjusted date is accepted then 
60 extra years have somehow to be squeezed out without displacing Mahanama's 
reign. Here the older date has been used. 






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Introduction 



Kutakanna Tissa 
BCE 30-33 



Bhatikabhaya BCE 
20-CE 9 



Khaniraj ami-Tis s a 
30-33 



Vasabha 
66-110 



Gajabahu I 
113-135 

6 kings 
135-215 

Voharika-Tissa 215 
-237 



Gothabhaya 
254-267 



Meeting of Great Monastery bhikkhus 
decides drat care of texts and preaching 
comes before practice of their contents. 

Many Great Monas tery elders ' nam es noted 
in Com m entaries for learning and 
contributions to decision of textual 
problems, traceable to this reign. 

Many elders as last stated traceable to this 
reign too. 

Last Sri Lanka elders' names in Vinaya 
Parivara (p. 2) traceable to this reign; 
Pari vara can thus have been com pleted by 
Great Monastery any time later, before 5th 
cent 

Dispute between Great Monastery and 
Abhayagiri Monastery over Vinaya adjudged 
by Brahman Dlghakarayana in favour of 
Great Monastery 

60 bhikkhus punished for treason. 

Last reign to be mentioned in body of 
Commentaries. 

Sinhalese Commentaries can have been 
closed at any time after this reign. 

Abhayagiri Monastery supported by king 
and enlarged. 

Mentions of royal support for Great 
Monastery and Abhayagiri Monastery 

King supports both monasteries. 

Abhayagiri Monastery has adopted Vetulya 
(Mahayana?) Pitaka. 

King suppresses Vetulya doctrines. 

Vetulya books burnt and heretic bhikkhus 
disgraced 

Corruption of bhikkhus by Vitandavadins 
(heretics or destructive critics). 

Great Monastery supported by king. 

60 bhikkhus in Abhayagiri Monastery 
banished by king for upholding Vetulya 
doctrines. 

Secession from Abhayagiri Monastery; new 
sect formed 

Indian bhikkhu Sahghamitta supports 
Abhayagiri Monastery 



A-a I 92f; EHBC 78 
EHBC 76 

EHBC 80 
EHBC 86 

Vin-a 582; EHBC 99 

Mhv XXXV10 

EHBC 3, 86-7 

EHBC 3, 86-7 

Mhv XXXV119 

Mhv XXXVI, 7, 24, 33, 
65 

Nikaya-s 12 
Mhv XXXVI.41 
Nikaya-s 12 
Dlpavanisa XXII-XXIII 
Mhv XXXVI.102 
Mhv XXXVI.111 

Nikaya-s 13 
Mhv XXXVI.112 






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Path of Purification 



Jettha-Tissa 
267-277 

Mahasena 277-304 



Siri Meghavanna 
304-332 



Jettha-Tissa II 
332-34 

Buddhadasa 
341-70 
Upatissa 
370-412 

Mahanam a 
412-434 



King favours Great Monastery; Sang ham itta 
flees to India. 

King protects Sahghamitta, who returns. 
Persecution of Great Monastery; its 
bhikkhus driven from capital for 9 years. 

Sarighamitta assassinated. 

Restoration of Great Monastery 

Vetulya books burnt again. 

Dispute over Great Monastery boundary; 
bhikkhus again absent from Great 
Monastery for 9 months. 

King favours Great Monastery 

Sinhalese monastery established at Buddha 
Gaya in India 

Dlpavaipsa composed in this period. 

Also perhaps Mulnsikkhn and Kliuddnsikkhil 
(Vinaya summaries) and some of 
Buddhadatta Thera's works. 



Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa arrives in Sri 
Lanka. 

Snmautapiisadikn (Vinaya commentary) begun 
in 20th and finished in 21st year of this 
king's reign. 



Mhv XXXVI.123 
Mhv XXXVII. 1-50 

Mhv XXXVII.27 
EHBC 92 
EHBC 92 
Mhv XXXVII.32 



EHBC 92; 

Mhv XXXVH.51f 

Malalasekera PLC, p.68; 
Epigraphia Zeylanica 
iii, II 

Quoted in Vin-a 



PLC, p.77 



Mhv XXXVn.215-46 



Vin-a Epilogue 



bhikkhus. The violent upsets in his reign followed by his founding of the Abhayagiri 
Monastery its secession and schism, changed the whole situation at home. Sensing 
insecurity, the Great Monastery took the precaution to commit the Tipitaka for the 
first time to writing, doing so in the provinces away from the king's presence. 
Now by about the end of the first century BCE (dates are very vague), with Sanskrit 
Buddhist literature just launching out upon its long era of magnificence, Sanskrit 
was on its way to become a language of international culture. In Sri Lanka the 
Great Monastery, already committed by tradition to strict orthodoxy based on Pali, 
had been confirmed in that attitude by the schism of its rival, which now began 
publicly to study the new ideas from India. In the first century BCE probably the 
influx of Sanskrit thought was still quite small, so that the Great Monastery could 
well maintain its name in Anuradhapura as the principal centre of learning by 
developing its ancient Tipitaka commentaries in Sinhalese. This might account for 
the shift of emphasis from practice to scholarship in King Vattagamani's reign. 
Evidence shows great activity in this latter field throughout the first century BCE, 
and all this material was doubtless written down too. 

In the first century CE, Sanskrit Buddhism ("Hinayana," and perhaps by then 
Mahayana) was growing rapidly and spreading abroad. The Abhayagiri Monastery 
would naturally have been busy studying and advocating some of these weighty 









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Introduction 

developments while the Great Monastery had nothing new to offer: the rival was 
thus able, at some risk, to appear go-ahead and up-to-date while the old institution 
perhaps began to fall behind for want of new material, new inspiration and 
international connections, because its studies being restricted to the orthodox 
presentation in the Sinhalese language, it had already done what it could in 
developing Tipitaka learning (on the mainland Theravada was doubtless deeper 
in the same predicament). Anyway we find that from the first century onwards its 
constructive scholarship dries up, and instead, with the reign of King Bhatika 
Abhaya (BCE 20-CE 9), public wrangles begin to break out between the two 
monasteries. This scene indeed drags on, gradually worsening through the next 
three centuries, almost bare as they are of illuminating information. King Vasabha's 
reign (CE 66-110) seems to be the last mentioned in the Commentaries as we have 
them now, from which it may be assumed that soon afterwards they were closed 
(or no longer kept up), nothing further being added. Perhaps the Great Monastery, 
now living only on its past, was itself getting infected with heresies. But without 
speculating on the immediate reasons that induced it to let its chain of teachers 
lapse and to cease adding to its body of Sinhalese learning, it is enough to note 
that the situation went on deteriorating, further complicated by intrigues, till in 
Mahasena's reign (CE 277-304) things came to a head. 

With the persecution of the Great Monastery given royal assent and the expulsion 
of its bhikkhus from the capital, the Abhayagiri Monastery enjoyed nine years of 
triumph. But the ancient institution rallied its supporters in the southern provinces 
and the king repented. The bhikkhus returned and the king restored the buildings, 
which had been stripped to adorn the rival. Still, the Great Monastery must have 
foreseen, after this affair, that unless it could successfully compete with Sanskrit it 
had small hope of holding its position. With that the only course open was to 
launch a drive for the rehabilitation of Pali — a drive to bring the study of that 
language up to a standard fit to compete with the "modern" Sanskrit in the field 
of international Buddhist culture: by cultivating Pali at home and abroad it could 
assure its position at home. It was a revolutionary project, involving the 
displacement of Sinhalese by Pali as the language for the study and discussion of 
Buddhist teachings, and the founding of a school of Pali literary composition. Earlier 
it would doubtless have been impracticable; but the atmosphere had changed. 
Though various Sanskrit non-Mahayana sects are well known to have continued to 
flourish all over India, there is almost nothing to show the status of the Pali language 
there by now. Only the Mahavamsa [XXXVII. 21 5f. quoted below] suggests that the 
Theravada sect there had not only put aside but lost perhaps all of its old non- 
Pitaka material dating from Asoka's time. 2 One may guess that the pattern of things 
in Sri Lanka only echoed a process that had gone much further in India. But in the 

2. See also A Record of Buddhist Religion by I-tsing, translation by J. Takakusu, Claren 
do Press, 1896, p. xxiii, where a geographical distribution of various schools gives 
Mulasarvastivada mainly in the north and Ariyasthavira mainly in the south of India. 
I-tsing, who did not visit Sri Lanka, was in India at the end of the 7th cent.; but he does 
not mention whether the Ariyasthavira (Theravada) Nikaya in India pursued its studies 
in the Pali of its Tipitaka or in Sanskrit or in a local vernacular. 

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Path of Purification 

island of Sri Lanka the ancient body of learning, much of it pre-Asokan, had been 
kept lying by as it were maturing in its two and a half centuries of neglect, and it 
had now acquired a new and great potential value due to the purity of its pedigree 
in contrast with the welter of new original thinking. Theravada centres of learning 
on the mainland were also doubtless much interested and themselves anxious for 
help in a repristinization. 3 Without such cooperation there was little hope of success. 

It is not known what was the first original Pali composition in this period; but 
the Dlpavamsa (dealing with historical evidence) belongs here (for it ends with 
Mahasena's reign and is quoted in the Samantapasadika) , and quite possibly the 
Vimuttimagga (dealing with practice — see below) was another early attempt by the 
Great Monastery in this period (4th cent.) to reassert its supremacy through original 
Pali literary composition: there will have been others too. 4 Of course, much of this 
is very conjectural. Still it is plain enough that by 400 CE a movement had begun, 
not confined to Sri Lanka, and that the time was ripe for the crucial work, for a Pali 
recension of the Sinhalese Commentaries with their unique tradition. Only the 
right personality, able to handle it competently, was yet lacking. That personality 
appeared in the first quarter of the fifth century. 

THE VlSUDDHlMACCA AND ITS AUTHOR 

Sources of information about that person fall into three groups. There are firstly 
the scraps contained in the prologues and epilogues to the works ascribed to him. 
Then there is the account given in the second part of the Sri Lankan Chronicle, the 
Mahavamsa (or Culavamsa as the part of it is often called), written in about the 13th 
century, describing occurrences placed by it in the 5th century, and, lastly, the still 
later Buddhaghosuppatti (15 th cent.?) and other later works. 

It seems still uncertain how to evaluate the old Talaing records of Burma, which 
may not refer to the same person (see below). India herself tells us nothing at all. 

It seems worthwhile, therefore, to give a rendering here of the principal passage 
from the prologues and epilogues of the works ascribed to him by name; for they 
are few and short, and they have special authentic value as evidence. The Mahavamsa 
account will be reproduced in full, too, since it is held to have been composed from 
evidence and records before its author, and to have the ring of truth behind the 
legends it contains. But the later works (which European scholars hold to be 
legendary rather than historical in what they add to the accounts already 
mentioned) can only be dealt with very summarily here. 

3. In the epilogues and prologues of various works between the 5th and 12th centuries 
there is mention of e.g., Badaratittha (Vism-a prol.: near Chennai), Kancipura (A-a epil.: 
= Conjevaram near Chennai), and other places where different teachers accepting the 
Great Monastery tradition lived and worked. See also Malalasekera, Pali Literature of 
Ceylon, p. 13; E.Z., IV, 69-71; Journal of Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. XIX, pp. 278f. 

4. Possibly the Vinaya summaries, Mulasikkha and Khuddasikkha (though Geiger places 
these much later), as well as some works of Buddhadatta Thera. It has not been 
satisfactorily explained why the Mahavamsa, composed in the late 4th or early 5th cent., 
ends abruptly in the middle of Chapter 37 with Mahasena's reign (the Chronicle being 
only resumed eight centuries later). 

xxxii 

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The books actually ascribed to Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa have each a 
"postscript" identical in form with that at the end of Chapter XXIII of the present 
work, mentioning the title and author by name. This can be taken to have been 
appended, presumably contemporaneously, by the Great Monastery (the 
Mahavamsa) at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka as their official seal of approval. Here is 
a list of the works (also listed in the modern Gandhavamsa and Sasanavamsa with 
one or two discrepancies): 5 

Commentaries to the Vinaya Pitaka 

Title Commentary to 

Samantapasadika Vinaya 

Kahkhavitarani Patimokkha 

Commentaries to the Sutta Pitaka 

Title Commentary to 

Sumangalavilasinl Dlgha Nikaya 

Papancasudani Majjhima Nikaya 

Saratthappakasini Samyutta Nikaya 

Manorathapura.nl Ahguttara Nikaya 

Paramatthajotika Khuddakapatha 

Commentary to Suttanipata 

Title Commentary to 

Dhammapadatthakatha Dhammapada 

Jatakatthakatha Jataka 

Commentaries to the Abhidhamma Pitaka 

Title Commentary to 

Atthasalinl Dhammasahganl 

Sammohavinodanl Vibhahga 

Pancappakaranatthakatha Remaining 5 books 

Beyond the bare hint that he came to Sri Lanka from India his actual works tell 
nothing about his origins or background. He mentions "The Elder Buddhamitta 
with whom I formerly lived at Mayura suttapattana" (M-a epil.), 6 and "The well 
known Elder Jotipala, with whom I once lived at Kancipura and elsewhere" (A-a 
epil.). 7 Also the "postscript" attached to the Visuddhimagga says, besides mentioning 
his name, that he "should be called 'of Morandacetaka.'" 8 And that is all. 



5. The Gandhavamsa also gives the Apadana Commentary as by him. 

6. Other readings are: Mayurarupattana, Mayuradutapattana. Identified with 
Mylapore near Chennai (J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 281). 

7. Identified with Conjevaram near Chennai: PLC, p. 113. Acariya Ananda, author of 
the sub-commentary to the Abhidhamma Pitaka (Mttla Tlka), also lived there, perhaps 
any time after the middle of the 5th century. The Elder Dhammapala sometimes refers 
to the old Sinhalese commentaries as if they were still available to him. 

8. Other readings are: Morandakhetaka, Mudantakhedaka, Murandakhetaka, etc.; 
not yet identified. Refers more probably to his birthplace than to his place of pabbajja. 
See also J.O.R., Madras, Vol. XIX, p. 282, article "Buddhaghosa— His Place of Birth" by 

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Path of Purification 

On coming to Sri Lanka, he went to Anuradhapura, the royal capital, and set 
himself to study. He seems to have lived and worked there during the whole of his 
stay in the island, though we do not know how long that stay lasted. To render his 
own words: "I learned three Sinhalese commentaries — the Maha-attha-[katha], 
Mahapaccarl, Kurundi — from the famed elder known by the name of Buddhamitta, 
who has expert knowledge of the Vinaya. Set in the grounds of the Maha Meghavana 
Park [in Anuradhapura] there is the Great Monastery graced by the [sapling from 
the] Master's Enlightenment Tree. A constant supporter of the Community, trusting 
with unwavering faith in the Three Jewels, belonging to an illustrious family and 
known by the name of Mahanigamasami (Lord of the Great City), had an excellent 
work-room built there on its southern side accessible to the ever virtuously 
conducted Community of Bhikkhus. The building was beautifully appointed, 
agreeably endowed with cool shade and had a lavish water supply. The Vinaya 
Commentary was begun by me for the sake of the Elder Buddhasiri of pure virtuous 
behaviour while I was living there in Mahanigamasami's building, and it is now 
complete. It was begun by me in the twentieth year of the reign of peace of the 
King Sirinivasa (Of Glorious Life), the renowned and glorious guardian who has 
kept the whole of Lanka's island free from trouble. It was finished in one year 
without mishap in a world beset by mishaps, so may all beings attain..." (Vin-a 
Epilogue). 

Mostly it is assumed that he wrote and "published" his works one by one as 
authors do today. The assumption may not be correct. There is an unerring 
consistency throughout the system of explanation he adopts, and there are cross- 
references between works. This suggests that while the Visuddhimagga itself may 
perhaps have been composed and produced first, the others as they exist now 
were more likely worked over contemporaneously and all more or less finished 
before any one of them was given out. They may well have been given out then 
following the order of the books in the Tipitaka which they explain. So in that way 
it may be taken that the Vinaya Commentary came next to the Visuddhimagga; then 
the Commentaries on the four Nikayas (Collections of Suttas), and after them the 
Abhidhamma Commentaries. Though it is not said that the Vinaya Commentary 
was given out first of these, still the prologue and epilogue contain the most 
information. The four Nikaya Commentaries all have the same basic prologue; but 
the Samyutta Nikaya Commentary inserts in its prologue a stanza referring the 
reader to "the two previous Collections" (i.e. the Digha and Majjhima Nikayas) for 
explanations of the names of towns and for illustrative stories, while the Ahguttara 



R. Subramaniam and S. E Nainar, where a certain coincidence of names is mentioned 
that might suggest a possible identification of Morandakhetaka (moranda being Pali for 
'peacock egg' and khedaka Skr. for "village" — see Vism Ae ed., p. xv) with adjacent 
villages, 51 miles from Nagarjunakonda and 58 miles from Amaravati, called 
Kotanemalipuri and Gundlapalli (nemali and gundla being Telegu respectively for 
"peacock" and "egg"). However, more specific information will be needed in support 
before it can be accepted as an indication that the Mahavamsa is wrong about his 
birthplace. More information about any connection between Sri Lanka and those great 
South Indian Buddhist centres is badly needed. 






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Introduction 

Nikaya Commentary replaces this stanza with another referring to "the Digha 
and Majjhima" by name for the same purpose. The point may seem laboured and 
even trivial, but it is not irrelevant; for if it is assumed that these works were written 
and "published" in some historical order of composition, one expects to find some 
corresponding development of thought and perhaps discovers what one's 
assumption has projected upon them. The more likely assumption, based on 
consideration of the actual contents, is that their form and content was settled before 
any one of them was given out. 

Sometimes it is argued that the commentaries to the Dhammapada and the 
Jataka may not be by the same author because the style is different. But that fact 
could be accounted for by the difference in the subject matter; for these two 
commentaries consist mainly of popular stories, which play only a very minor role 
in the other works. Besides, while this author is quite inexorably consistent 
throughout his works in his explanations of Dhamma, he by no means always 
maintains that consistency in different versions of the same story in, say, different 
Nikaya Commentaries (compare for instance, the version of the story of Elder 
Tissabhuti given in the commentary to AN 1:2.6, with that at M-a I 66; also the 
version of the story of the Elder Maha Tissa in the A-a, same ref., with that at M-a 
1 185). Perhaps less need for strictness was felt with such story material. And there 
is also another possibility. It may not unreasonably be supposed that he did not 
work alone, without help, and that he had competent assistants. If so, he might 
well have delegated the drafting of the Khuddaka Nikaya commentaries — those 
of the Khuddakapatha and Suttanipata, Dhammapada, and the Jataka — or part of 
them, supervising and completing them himself, after which the official "postscript" 
was appended. This assumption seems not implausible and involves less difficulties 
than its alternatives. 9 These secondary commentaries may well have been composed 
after the others. 

The full early history of the Pali Tipitaka and its commentaries in Sinhalese is 
given in the Sri Lanka Chronicle, the Dlpavarnsa, and Mahavamsa, and also in the 
introduction to the Vinaya Commentary. In the prologue to each of the four Nikaya 
Commentaries it is conveniently summarized by Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa 
himself as follows: "[I shall now take] the commentary, whose object is to clarify 
the meaning of the subtle and most excellent Long Collection (Digha Nikaya) . . . 
set forth in detail by the Buddha and by his like [i.e. the Elder Sariputta and other 
expounders of discourses in the Sutta Pitaka] — the commentary that in the 
beginning was chanted [at the First Council] and later re-chanted [at the Second 
and Third], and was brought to the Sihala Island (Sri Lanka) by the Arahant 
Mahinda the Great and rendered into the Sihala tongue for the benefit of the 
islanders — and from that commentary I shall remove the Sihala tongue, replacing 
it by the graceful language that conforms with Scripture and is purified and free 
from flaws. Not diverging from the standpoint of the elders residing in the Great 
Monastery [in Anuradhapura], who illumine the elders' heritage and are all well 



9. A definite statement that the Dhp-a was written later by someone else can hardly 
avoid the inference that the "postscript" was a fraud, or at least misleading. 



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Path of Purification 

versed in exposition, and rejecting subject matter needlessly repeated, I shall make 
the meaning clear for the purpose of bringing contentment to good people and 
contributing to the long endurance of the Dhamma." 

There are references in these works to "the Ancients" (porana) or "Former 
Teachers" (pubbacariya) as well as to a number of Sinhalese commentaries additional 
to the three referred to in the quotation given earlier. The fact is plain enough that 
a complete body of commentary had been built up during the nine centuries or so 
that separate Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa from the Buddha. A good proportion 
of it dated no doubt from the actual time of the Buddha himself, and this core had 
been added to in India (probably in Pali), and later by learned elders in Sri Lanka 
(in Sinhalese) as references to their pronouncements show (e.g. XII. 105 and 117). 

This body of material — one may guess that its volume was enormous — 
Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa set himself to edit and render into Pali (the Tipitaka 
itself had been left in the original Pali). For this he had approval and express 
invitation (see, e.g., the epilogue to the present work, which the Elder Sarighapala 
invited him to compose). Modern critics have reproached him with lack of 
originality: but if we are to judge by his declared aims, originality, or to use his 
own phrase "advertising his own standpoint" (XVII. 25), seems likely to have been 
one of the things he would have wished to avoid. He says, for instance, "I shall 
expound the comforting Path of Purification, pure in expositions, relying on the 
teaching of the dwellers in the Great Monastery" (1.4; see also epilogue), and again 
"Now, as to the entire trustworthiness (samantapasadikatta) of this Samantapasadika: 
the wise see nothing untrustworthy here when they look — in the chain of teachers, 
in the citations of circumstance, instance and category [in each case], in the avoidance 
of others' standpoints, in the purity of [our] own standpoint, in the correctness of 
details, in the word-meanings, in the order of construing the text, in the exposition 
of the training precepts, in the use of classification by the analytical method — 
which is why this detailed commentary on the Vinaya ... is called Samantapasadika 
(Vin-a epilogue). And then: "The commentary on the Patimokkha, which I began 
at the request of the Elder Sona for the purpose of removing doubts in those 
uncertain of the Vinaya, and which covers the whole Sinhalese commentarial system 
based upon the arrangement adopted by the dwellers in the Great Monastery, is 
finished. The whole essence of the commentary and the entire meaning of the text 
has been extracted and there is no sentence here that might conflict with the text 
or with the commentaries of the dwellers in the Great Monastery or those of the 
Ancients" (Patimokkha Commentary epilogue). Such examples could be multiplied 
(see especially also XVII. 25). 

There is only one instance in the Visuddhimagga where he openly advances 
an opinion of his own, with the words "our preference here is this" (XIII. 123). 
He does so once in the Majjhima Nikaya Commentary, too, saying "the point is 
not dealt with by the Ancients, but this is my opinion" (M-a I 28). The rarity of 
such instances and the caution expressed in them imply that he himself was 
disinclined to speculate and felt the need to point the fact out when he did. He 
actually says "one's own opinion is the weakest authority of all and should 
only be accepted if it accords with the Suttas" (D-a 567-68). So it is likely that 



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Introduction 

he regarded what we should call original thinking as the province of the Buddha, 
and his own task as the fortification of that thought by coordinating the 
explanations of it. However, not every detail that he edited can claim direct 
support in the Suttas. 

The following considerations lend some support to the assumptions just made. 
It has been pointed out 10 that in describing in the Vinaya Commentary how the 
tradition had been "maintained up to the present day by the chain of teachers and 
pupils" (Vin-a 61-62) the list of teachers' names that follows contains names only 
traceable down to about the middle of the 2 nd century CE, but not later. Again, 
there appear in his works numbers of illustrative stories, all of which are set either 
in India or Sri Lanka. However, no single one of them can be pointed to as 
contemporary. Stories about India in every case where a date can be assigned are 
not later than Asoka (3 rd cent. BCE). Many stories about Sri Lanka cannot be dated, 
but of those that can none seems later than the 2 nd century CE. This suggests that 
the material which he had before him to edit and translate had been already 
completed and fixed more than two centuries earlier in Sri Lanka, and that the 
words "present day" were not used by him to refer to his own time, but were 
already in the material he was coordinating. This final fixing, if it is a fact, might 
have been the aftermath of the decision taken in Sri Lanka in the first century BCE 
to commit the Pali Tipitaka to writing. 

Something now needs to be said about the relation of the Visuddhimagga to 
the other books. This author's work is characterized by relentless accuracy, 
consistency, and fluency of erudition, and much dominated by formalism. Not 
only is this formalism evident in the elaborate pattern of the Visuddhimagga but 
also that work's relationship to the others is governed by it. The Visuddhimagga 
itself extracts from the Tipitaka all the central doctrines that pivot upon the 
Four Noble Truths, presenting them as a coherent systematic whole by way of 
quotation and explanation interspersed with treatises on subjects of more or 
less relative importance, all being welded into an intricate edifice. The work 
can thus stand alone. But the aim of the commentaries to the four main Nikayas 
or Collections of Suttas is to explain the subject matter of individual discourses 
and, as well, certain topics and special doctrines not dealt with in the 
Visuddhimagga (many passages commenting on identical material in the Suttas 
in different Nikayas are reproduced verbatim in each commentary, and 
elsewhere, e.g., MN 10, cf. DN 22, Satipatthana Vibhahga, etc., etc., and 
respective commentaries). But these commentaries always refer the reader to 
the Visuddhimagga for explanations of the central doctrines. And though the 
Vinaya and Abhidhamma (commentaries are less closely bound to the 
Visuddhimagga, still they too either refer the reader to it or reproduce large 
blocks of it. The author himself says: "The treatises on virtue and on the ascetic's 
rules, all the meditation subjects, the details of the attainments of the jhanas, 
together with the directions for each temperament, all the various kinds of 
direct-knowledge, the exposition of the definition of understanding, the 
aggregates, elements, bases, and faculties, the Four Noble Truths, the explanation 

10. Adikaram, Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, pp. 3 and 86. 

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Path of Purification 

of the structure of conditions (dependent origination), and lastly the 
development of insight, by methods that are purified and sure and not divergent 
from Scripture — since these things have already been quite clearly stated in 
the Visuddhimagga I shall no more dwell upon them here; for the Visuddhimagga 
stands between and in the midst of all four Collections (Nikayas) and will clarify 
the meaning of such things stated therein. It was made in that way: take it 
therefore along with this same commentary and know the meaning of the Long 
Collection (Digha Nikaya)" (prologue to the four Nikayas). 

This is all that can, without unsafe inferences, be gleaned of Bhadantacariya 
Buddhaghosa himself from his own works (but see below). Now, there is the 
Mahavarnsa account. The composition of the second part (often called Culavamsa) 
of that historical poem is attributed to an Elder Dhammakitti, who lived in or 
about the thirteenth century. Here is a translation of the relevant passage: 

"There was a Brahman student who was born near the site of the 
Enlightenment Tree. He was acquainted with the arts and accomplishments 
of the sciences and was qualified in the Vedas. He was well versed in what he 
knew and unhesitant over any phrase. Being interested in doctrines, he 
wandered over Jambudipa (India) engaging in disputation. 

"He came to a certain monastery, and there in the night he recited 
Patanjali's system with each phrase complete and well rounded. The senior 
elder there, Revata by name, recognized, 'This is a being of great 
understanding who ought to be tamed.' He said, 'Who is that braying the 
ass's bray?' The other asked, 'What, then, do you know the meaning of the 
ass's bray?' The elder answered, 1 know it,' and he then not only expounded 
it himself, but explained each statement in the proper way and also pointed 
out contradictions. The other then urged him, 'Now expound your own 
doctrine,' and the elder repeated a text from the Abhidhamma, but the visitor 
could not solve its meaning. He asked, 'Whose system is this?' and the elder 
replied, 'It is the Enlightened One's system.' 'Give it to me,' he said, but the 
elder answered, 'You will have to take the going forth into homelessness.' So 
he took the going forth, since he was interested in the system, and he learned 
the three Pitakas, after which he believed, 'This is the only way' (M I 55). 
Because his speech (ghosa) was profound (voice was deep) like that of the 
Enlightened One (Buddha) they called him Buddhaghosa, so that like the 
Enlightened One he might be voiced over the surface of the earth. 

"He prepared a treatise there called Nanodaya, and then the Atthasalinl, a 
commentary on the Dhammasahgani. Next he began work on a commentary 
to the Partita} 1 When the Elder Revata saw that, he said, 'Here only the text 
has been preserved. There is no commentary here, and likewise no Teachers' 
Doctrine; for that has been allowed to go to pieces and is no longer known. 
However, a Sinhalese commentary still exists, which is pure. It was rendered 
into the Sinhalese tongue by the learned Mahinda with proper regard for the 



11. Partita or "protection": a name for certain suttas recited for that purpose. See 
M-aIV114. 






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Introduction 

way of commenting that was handed down by the three Councils as taught 
by the Enlightened One and inculcated by Sariputta and others. Go there, 
and after you have learnt it translate it into the language of the Magadhans. 
That will bring benefit to the whole world.' As soon as this was said, he 
made up his mind to set out. 

"He came from there to this island in the reign of this king (Mahanama). He 
came to the (Great Monastery, the monastery of all true men. There he stayed in 
a large workroom, and he learnt the whole Sinhalese Commentary of the Elders' 
Doctrine (theravada) under Sarighapala. 12 He decided, 'This alone is the intention 
of the Dhamma's Lord.' So he assembled the Community there and asked, 'Give 
me all the books to make a commentary' Then in order to test him the Community 
gave him two stanzas, saying 'Show your ability with these; when we have seen 
that you have it, we will give you all the books.' On that text alone he summarized 
the three Pitakas together with the Commentary as an epitome, which was named 
the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga). Then, in the precincts of the (sapling of 
the) Enlightenment Tree (in Anuradhapura), he assembled the Community expert 
in the Fully Enlightened One's system, and he began to read it out. In order to 
demonstrate his skill to the multitude deities hid the book, and he was obliged 
to prepare it a second time, and again a third time. When the book was brought 
for the third time to be read out, the gods replaced the other two copies with it. 
Then the bhikkhus read out the three copies together, and it was found that 
there was no difference between the three in either the chapters or the meaning 
or the order of the material or the phrases and syllables of the Theravada texts. 
With that the Community applauded in high delight and again and again it was 
said, 'Surely this is (the Bodhisatta) Metteyya.' "They gave him the books of the 
three Pitakas together with the Commentary Then, while staying undisturbed 
in the Library Monastery, he translated the Sinhalese Commentary into the 
Magadhan language, the root-speech of all, by which he brought benefit to beings 
of all tongues. The teachers of the Elders' Tradition accepted it as equal in 
authority with the texts themselves. Then, when the tasks to be done were finished, 
he went back to Jambudipa to pay homage to the Great Enlightenment Tree. 

"And when Mahanama had enjoyed twenty-two years' reign upon earth 
and had performed a variety of meritorious works, he passed on according 
to his deeds"— (Mhv XXXVII.215-47). 

King Mahanama is identified with the "King Sirinivasa" and the "King 
Sirikudda" mentioned respectively in the epilogues to the Vinaya and 
Dhammapada Commentaries. There is no trace, and no other mention anywhere, 
of the Nanodaya. The Atthasalinl described as composed in India could not be the 
version extant today, which cites the Sri Lankan Commentaries and refers to the 
Visuddhimagga; it will have been revised later. 

The prologues and epilogues of this author's works are the only instances in 
which we can be sure that he is speaking of his own experience and not only simply 
editing; and while they point only to his residence in South India, they neither 

12. See Vism epilogue. 

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Path of Purification 

confute nor confirm the Mahavamsa statement than he was born in Magadha (see 
note 8). The Sri Lankan Chronicles survived the historical criticism to which they 
were subjected in the last hundred years. The independent evidence that could be 
brought to bear supported them, and Western scholars ended by pronouncing them 
reliable in essentials. The account just quoted is considered to be based on historical 
fact even if it contains legendary matter. 

It is not possible to make use of the body of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa's 
works to test the Mahavamsa 's claim that he was a learned Brahman from central 
India, and so on. It has been shown already how the presumption is always, where 
the contrary is not explicitly stated, that he is editing and translating material placed 
before him rather than displaying his own private knowledge, experience and 
opinions. And so it would be a critical mistake to use any such passage in his work 
for assessing his personal traits; for in them it is, pretty certainly, not him we are 
dealing with at all but people who lived three or more centuries earlier. Those 
passages probably tell us merely that he was a scrupulously accurate and 
conscientious editor. His geographical descriptions are translations, not eyewitness 
accounts. Then such a sutta passage as that commented on in Chapter I, 86-97 of 
the present work, which is a part of a sutta used by bhikkhus for daily reflection 
on the four requisites of the life of a bhikkhu, is certain to have been fully commented 
on from the earliest times, so that it would be just such a critical mistake to infer 
from this comment anything about his abilities as an original commentator, or 
anything else of a personal nature about him or his own past experience." And 
again, the controversial subject of the origin of the Brahman caste (see M-a II 418) 
must have been fully explained from the Buddhist standpoint from the very start. 
If then that account disagrees with Brahmanical lore — and it would be odd, all 
things considered, if it did not — there is no justification for concluding on those 
grounds that the author of the Visuddhimagga was not of Brahman origin and that 
the Mahavamsa is wrong. What does indeed seem improbable is that the authorities 
of the Great Monastery, resolutely committed to oppose unorthodoxy would have 
given him a free hand to "correct" their traditions to accord with Brahmanical 
texts or with other alien sources, even if he had so wished. Again, the fact that 
there are allusions to extraneous, non-Buddhist literature (e.g. VII. 58; XVI.4 n.2; 
XVI. 85, etc.) hardly affects this issue because they too can have been already in the 

13. For instance, Prof. Kosambi, in his preface to the Visuddhimagga, Harvard ed., 
overlooks these considerations when he says: "More positive evidence (that he was not 
a North-Indian Brahman) is in the passage 'Unhassa ti aggisantapassa. Tassa vanadahadisu 
sambhavo veditabbo' (1.86). 'Heat: the heat of fire, such as occurs at the time of forest 
fires, etc.'" This is a comment upon protection against heat given by a clvara. His 
explanation is obviously ridiculous: "It is not known to Indian southerners that a bare 
skin is sure to be sunburnt in the northern summer" (p. xii). And Professor Kosambi 
has not only overlooked the fact that it is almost certainly translated material that he is 
criticizing as original composition, but he appears not to have even read the whole 
passage. The sutta sentence (M I 10) commented on in the Visuddhimagga (1.86-87) 
contains two words unha and atapa. If, before condemning the explanation as 
"ridiculous," he had read on, he would have found, a line or two below, the words 
Atapo ti suriyatapo ("'Burning' is burning of the sun" — 1.87). 

xl f[ 

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Introduction 

material he was editing or supplied to him by the elders with whom he was working. 
What might repay careful study are perhaps those things, such as certain Mahayana 
teachings and names, as well as much Brahmanical philosophy, which he ignores 
though he must have known about them. This ignoring cannot safely be ascribed 
to ignorance unless we are sure it was not dictated by policy; and we are not sure 
at all. His silences (in contrast to the author of the Paramatthamanjusa) are sometimes 
notable in this respect. 

The "popular novel" called Buddhaghosuppatti, which was composed in Burma by 
an elder called Mahamahgala, perhaps as early as the 15th century, is less dependable. 
But a survey without some account of it would be incomplete. So here is a precis: 

Near the Bodhi Tree at Gaya there was a town called Ghosa. Its ruler had a 
Brahman chaplain called Kesi married to a wife called Kesini. An elder bhikkhu, 
who was a friend of Kesi, used to wonder, when the Buddha's teaching was recited 
in Sinhalese, and people did not therefore understand it, who would be able to 
translate it into Magadhan (Pali). He saw that there was the son of a deity living in 
the Tavatimsa heaven, whose name was Ghosa and who was capable of doing it. 
This deity was persuaded to be reborn in the human world as the son of the Brahman 
Kesi. He learnt the Vedas. One day he sat down in a place sacred to Vishnu and ate 
peas. Brahmans angrily rebuked him, but he uttered a stanza, "The pea itself is 
Vishnu; who is there called Vishnu? And how shall I know which is Vishnu?" and 
no one could answer him. Then one day while Kesi was instructing the town's 
ruler in the Vedas a certain passage puzzled him, but Ghosa wrote down the 
explanations on a palm leaf, which was found later by his father — (Chapter I). 

Once when the elder bhikkhu was invited to Kesi's house for a meal Ghosa's 
mat was given to him to sit on. Ghosa was furious and abused the elder. Then he 
asked him if he knew the Vedas and any other system. The elder gave a recitation 
from the Vedas. Then Ghosa asked him for his own system, whereupon the elder 
expounded the first triad of the Abhidhamma schedule, on profitable, unprofitable, 
and indeterminate thought-arisings. Ghosa asked whose the system was. He was 
told that it was the Buddha's and that it could only be learnt after becoming a 
bhikkhu. He accordingly went forth into homelessness as a bhikkhu, and in one 
month he learned the three Pitakas. After receiving the full admission he acquired 
the four discriminations. The name given to him was Buddhaghosa — (Chapter II). 

One day the question arose in his mind: "Who has more understanding of the 
Buddha-word, I or my preceptor?" His preceptor, whose cankers were exhausted, 
read the thought in his mind and rebuked him, telling him to ask his forgiveness. 
The pupil was then very afraid, and after asking for forgiveness, he was told that in 
order to make amends he must go to Sri Lanka and translate the Buddha-word 
(sic) from Sinhalese into Magadhan. He agreed, but asked that he might first be 
allowed to convert his father from the Brahman religion to the Buddha's teaching. 
In order to achieve this he had a brick apartment fitted with locks and furnished 
with food and water. He set a contrivance so that when his father went inside he 
was trapped. He then preached to his father on the virtues of the Buddha, and on 
the pains of hell resulting from wrong belief. After three days his father was 
converted, and he took the Three Refuges. The son then opened the door and made 



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opened the door and made amends to his father with flowers and such things 
for the offence done to him. Kesi became a stream-enterer — (Chapter III). 

This done, he set sail in a ship for Sri Lanka. The Mahathera Buddhadatta 14 
had set sail that day from Sri Lanka for India. The two ships met by the 
intervention of Sakka Ruler of Gods. When the two elders saw each other, the 
Elder Buddhaghosa told the other: "The Buddha's Dispensation has been put 
into Sinhalese; I shall go and translate it and put it into Magadhan." The other 
said, "I was sent to go and translate the Buddha-word and write it in Magadhan. 
I have only done the Jinalafikara, the Dantavamsa, the Dhatuvamsa and the 
Bodhivamsa, not the commentaries and the sub-commentaries (tlka). If you, sir, 
are translating the Dispensation from Sinhalese into Magadhan, do the 
commentaries to the Three Pitakas." Then praising the Elder Buddhaghosa, he 
gave him the gall-nut, the iron stylus, and the stone given him by Sakka Ruler of 
Gods, adding, "If you have eye trouble or backache, rub the gall-nut on the stone 
and wet the place that hurts; then your ailment will vanish." Then he recited a 
stanza from his Jinalankara. The other said, "Venerable sir, your book is written 
in very ornate style. Future clansmen will not be able to follow its meaning. It is 
hard for simple people to understand it." — "Friend Buddhaghosa, I went to Sri 
Lanka before you to work on the Blessed One's Dispensation. But I have little 
time before me and shall not live long. So I cannot do it. Do it therefore yourself, 
and do it well." Then the two ships separated. Soon after they had completed 
their voyages the Elder Buddhadatta died and was reborn in the Tusita heaven — 
(Chapter IV). 

The Elder Buddhaghosa stayed near the port of Dvijathana in Sri Lanka. 
While there he saw one woman water-carrier accidentally break another's jar, 
which led to a violent quarrel between them with foul abuse. Knowing that he 
might be called as a witness, he wrote down what they said in a book. When the 
case came before the king, the elder was cited as a witness. He sent his notebook, 
which decided the case. The king then asked to see him — (Chapter V). 

After this the elder went to pay homage to the Sangharaja, 15 the senior elder of 
Sri Lanka. One day while the senior elder was teaching bhikkhus he came upon a 
difficult point of Abhidhamma that he could not explain. The Elder Buddhaghosa 
knew its meaning and wrote it on a board after the senior elder had left. Next day 
it was discovered and then the senior elder suggested that he should teach the 
Order of Bhikkhus. The reply was: "I have come to translate the Buddha's 
Dispensation into Magadhan." The senior elder told him, "If so, then construe the 
Three Pitakas upon the text beginning, 'When a wise man, established well in 
virtue...'" He began the work that day, the stars being favourable, and wrote very 
quickly. When finished, he put it aside and went to sleep. Meanwhile Sakka, Ruler 
of Gods, abstracted the book. The elder awoke, and missing it, he wrote another 
copy very fast by lamplight then he put it aside and slept. Sakka abstracted that 

14. The allusion is to the author of various Pali works including the Abhidhammavatara; 
see n. 4. 

15. Sangharaja ("Ruler of the Community" — a title existing in Thailand today): possibly 
a mistake for Sarighapala here (see Vis. epil.). 

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too. The elder awoke, and not seeing his book, he wrote a third copy very fast by 
lamplight and wrapped it in his robe. Then he slept again. While he was asleep 
Sakka put the other two books beside him, and when he awoke he found all three 
copies. He took them to the senior elder and told him what had happened. When 
they were read over there was no difference even in a single letter. Thereupon the 
senior elder gave permission for the translating of the Buddha's Dispensation. From 
then on the elder was known to the people of Sri Lanka by the name of 
Buddhaghosa — (Chapter VI). 

He was given apartments in the Brazen Palace, of whose seven floors he occupied 
the lowest. He observed the ascetic practices and was expert in all the scriptures. It 
was during his stay there that he translated the Buddha's Dispensation. When on 
his alms round he saw fallen palm leaves he would pick them up; this was a duty 
undertaken by him. One day a man who had climbed a palm tree saw him. He left 
some palm leaves on the ground, watched him pick them up, and then followed 
him. Afterwards he brought him a gift of food. The elder concluded his writing of 
the Dispensation in three months. When the rainy season was over and he had 
completed the Pavarana ceremony, he consigned the books to the senior elder, the 
Sahgharaja. Then the Elder Buddhaghosa had the books written by Elder Mahinda 
piled up and burnt near the Great Shrine; the pile was as high as seven elephants. 
Now that this work was done, and wanting to see his parents, he took his leave 
before going back to India. Before he left, however, his knowledge of Sanskrit was 
queried by bhikkhus; but he silenced this by delivering a sermon in the language 
by the Great Shrine. Then he departed — (Chapter VIII). 

On his return he went to his preceptor and cleared himself of his penance. His 
parents too forgave him his offences; and when they died they were reborn in the 
Tusita heaven. He himself, knowing that he would not live much longer, paid 
homage to his preceptor and went to the Great Enlightenment Tree. Foreseeing his 
approaching death, he considered thus: "There are three kinds of death: death as 
cutting off, momentary death, and conventional death. Death as cutting off belongs 
to those whose cankers are exhausted (and are Arahants). Momentary death is 
that of each consciousness of the cognitive series beginning with life-continuum 
consciousness, which arise each immediately on the cessation of the one preceding. 
Conventional death is that of all (so-called) living beings. 16 Mine will be conventional 
death. " After his death he was reborn in the Tusita heaven in a golden mansion 
seven leagues broad surrounded with divine nymphs. When the Bodhisatta 
Metteyya comes to this human world, he will be his disciple. After his cremation 
his relics were deposited near the Enlightenment Tree and shrines erected over 
them— (Chapter VIII). 

It has already been remarked that the general opinion of European scholars is 
that where this imaginative tale differs from, or adds to, the Mahavamsa's account 
it is in legend rather than history. 

Finally there is the question of the Talaing Chronicles of Burma, which mention 
an elder named Buddhaghosa, of brahman stock, who went from Thaton (the 

16. A learned allusion to VIII. 1. 

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(the ancient Buddhist stronghold in the Ramannadesa of Burma) to Sri Lanka 
(perhaps via India) to translate the Buddha-word into Talaing and bring it 
back. It is hard to evaluate this tradition on the evidence available; but according 
to the opinion of the more reliable Western scholars another elder of the same 
name is involved here. 17 

What can be said of the Visuddhimagga's author without venturing into 
unfounded speculation is now exhausted, at least in so far as the restricted scope 
of this introduction permits. The facts are tantalizingly few. Indeed this, like many 
scenes in Indian history, has something of the enigmatic transparencies and 
uncommunicative shadows of a moonlit landscape — at the same time inescapable 
and ungraspable. 

Some answer has, however, been furnished to the two questions: why did he 
come to Sri Lanka? And why did his work become famous beyond its shores? 
Trends such as have been outlined, working not quite parallel on the Theravada of 
India and Sri Lanka, had evolved a situation favouring a rehabilitation of Pali, and 
consequently the question was already one of interest not only to Sri Lanka, where 
the old material was preserved. Again the author possessed outstandingly just 
those personal qualities most fitted to the need — accuracy, an indefatigable mental 
orderliness, and insight able to crystallize the vast, unwieldy, accumulated exegesis 
of the Tipitaka into a coherent workable whole with a dignified vigorous style, 
respect for authenticity and dislike of speculation, and (in the circumstances not at 
all paradoxically) preference for self-effacement. The impetus given by him to Pali 
scholarship left an indelible mark on the centuries that followed, enabling it to 
survive from then on the Sanskrit siege as well as the continuing schism and the 
political difficulties and disasters that harassed Sri Lanka before the "Second 
Renascence." A long epoch of culture stems from him. His successors in the Great 
Monastery tradition continued to write in various centres in South India till the 
12 th century or so, while his own works spread to Burma and beyond. Today in Sri 
Lanka and South East Asia his authority is as weighty as it ever was and his name 
is venerated as before. 

The Vimuttimagga 

Besides the books in Sinhala Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa names as available to 
him (which have all disappeared) there was also a manual (existing now only in a 
Chinese translation of the 6th century CE), presumed to have been written in Pali. 
Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa himself makes no mention of it; but his commentator, 
Bhadantacariya Dhammapala (writing perhaps within two centuries of him), 
mentions it by name (see Ch. Ill, n.19). The Visuddhimagga refutes a certain method 
of classifying temperaments as unsound. The Elder Dhammapala ascribes the 
theory refuted to the Vimuttimagga. The theory refuted is actually found in the 
Chinese version. Then other points rejected by the Visuddhimagga are found in the 

17. Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion, article "Buddhaghosa" by T. W. Rhys Davids. 
Note also that another elder of the same name invited the writing of the 
Sammohavinodanl. The problem is discussed at some length by Prof. Niharranjan Ray, 
Theravada Buddhism in Burma, pp. 24ff. 

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Vimuttimagga. Some of these are attributed by the Elder Dhammapala to the 
Abhayagiri Monastery. However, the Vimuttimagga itself contains nothing at all 
of the Mahayana, its unorthodoxies being well within the "Hinayana" field. 

The book is much shorter than the Visuddhimagga. Though set out in the same 
three general divisions of virtue, concentration, and understanding, it does not 
superimpose the pattern of the seven purifications. Proportionately much less space 
is devoted to understanding, and there are no stories. Though the appearance in 
both books of numbers of nearly identical passages suggests that they both drew a 
good deal from the same sources, the general style differs widely. The four 
measureless states and the four immaterial states are handled differently in the 
two books. Besides the "material octads," "enneads" and "decads," it mentions 
"endecads," etc., too. Its description of the thirteen ascetic practices is quite different. 
Also Abhidhamma, which is the keystone of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa's exegesis, 
is not used at all in the Vimuttimagga (aggregates, truths, etc., do not in themselves 
constitute Abhidhamma in the sense of that Pitaka). There is for instance even in its 
description of the consciousness aggregate, no reference to the Dhammasangani's 
classification of 89 types, and nothing from the Patthana; and though the cognitive 
series is stated once in its full form (in Ch. 11) no use is made of it to explain conscious 
workings. This Vimuttimagga is in fact a book of practical instructions, not of exegesis. 

Its authorship is ascribed to an Elder Upatissa. But the mere coincidence of 
names is insufficient to identify him with the Arahant Upatissa (prior to 3 rd cent. 
CE) mentioned in the Vinaya Parivara. A plausible theory puts its composition 
sometime before the Visuddhimagga, possibly in India. That is quite compatible 
with its being a product of the Great Monastery before the Visuddhimagga was 
written, though again evidence is needed to support the hypothesis. That it contains 
some minor points accepted by the Abhayagiri Monastery does not necessarily 
imply that it had any special connections with that centre. The source may have 
been common to both. The disputed points are not schismatical. Bhadantacariya 
Buddhaghosa himself never mentions it. 

Trends in the Development of Theravada Doctrine 

The doctrines (Dhamma) of the Theravada Pali tradition can be conveniently traced 
in three main layers. (1) The first of these contains the main books of the Pali Sutta 
Pitakas. (2) The second is the Abhidhamma Pitaka, notably the closely related books, 
the Dhammasahgam, Vibhahga, Patthana. (3) The third is the system which the 
author of the Visuddhimagga completed, or found completed, and which he set 
himself to edit and translate back into Pali (some further minor developments took 
place subsequently, particularly with the 12th century (?) Abhidhammatthasahgaha, 
but they are outside the present scope). The point at issue here is not the much- 
debated historical question of how far the Abhidhamma books (leaving aside the 
Kathavatthu) were contemporary with the Vinaya and Suttas, but rather what 
discernible direction they show in evolution of thought. 

(1) The Suttas being taken as the original exposition of the Buddha's teaching, 
(2) the Abhidhamma Pitaka itself appears as a highly technical and specialized 
systematization, or complementary set of modifications built upon that. Its 



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upon that. Its immediate purpose is, one may say, to describe and pin-point 
mental constituents and characteristics and relate them to their material basis 
and to each other (with the secondary object, perhaps, of providing an efficient 
defence in disputes with heretics and exponents of outsiders' doctrines). Its 
ultimate purpose is to furnish additional techniques for getting rid of 
unjustified assumptions that favour clinging and so obstruct the attainment 
of the extinction of clinging. Various instruments have been forged in it for 
sorting and re-sorting experience expressed as dhammas (see Ch. VII, n.l). 
These instruments are new to the Suttas, though partly traceable to them. 
The principal instruments peculiar to it are three: (a) the strict treatment of 
experience (or the knowable and knowledge, using the words in their widest 
possible sense) in terms of momentary cognizable states (dhamma) and the 
definition of these states, which is done in the Dhammasarigani and Vibhariga; 
(b) the creation of a "schedule" (matika) consisting of a set of triple (tika) and 
double (duka) classifications for sorting these states; and (c) the enumeration 
of twenty-four kinds of conditioning relations (paccaya), which is done in the 
Patthana. The states as defined are thus, as it were, momentary "stills"; the 
structure of relations combines the stills into continuities; the schedule 
classifications indicate the direction of the continuities. 

The three Abhidhamma books already mentioned are the essential basis 
for what later came to be called the "Abhidhamma method": together they 
form an integral whole. The other four books, which may be said to support 
them in various technical fields, need not be discussed here. This, then, is a 
bare outline of what is in fact an enormous maze with many unexplored 
side-turnings. 

(3) The system found in the Commentaries has moved on (perhaps slightly 
diverged) from the strict Abhidhamma Pitaka standpoint. The Suttas offered 
descriptions of discovery; the Abhidhamma map-making; but emphasis now is 
not on discovery, or even on mapping, so much as on consolidating, filling in and 
explaining. The material is worked over for consistency. Among the principal new 
developments here are these. The "cognitive series" (citta-vlthi) in the occurrence 
of the conscious process is organized (see Ch. IV n.13 and Table V) and completed, 
and its association with three different kinds of kamma is laid down. The term 
sabhava ("individual essence," "own-being" or "it-ness," see Ch. VII, n.68) is 
introduced to explain the key word dhamma, thereby submitting that term to 
ontological criticism, while the samaya ("event" or "occasion") of the Dhamm- 
asangani is now termed a khana ("moment"), thus shifting the weight and balance 
a little in the treatment of time. Then there is the specific ascription of the three 
"instants" (khana, too) of arising, presence and dissolution (uppada-tthiti-bhahga) 
to each "moment" (khana), one "material moment" being calculated to last as long 
as sixteen "mental moments" (XX. 24; Dhs-a 60). 18 New to the Pitakas are also the 
rather unwieldy enumeration of concepts (pannatti, see Ch. VIII, n.ll), and the 

18. The legitimateness of the mental moment of "presence" (thiti) as deducible from 
A 1 152 is questioned by Acariya Ananda (Vibh-t), who wrote early in the Middle Period; 
he cites the Yamaka (refs.: II 13-14; and I 216-17) against it. 

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handy defining-formula of word-meaning, characteristic, function, 
manifestation, and proximate cause (locus); also many minor instances such as 
the substitution of the specific "heart-basis" for the Patthana's "material basis 
of mind," the conception of "material octads," etc., the detailed descriptions of 
the thirty-two parts of the body instead of the bare enumeration of the names in 
the Suttas (thirty-one in the four Nikayas and thirty-two in the Khuddakapatha 
and the Patisambhidamagga), and many more. And the word paramattha acquires 
a new and slightly altered currency. The question of how much this process of 
development owes to the post-Mauryan evolution of Sanskrit thought on the 
Indian mainland (either through assimilation or opposition) still remains to be 
explored, like so many others in this field. The object of this sketch is only to 
point to a few landmarks. 

The Paramatthamanjusa 

The notes to this translation contain many quotations from the commentary to 
the Visuddhimagga, called the Paramatthamanjusa or Maha-tlka. It is regarded as 
an authoritative work. The quotations are included both for the light they shed 
on difficult passages in the Visuddhimagga and for the sake o'f rendering for the 
first time some of the essays interspersed in it. The prologue and epilogue give 
its author as an elder named Dhammapala, who lived at Badaratittha (identified 
as near Chennai). This author, himself also an Indian, is usually held to have 
lived within two centuries or so of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa. There is 
nothing to say that he ever came to Sri Lanka. 

The Visuddhimagga quotes freely from the Patisambhidamagga, the 
commentary to which was written by an elder named Mahanama (date in the 
Middle Period and place of residence uncertain). Mostly but not quite always, 
the Elder Dhammapala says the same thing, when commenting on these quoted 
passages, as the Elder Mahanama but in more words. 19 He relies much on 
syllogisms and logical arguments. Also there are several discussions of some of 
the systems of the "Six Schools" of Brahmanical philosophy. There are no stories. 
This academic writer is difficult, formalistic, and often involved, very careful 
and accurate. Various other works are attributed to him. 



19. The Elder Dhammapala, commenting on Vism XXI. 77, takes the reading 
phutthantam sacchikato and explains that (cf. Mula Tika, Pug-t 32), but the Elder 
Mahanama, commenting on the Patisambhidamagga from which the passage is quoted, 
takes the reading phutthatta sacchikato and comments differently (Patis-a 396, 
Hewavitarne ed.). Again, what is referred to as "said by some (keci)" in the Elder 
Dhammapala's comment on the Visuddhimagga (see Vism VIII, n.46) is put forward by 
the Elder Mahanama with no such reservation (Patis-a 351). It is the usual standard of 
strict consistency that makes such very minor divergences noticeable. These two 
commentators, though, rarely reproduce each other verbatim. Contrastingly, where the 
Paramatthamanjusa and the Mulatlka similarly overlap, the sentences are mostly verbatim, 
but the former, with extra material, looks like an expanded version of the latter, or the 
latter a cut version of the former. 



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Some Main Threads in the Visuddhimagga 

The Visuddhimagga is probably best regarded as a detailed manual for meditation 
masters, and as a work of reference. As to its rather intricate construction, the List 
of Contents is given rather fully in order to serve as a guide to the often 
complicated form of the chapters and to the work as a whole. In addition, the 
following considerations may be noted. 

Chapters I and II, which deal with virtue as the practice of restraint, or 
withdrawal, need present no difficulties. It can be remarked here, though, that 
when the Buddhist ascetic goes into seclusion (restrains the sense doors), it would 
be incorrect to say of him that he "leaves the world"; for where a man is, there is his 
world (loka), as appears in the discourse quoted in VII. 36 (cf. also S IV 116 as well 
as many other suttas on the same subject). So when he retreats from the clamour 
of society to the woods and rocks, he takes his world with him, as though 
withdrawing to his laboratory, in order to better analyze it. 

Chapters III to XI describe the process of concentration and give directions for 
attaining it by means of a choice of forty meditation subjects for developing 
concentration. The account of each single meditation subject as given here is 
incomplete unless taken in conjunction with the whole of Part III (Understanding), 
which applies to all. Concentration is training in intensity and depth of focus and 
in single-mindedness. While Buddhism makes no exclusive claim to teach jhana 
concentration (samatha = samadhi), it does claim that the development of insight 
(vipassana) culminating in penetration of the Four Noble Truths is peculiar to it. 
The two have to be coupled together in order to attain the Truths 20 and the end of 
suffering. Insight is initially training to see experience as it occurs, without 
misperception, invalid assumptions, or wrong inferences. 

Chapters XII and XIII describe the rewards of concentration fully developed 
without insight. 

Chapters XIV to XVII on understanding are entirely theoretical. Experience in 
general is dissected, and the separated components are described and grouped in 
several alternative patterns in Chapters XIV to XVI. 1-12. The rest of Chapter XVI 
expounds the Four Noble Truths, the centre of the Buddha's teaching. After that, 
dependent origination, or the structure of conditionality is dealt with in its aspect 
of arising, or the process of being (Ch. XVII; as cessation, or Nibbana, it is dealt with 
separately in Chapters XVI and XIX). The formula of dependent origination in its 
varying modes describes the working economics of the first two truths (suffering 
as outcome of craving, and craving itself — see also Ch. XVII, n.48). Without an 
understanding of conditionality the Buddha's teaching cannot be grasped: "He 
who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma" (M 1 191), though not all details 
in this work are always necessary. Since the detailed part of this chapter is very 
elaborate (§58-272), a first reading confined to §1-6, §20-57, and §273-314, might 
help to avoid losing the thread. These four chapters are "theoretical" because they 
contain in detailed form what needs to be learnt, if only in outline, as "book-learning" 



20. See A II 56; Patis II 92f. 

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Introduction 

(sotavadhana-hana). They furnish techniques for describing the total experience and 
the experienceable rather as the branches of arithmetic and double-entry bookkeeping 
are to be learned as techniques for keeping accurate business accounts. 

Chapters XVIII to XXI, on the contrary are practical and give instructions for 
applying the book-knowledge learnt from Chapters XIV to XVII by analyzing in 
its terms the meditator's individual experience, dealing also with what may be 
expected to happen in the course of development. Chapter XVIII as "defining of 
mentality-materiality" (first application of Chapters XIV to XVI) and Chapter XIX 
as "discerning conditions" (first application of Chapter XVII) are preparatory to 
insight proper, which begins in Chapter XX with contemplation of rise and fall. 
After this, progress continues through the "eight knowledges" with successive 
clarification — clarification of view of the object and consequent alterations of 
subjective attitude towards it — till a point, called "conformity knowledge," is 
reached which, through one of the "three gateways to liberation," heralds the 
attainment of the first supramundane path. 

In Chapter XXII, the attainment of the four successive supramundane paths (or 
successive stages in realization) is described, with the first of which Nibbana 
(extinction of the craving which originates suffering) is 'seen' for the first time, 
having till then been only intellectually conceived. At that moment suffering as a 
noble truth is fully understood, craving, its origin, is abandoned, suffering's 
cessation is realized, and the way to its cessation is developed. 21 The three remaining 
paths develop further and complete that vision. 

Finally, Chapter XXIII, as the counterpart of Chapters XII and XIII, describes 
the benefits of understanding. The description of Nibbana is given at Chapter VIII, 
§245ff., and a discussion of it at Chapter XVI, §66ff. 

Concerning the Translation 

The pitfalls that await anyone translating from another European language into 
his own native English are familiar enough; there is no need for him to fall into 
them. But when he ventures upon rendering an Oriental language, he will often 
have to be his own guide. 

Naturally, a translator from Pali today owes a large debt to his predecessors and 
to the Pali Text Society's publications, including in particular the Society's invaluable 
Pali-English Dictionary. A translator of the Visuddhimagga, too, must make due 
acknowledgement of its pioneer translation 22 U Pe Maung Tin. 



21. In the present work the development of serenity (concentration) is carried to its 
limit before insight (understanding) is dealt with. This is for clarity. But in the 
commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta (DN 22, MN 10) either the two are developed 
contemporaneously or insight is allowed to precede jhana concentration. According to 
the Suttas, concentration of jhana strength is necessary for the manifestation of the 
path (see e.g. XIV127; XV n.7; D II 313 = M III 252; A II 156, quoted at Patis II 92f.). 

22. Reprinted by the Pali Text Society as Path of Purity, 1922-31. 



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Path of Purification 

The word pali is translatable by "text." The pali language (the "text language," 
which the commentators call Magadhan) holds a special position, with no European 
parallel, being reserved to one field, namely, the Buddha's teaching. So there are 
no alien echoes. In the Suttas, the Sanskrit is silent, and it is heavily muted in the 
later literature. This fact, coupled with the richness and integrity of the subject 
itself, gives it a singular limpidness and depth in its early form, as in a string quartet 
or the clear ocean, which attains in the style of the Suttas to an exquisite and 
unrivalled beauty unreflectable by any rendering. Traces seem to linger even in 
the intricate formalism preferred by the commentators. 

This translation presents many formidable problems. Mainly either 
epistemological and psychological, or else linguistic, they relate either to what 
ideas and things are being discussed, or else to the manipulation of dictionary 
meanings of words used in discussion. 

The first is perhaps dominant. As mentioned earlier, the Visuddhimagga can be 
properly studied only as part of the whole commentarial edifice, whose cornerstone 
it is. But while indexes of words and subjects to the PTS edition of the Visuddhimagga 
exist, most of its author's works have only indexes of Pitaka words and names 
commented on but none for the mass of subject matter. So the student has to make 
his own. Of the commentaries too, only the Atthasalinl, the Dhammapada 
Commentary, and the Jataka Commentary have so far been translated (and the 
latter two are rather in a separate class). But that is a minor aspect. 

This book is largely technical and presents all the difficulties peculiar to technical 
translation: it deals, besides, with mental happenings. Now where many synonyms 
are used, as they often are in Pali, for public material objects — an elephant, say, or 
gold or the sun — the "material objects" should be poin table to, if there is doubt 
about what is referred to. Again even such generally recognized private experiences 
as those referred to by the words "consciousness" or "pain" seem too obvious to 
introspection for uncertainty to arise (communication to fail) if they are given variant 
symbols. Here the English translator can forsake the Pali allotment of synonyms 
and indulge a liking for "elegant variation," if he has it, without fear of muddle. 
But mind is fluid, as it were, and materially negative, and its analysis needs a 
different and a strict treatment. In the Suttas, and still more in the Abhidhamma, 
charting by analysis and definition of pin-pointed mental states is carried far into 
unfamiliar waters. It was already recognized then that this is no more a solid 
landscape of "things" to be pointed to when variation has resulted in vagueness. 
As an instance of disregard of this fact: a greater scholar with impeccable historical 
and philological judgment (perhaps the most eminent of the English translators) 
has in a single work rendered the cattaro satipatthana (here represented by "four 
foundations of mindfulness") by "four inceptions of deliberation," "fourfold setting 
up of mindfulness," "fourfold setting up of starting," "four applications of 
mindfulness," and other variants. The PED foreword observes: "No one needs now 
to use the one English word 'desire' as a translation of sixteen distinct Pali words, 
no one of which means precisely desire. Yet this was done in Vol. X of the Sacred 
Books of the East by Max Muller and Fausboll. " True; but need one go to the other 
extreme? How without looking up the Pali can one be sure if the same idea is 



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Introduction 

referred to by all these variants and not some other such as those referred to by 
cattaro iddhipada ("'four roads to power" or "bases of success"), cattaro sammappadhana 
("four right endeavours"), etc., or one of the many other "fours"? It is customary 
not to vary, say, the "call for the categorical imperative" in a new context by some 
such alternative as "uncompromising order" or "plain-speaking bidding" or "call 
for unconditional surrender," which the dictionaries would justify, or "faith" 
which the exegetists might recommend; that is to say, if it is hoped to avoid 
confusion. The choosing of an adequate rendering is, however, a quite different 
problem. 

But there is something more to be considered before coming to that. So far 
only the difficulty of isolating, symbolizing, and describing individual mental 
states has been touched on. But here the whole mental structure with its temporal- 
dynamic process is dealt with too. Identified mental as well as material states (none 
of which can arise independently) must be recognizable with their associations 
when encountered in new circumstances: for here arises the central question of 
thought-association and its manipulation. That is tacitly recognized in the Pali. If 
disregarded in the English rendering the tenuous structure with its inferences and 
negations — the flexible pattern of thought-associations — can no longer be 
communicated or followed, because the pattern of speech no longer reflects it, and 
whatever may be communicated is only fragmentary and perhaps deceptive. 
Renderings of words have to be distinguished, too, from renderings of words used 
to explain those words. From this aspect the Oriental system of word-by-word 
translation, which transliterates the sound of the principal substantive and verb 
stems and attaches to them local inflections, has much to recommend it, though, of 
course, it is not readable as "literature." One is handling instead of pictures of 
isolated ideas or even groups of ideas a whole coherent chart system. And besides, 
words, like maps and charts, are conventionally used to represent high dimensions. 

When already identified states or currents are encountered from new angles, 
the new situation can be verbalized in one of two ways at least: either by using in a 
new appropriate verbal setting the words already allotted to these states, or by 
describing the whole situation afresh in different terminology chosen ad hoc. While 
the second may gain in individual brightness, connections with other allied 
references can hardly fail to be lost. Aerial photographs must be taken from 
consistent altitudes, if they are to be used for making maps. And words serve the 
double purpose of recording ideas already formed and of arousing new ones. 

Structural coherence between different parts in the Pali of the present work 
needs reflecting in the translation — especially in the last ten chapters — if the thread 
is not soon to be lost. In fact, in the Pali (just as much in the Tipitaka as in its 
Commentaries), when such subjects are being handled, one finds that a tacit rule, 
"One term and one flexible definition for one idea (or state or event or situation) 
referred to," is adhered to pretty thoroughly. The reason has already been made 
clear. With no such rule, ideas are apt to disintegrate or coalesce or fictitiously 
multiply (and, of course, any serious attempt at indexing in English is stultified). 

23. See Prof. I. A. Richards, Mencius on Mind, Kegan Paul, 1932. 

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Path of Purification 

One thing needs to be made clear, though; for there is confusion of thought on 
this whole subject (one so far only partly investigated). 23 This "rule of parsimony 
in variants" has nothing to do with mechanical transliteration, which is a 
translator's refuge when he is unsure of himself. The guiding rule, "One 
recognizable idea, one word, or phrase to symbolize it," in no sense implies any 
such rule as, "One Pali word, one English word," which is neither desirable nor 
practicable. Nor in translating need the rule apply beyond the scope reviewed. 

So much for the epistemological and psychological problems. 

The linguistic problem is scarcely less formidable though much better 
recognized. While English is extremely analytic, Pali (another Indo-European 
language) is one of the groups of tongues regarded as dominated by Sanskrit, 
strongly agglutinative, forming long compounds and heavily inflected. The 
vocabulary chosen occasioned much heart-searching but is still very imperfect. 
If a few of the words encountered seem a bit algebraical at first, contexts and 
definitions should make them clear. In the translation of an Oriental language, 
especially a classical one, the translator must recognize that such knowledge 
which the Oriental reader is taken for granted to possess is lacking in his 
European counterpart, who tends unawares to fill the gaps from his own foreign 
store: the result can be like taking two pictures on one film. Not only is the 
common background evoked by the words shadowy and patchy, but European 
thought and Indian thought tend to approach the problems of human existence 
from opposite directions. This affects word formations. And so double meanings 
(utraquisms, puns, and metaphors) and etymological links often follow quite 
different tracks, a fact which is particularly intrusive in describing mental events, 
where the terms employed are mainly "material" ones used metaphorically. 
Unwanted contexts constantly creep in and wanted ones stay out. Then there are no 
well-defined techniques for recognizing and handling idioms, literal rendering of 
which misleads (while, say, one may not wonder whether to render tour de force by 
"enforced tour" or "tower of strength," one cannot always be so confident in Pali). 

Then again in the Visuddhimagga alone the actual words and word-meanings 
not in the PED come to more than two hundred and forty. The PED, as its preface 
states, is "essentially preliminary"; for when it was published many books had 
still not been collated; it leaves out many words even from the Sutta Pitaka, and 
the Sub-commentaries are not touched by it. Also — and most important here — in 
the making of that dictionary the study of Pali literature had for the most part not 
been tackled much from, shall one say, the philosophical, or better, epistemological, 
angle, 24 work and interest having been concentrated till then almost exclusively on 
history and philology. For instance, the epistemologically unimportant word vitnana 
(divine mansion) is given more than twice the space allotted to the term paticca- 
samuppada (dependent origination), a difficult subject of central importance, the 
article on which is altogether inadequate and misleading (owing partly to 
misapplication of the "historical method") . Then gala (throat) has been found more 

24. Exceptions are certain early works of Mrs. C.A.E Rhys Davids. See also discussions 
in appendixes to the translations of the Kathavatthu (Points of Controversy, PTS) and the 
Abhidhammatthasahgaha (Compendium of Philosophy, PTS). 

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Introduction 

glossarialy interesting than patisandhi (rebirth-linking), the original use of which 
word at M III 230 is ignored. Under nama, too, nama-rupa is confused with nama- 
kaya. And so one might continue. By this, however, it is not intended at all to 
depreciate that great dictionary, but only to observe that in using it the Pali student 
has sometimes to be wary: if it is criticized in particular here (and it can well hold 
its own against criticism), tribute must also be paid to its own inestimable general 
value. 

Concluding Remarks 
Current standard English has been aimed at and preference given always to 
simplicity. This has often necessitated cutting up long involved sentences, omitting 
connecting particles (such as pana, pan'ettha, yasmawhen followed by tasma, hi, kho, 
etc.), which serve simply as grammatical grease in long chains of subordinate 
periods. Conversely the author is sometimes extraordinarily elliptic (as in XIV46 
and XVI. 68f.), and then the device of square brackets has been used to add 
supplementary matter, without which the sentence would be too enigmatically 
shorthand. Such additions (kept to the minimum) are in almost every case taken 
from elsewhere in the work itself or from the Paramatthamanjusa. Round brackets 
have been reserved for references and for alternative renderings (as, e.g., in 1.140) 
where there is a sense too wide for any appropriate English word to straddle. 

A few words have been left untranslated (see individual notes). The choice is 
necessarily arbitrary. It includes katntna, dhamma (sometimes), jhana, Buddha 
(sometimes), bhikkhu, Nibbana, Patimokkha, kasina, Pitaka, and arahant. There seemed 
no advantage and much disadvantage in using the Sanskrit forms, bhiksu, dharma, 
dhyana, arhat, etc., as is sometimes done (even though "karma" and "nirvana" are 
in the Concise Oxford Dictionary), and no reason against absorbing the Pali words 
into English as they are by dropping the diacritical marks. Proper names appear in 
their Pali spelling without italics and with diacritical marks. Wherever Pali words 
or names appear, the stem form has been used (e.g. Buddha, kamma) rather than the 
inflected nominative (Buddho, kammarn), unless there were reasons against it. 25 

Accepted renderings have not been departed from nor earlier translators gone 
against capriciously. It seemed advisable to treat certain emotionally charged words 
such as "real" (especially with a capital R) with caution. Certain other words have 
been avoided altogether. For example, vassa ("rains") signifies a three-month period 
of residence in one place during the rainy season, enjoined upon bhikkhus by the 
Buddha in order that they should not travel about trampling down crops and so 

25. Pronounce letters as follows: a as in countryman, a father, e whey, / chin, F machine, 
u full, u rule; c church (always), g give (always); h always sounded separately, e.g. bh in 
cab-horse, ch in catch him (not kitchen), ph in upholstery (not telephone), th in hot- 
house (not pathos), etc.; j joke; m and h as ng in singer, n as ni in onion; d, I, n and t are 
pronounced with tongue-tip on palate; d, t, n and with tongue-tip on teeth; double 
consonants as in Italian, e.g. dd as in mad dog (not madder), gg as in big gun (not 
bigger); rest as in English. 

26. Of the principal English value words, "real," "truth," "beauty" "good," "absolute," 
"being," etc.: "real" has been used for tatha (XVI. 24), "truth" allotted to sacca (XVI. 25) 
and "beauty" to subha (IX. 119); "good" has been used sometimes for the prefix su- and 



liii 

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Path of Purification 

annoy farmers. To translate it by "lent" as is sometimes done lets in a historical 
background and religious atmosphere of mourning and fasting quite alien to it 
(with no etymological support). "Metempsychosis" for patisandhi is another 
notable instance. 26 

The handling of three words, dhamma, citta, and rupa (see Glossary and relevant 
notes) is admittedly something of a makeshift. The only English word that might 
with some agility be used consistently for dhamma seems to be "idea"; but it has 
been crippled by philosophers and would perhaps mislead. Citta might with 
advantage have been rendered throughout by "cognizance," in order to preserve 
its independence, instead of rendering it sometimes by "mind" (shared with mano) 
and sometimes by "consciousness" (shared with vinnana) as has been done. But in 
many contexts all three Pali words are synonyms for the same general notion (see 
XIV82); and technically, the notion of "cognition," referred to in its bare aspect by 
vinnana, is also referred to along with its concomitant affective colouring, thought 
and memory, etc., by citta. So the treatment accorded to citta here finds support to 
that extent. Lastly "mentality-materiality" for nama-rupa is inadequate and "name- 
and-form" in some ways preferable. "Name" (see Ch. XVIII, n.4) still suggests 
noma's function of "naming"; and "form" for the rupa of the rupakkhandha 
("materiality aggregate") can preserve the link with the rupa of the rupayatana, 
("visible-object base") by rendering them respectively with "material form 
aggregate" and "visible form base" — a point not without philosophical importance. 
A compromise has been made at Chapter X.13. "Materiality" or "matter" wherever 
used should not be taken as implying any hypostasis, any "permanent or semi- 
permanent substance behind appearances" (the objective counterpart of the 
subjective ego), which would find no support in the Pali. 

The editions of Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand have been consulted as well as 
the two Latin-script editions; and Sinhalese translations, besides. The paragraph 
numbers of the Harvard University Press edition will be found at the start of 
paragraphs and the page numbers of the Pali Text Society's edition in square 
brackets in the text (the latter, though sometimes appearing at the end of paragraphs, 
mark the beginnings of the PTS pages). Errors of readings and punctuation in the 
PTS edition not in the Harvard edition have not been referred to in the notes. 

For the quotations from the Tipitaka it was found impossible to make use of 
existing published translations because they lacked the kind of treatment sought. 
However, other translation work in hand served as the basis for all the Pitaka 
quotations. 

Rhymes seemed unsuitable for the verses from the Tipitaka and the "Ancients"; 
but they have been resorted to for the summarizing verses belonging to the 
Visuddhimagga itself. The English language is too weak in fixed stresses to lend 

also for the adj. kalyana and the subst. attha. "Absolute" has not been employed, though 
it might perhaps be used for the word advaya, which qualifies the word kasina 
("universality" "totalization") at M II 14, and then: "One (man) perceives earth as a 
universality above, below, around, absolute, measureless" could be an alternative for 
the rendering given in V38. "Being" (as abstract subst.) has sometimes been used for 
bhava, which is otherwise rendered by "becoming." 

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Introduction 

itself to Pali rhythms, though one attempt to reproduce them was made in 
Chapter IV 

Where a passage from a sutta is commented on, the order of the explanatory 
comments follows the Pali order of words in the original sentence, which is not 
always that of the translation of it. 

In Indian books the titles and subtitles are placed only at, the end of the subject 
matter. In the translations they have been inserted at the beginning, and some 
subtitles added for the sake of clarity. In this connection the title at the end of 
Chapter XI, "Description of Concentration" is a "heading" applying not only to 
that chapter but as far back as the beginning of Chapter III. Similarly, the title at the 
end of Chapter XIII refers back to the beginning of Chapter XII. The heading 
"Description of the Soil in which Understanding Grows" (panna-bhilmi-niddesa) 
refers back from the end of Chapter XVII to the beginning of Chapter XIV. 

The book abounds in "shorthand" allusions to the Pitakas and to other parts of 
itself. They are often hard to recognize, and failure to do so results in a sentence 
with a half -meaning. It is hoped that most of them have been hunted down. 

Criticism has been strictly confined to the application of Pali Buddhist standards 
in an attempt to produce a balanced and uncoloured English counterpart of the 
original. The use of words has been stricter in the translation itself than the 
Introduction to it. 

The translator will, of course, have sometimes slipped or failed to follow his 
own rules; and there are many passages any rendering of which is bound to evoke 
query from some quarter where there is interest in the subject. As to the rules, 
however, and the vocabulary chosen, it has not been intended to lay down laws, 
and when the methods adopted are described above that is done simply to indicate 
the line taken: Janapada-niruttim nabhiniveseyya, samannam nati-dhaveyya ti (see 
XVII.24). 



lv 



The Path of Purification 
( Visuddhimagga) 






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Parti 
Virtue (Sila) 






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Namo tassa bhagavato arahato 
sammasambuddhassa 



Chapter I 

Description of Virtue 
(Slla-niddesa) 

[I. Introductory] 

1 . [1] "When a wise man, established well in virtue, 

Develops consciousness and understanding, 

Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious 

He succeeds in disentangling this tangle" (S 1 13). 

This was said. But why was it said? While the Blessed One was living at Savatthi, 
it seems, a certain deity came to him in the night, and in order to do away with his 
doubts, he asked this question: 

"The inner tangle and the outer tangle — 

This generation is entangled in a tangle. 

And so I ask of Gotama this question: 

Who succeeds in disentangling this tangle?" (S 1 13). 

2. Here is the meaning in brief. Tangle is a term for the network of craving. For 
that is a tangle in the sense of lacing together, like the tangle called network of 
branches in bamboo thickets, etc., because it goes on arising again and again up 
and down 1 among the objects [of consciousness] beginning with what is visible. 
But it is called the inner tangle and the outer tangle because it arises [as craving] for 
one's own requisites and another's, for one's own person and another's, and for 
the internal and external bases [for consciousness]. Since it arises in this way, this 
generation is entangled in a tangle. As the bamboos, etc., are entangled by the bamboo 
tangle, etc., so too this generation, in other words, this order of living beings, is all 
entangled by the tangle of craving — the meaning is that it is intertwined, interlaced 
by it. [2] And because it is entangled like this, so I ask of Gotama this question, that is 
why I ask this. He addressed the Blessed One by his clan name as Gotama. Who 

1. "From a visible datum sometimes as far down as a mental datum, or vice versa, 
following the order of the six kinds of objects of consciousness as given in the teaching" 
(Vism-mht 5, see XV32). 

5 

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Path of Purification Part 1: Virtue (Sila) 

succeeds in disentangling this tangle: who may disentangle this tangle that keeps the 
three kinds of existence entangled in this way? — What he asks is, who is capable of 
disentangling it? 

3. However, when questioned thus, the Blessed One, whose knowledge of all 
things is unimpeded, deity of deities, excelling Sakka (Ruler of Gods), excelling 
Brahma, fearless in the possession of the four kinds of perfect confidence, wielder 
of the ten powers, all-seer with unobstructed knowledge, uttered this stanza in 
reply to explain the meaning: 

"When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding, 
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious 
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle." 

4. My task is now to set out the true sense, 
Divided into virtue and the rest, 

Of this same verse composed by the Great Sage. 

There are here in the Victor's Dispensation 

Seekers gone forth from home to homelessness, 

And who although desiring purity 

Have no right knowledge of the sure straight way 

Comprising virtue and the other two, 

Right hard to find, that leads to purity — 

Who, though they strive, here gain no purity. 

To them I shall expound the comforting Path 

Of Purification, pure in expositions, 

Relying on the teaching of the dwellers 

In the Great Monastery; 2 let all those 

Good men who do desire purity 

Listen intently to my exposition. 

5. Herein, purification should be understood as Nibbana, which being devoid of 
all stains, is utterly pure. The path of purification is the path to that purification; it is 
the means of approach that is called the path. The meaning is, I shall expound that 
path of purification. 

6. In some instances this path of purification is taught by insight alone, 3 according 
as it is said: 



2. The Great Monastery (Mahavihara) at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. 

3. "The words 'insight alone' are meant to exclude not virtue, etc., but serenity (i.e. 
jhana), which is the opposite number in the pair, serenity and insight. This is for 
emphasis. But the word 'alone' actually excludes only that concentration with distinction 
[of jhana]; for concentration is classed as both access and absorption (see IV32). Taking 
this stanza as the teaching for one whose vehicle is insight does not imply that there is 
no concentration; for no insight comes about without momentary concentration. And 
again, insight should be understood as the three contemplations of impermanence, 
pain, and not-self; not contemplation of impermanence alone" (Vism-mht 9-10). 






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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

"Formations are all impermanent: 
When he sees thus with understanding 
And turns away from what is ill, 
That is the path to purity" (Dhp 277). [3] 

And in some instances by jhana and understanding, according as it is said: 

"He is near unto Nibbana 

In whom are jhana and understanding" (Dhp 372). 

And in some instances by deeds (kamma), etc., according as it is said: 

"By deeds, vision and righteousness, 

By virtue, the sublimest life — 

By these are mortals purified, 

And not by lineage and wealth" (M III 262). 

And in some instances by virtue, etc., according as it is said: 

"He who is possessed of constant virtue, 
Who has understanding, and is concentrated, 
Who is strenuous and diligent as well, 
Will cross the flood so difficult to cross" (S I 53). 

And in some instances by the foundations of mindfulness, etc., according as it 
is said: "Bhikkhus, this path is the only way for the purification of beings . . . for the 
realization of Nibbana, that is to say, the four foundations of mindfulness" (D II 
290); and similarly in the case of the right efforts, and so on. But in the answer to 
this question it is taught by virtue and the other two. 

7. Here is a brief commentary [on the stanza]. Established well in virtue: standing 
on virtue. It is only one actually fulfilling virtue who is here said to "stand on 
virtue." So the meaning here is this: being established well in virtue by fulfilling 
virtue. A man: a living being. Wise: possessing the kind of understanding that is 
born of kamma by means of a rebirth-linking with triple root-cause. Develops 
consciousness and understanding: develops both concentration and insight. For it is 
concentration that is described here under the heading of "consciousness," and 
insight under that of "understanding." 4 Ardent (atapin): possessing energy. For it is 
energy that is called "ardour" (atapa) in the sense of burning up and consuming 
(atapana-paritapana) defilements. He has that, thus he is ardent. Sagacious: it is 



4. "'Develops' applies to both 'consciousness' and 'understanding.' But are they 
mundane or supramundane? They are supramundane, because the sublime goal is 
described; for one developing them is said to disentangle the tangle of craving by cutting 
it off at the path moment, and that is not mundane. But the mundane are included here 
too because they immediately precede, since supramundane (see Ch. Ill n._5) 
concentration and insight are impossible without mundane concentration and insight 
to precede them; for without the access and absorption concentration in one whose 
vehicle is serenity, or without the momentary concentration in one whose vehicle is 
insight, and without the gateways to liberation (see XXI. 66f.), the supramundane can 
never in either case be reached" (Vism-mht 13). "With triple root-cause" means with 
non-greed, none-hate, and non-delusion. 

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Path of Purification Part 1: Virtue (Sila) 

understanding that is called "sagacity"; possessing that, is the meaning. This word 
shows protective understanding. For understanding is mentioned three times in 
the reply to the question. Herein, the first is naive understanding, the second is 
understanding consisting in insight, while the third is the protective understanding 
that guides all affairs. He sees fear (bhayam ikkhati) in the round of rebirths, thus he 
is a bhikkhu. He succeeds in disentangling this tangle: [4] Just as a man standing on the 
ground and taking up a well-sharpened knife might disentangle a great tangle of 
bamboos, so too, he — this bhikkhu who possesses the six things, namely, this virtue, 
and this concentration described under the heading of consciousness, and this 
threefold understanding, and this ardour — standing on the ground of virtue and 
taking up with the hand of protective-understanding exerted by the power of energy 
the knife of insight-understanding well-sharpened on the stone of concentration, 
might disentangle, cut away and demolish all the tangle of craving that had 
overgrown his own life's continuity. But it is at the moment of the path that he is 
said to be disentangling that tangle; at the moment of fruition he has disentangled 
the tangle and is worthy of the highest offerings in the world with its deities. That 
is why the Blessed One said: 

"When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding, 
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious 
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle." 

8. Herein there is nothing for him to do about the [naive] understanding on 
account of which he is called wise; for that has been established in him simply by 
the influence of previous kamma. But the words ardent and sagacious mean that by 
persevering with energy of the kind here described and by acting in full awareness 
with understanding he should, having become well established in virtue, develop 
the serenity and insight that are described as concentration and understanding. This 
is how the Blessed One shows the path of purification under the headings of virtue, 
concentration, and understanding there. 

9. What has been shown so far is the three trainings, the dispensation that is 
good in three ways, the necessary condition for the threefold clear-vision, etc., the 
avoidance of the two extremes and the cultivation of the middle way, the means to 
surmounting the states of loss, etc., the abandoning of defilements in three aspects, 
prevention of transgression etc., purification from the three kinds of defilements, 
and the reason for the states of stream-entry and so on. How? 

10. Here the training of higher virtue is shown by virtue; the training of higher 
consciousness, by concentration; and the training of higher understanding, by 

understanding. 

The dispensation's goodness in the beginning is shown by virtue. Because of the 
passage, "And what is the beginning of profitable things? Virtue that is quite 
purified" (S V 143), and because of the passage beginning, "The not doing of any 
evil" (Dhp 183), virtue is the beginning of the dispensation. And that is good because 
it brings about the special qualities of non-remorse, 5 and so on. Its goodness in the 

5. One who is virtuous has nothing to be remorseful about. 

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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

middle is shown by concentration. [5] Because of the passage beginning, "Entering 
upon the profitable" (Dhp 183), concentration is the middle of the dispensation. 
And that is good because it brings about the special qualities of supernormal power, 
and so on. Its goodness in the end is shown by understanding. Because of the passage, 
"The purifying of one's own mind — this is the Buddhas' dispensation" (Dhp 183), 
and because understanding is its culmination, understanding is the end of the 
dispensation. And that is good because it brings about equipoise with respect to 
the desired and the undesired. For this is said: 

"Just as a solid massive rock 
Remains unshaken by the wind, 
So too, in face of blame and praise 
The wise remain immovable" (Dhp 81). 

11 . Likewise the necessary condition for the triple clear-vision is shown by virtue. 
For with the support of perfected virtue one arrives at the three kinds of clear- 
vision, but nothing besides that. The necessary condition for the six kinds of direct- 
knowledge is shown by concentration. For with the support of perfected 
concentration one arrives at the six kinds of direct-knowledge, but nothing besides 
that. The necessary condition for the categories of discrimination is shown by 
understanding. For with the support of perfected understanding one arrives at the 
four kinds of discrimination, but not for any other reason. 6 

And the avoidance of the extreme called devotion to indulgence of sense desires 
is shown by virtue. The avoidance of the extreme called devotion to mortification 
of self is shown by concentration. The cultivation of the middle way is shown by 
understanding. 

12. Likewise the means for surmounting the states of loss is shown by virtue; the means 
for surmounting the element of sense desires, by concentration; and the means for 
surmounting all becoming, by understanding. 

And the abandoning of defilements by substitution of opposites is shown by virtue; 
that by suppression is shown by concentration; and that by cutting off is shown by 
understanding. 

13. Likewise prevention of defilements' transgression is shown by virtue; prevention of 
obsession (by defilement) is shown by concentration; prevention of inherent 
tendencies is shown by understanding. 

And purification from the defilement of misconduct is shown by virtue; purification 
from the defilement of craving, by concentration; and purification from the 
defilement of (false) views, by understanding. 



6. The three kinds of clear-vision are: recollection of past lives, knowledge of the 
passing away and reappearance of beings (divine eye), and knowledge of destruction 
of cankers (M I 22-23). The six kinds of direct-knowledge are: knowledge of 
supernormal power, the divine ear element, penetration of minds, recollection of past 
lives, knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings, and knowledge of 
destruction of cankers (M 1 34-35). The four discriminations are those of meaning, law, 
language, and intelligence (A II 160). 

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14. [6] Likewise the reason for the states of stream-entry and once-return is shown 
by virtue; that for the state of non-return, by concentration; that for Arahantship by 
understanding. For the stream-enterer is called "perfected in the kinds of virtue"; 
and likewise the once-returner. But the non-returner is called "perfected in con- 
centration." And the Arahant is called "perfected in understanding" (see A I 233). 

15. So thus far these nine and other like triads of special qualities have been shown, 
that is, the three trainings, the dispensation that is good in three ways, the necessary 
condition for the threefold clear-vision, the avoidance of the two extremes and the 
cultivation of the middle way, the means for surmounting the states of loss, etc., 
the abandoning of defilements in three aspects, prevention of transgression, etc., 
purification from the three kinds of defilements, and the reason for the states of 
stream-entry and so on. 

[II. Virtue] 

16. However, even when this path of purification is shown in this way under the 
headings of virtue, concentration and understanding, each comprising various 
special qualities, it is still only shown extremely briefly. And so since that is 
insufficient to help all, there is, in order to show it in detail, the following set of 
questions dealing in the first place with virtue: 

(i) What is virtue? 

(ii) In what sense is it virtue? 

(iii) What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate 

cause? 

(iv) What are the benefits of virtue? 

(v) How many kinds of virtue are there? 

(vi) What is the defiling of it? 

(viii) What is the cleansing of it? 

17. Here are the answers: 

(i) What is virtue? It is the states beginning with volition present in one who 
abstains from killing living things, etc., or in one who fulfils the practice of the 
duties. For this is said in the Patisambhida: "What is virtue? There is virtue as 
volition, virtue as consciousness-concomitant, 7 virtue as restraint, [7] virtue as non- 
transgression" (Patis I 44). 

Herein, virtue as volition is the volition present in one who abstains from killing 
living things, etc., or in one who fulfils the practice of the duties. Virtue as consciousness- 
concomitant is the abstinence in one who abstains from killing living things, and so on. 
Furthermore, virtue as volition is the seven volitions [that accompany the first seven] of 
the [ten] courses of action (kamma) in one who abandons the killing of living things, 
and so on. Virtue as consciousness-concomitant is the [three remaining] states consisting 
of non-covetousness, non-ill will, and right view, stated in the way beginning, 
"Abandoning covetousness, he dwells with a mind free from covetousness" (D I 71). 

7. "Consciousness-concomitants" (cetasika) is a collective term for feeling, perception, 
and formation, variously subdivided; in other words, aspects of mentality that arise 
together with consciousness. 

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18. Virtue as restraint should be understood here as restraint in five ways: restraint 
by the rules of the community (patimokkha), restraint by mindfulness, restraint 
by knowledge, restraint by patience, and restraint by energy. Herein, "restraint 
by the Patimokkha" is this: "He is furnished, fully furnished, with this 
Patimokkha restraint. (Vibh 246)" "Restraint by mindfulness" is this: "He guards 
the eye faculty, enters upon restraint of the eye faculty" (D I 70). "Restraint by 
knowledge" is this: 

"The currents in the world that flow, Ajita," 

said the Blessed One, 
"Are stemmed by means of mindfulness; 
Restraint of currents I proclaim, 
By understanding they are dammed" (Sn 1035); 

and use of requisites is here combined with this. But what is called "restraint by 
patience" is that given in the way beginning, "He is one who bears cold and heat" 
(M 110). And what is called "restraint by energy" is that given in the way beginning, 
"He does not endure a thought of sense desires when it arises" (M 1 11); purification 
of livelihood is here combined with this. So this fivefold restraint, and the abstinence, 
in clansmen who dread evil, from any chance of transgression met with, should 
all be understood to be "virtue as restraint." 

Virtue as non-transgression is the non-transgression, by body or speech, of precepts 
of virtue that have been undertaken. 

This, in the first place, is the answer to the question, "What is virtue?" [8] Now, 
as to the rest — 

19. (ii) In what sense is it virtue ? It is virtue {slid) in the sense of composing (silana). 8 
What is this composing? It is either a coordinating (samadhana), meaning non- 
inconsistency of bodily action, etc., due to virtuousness; or it is an upholding 
(upadharana) , s meaning a state of basis (ddhara) owing to its serving as foundation 
for profitable states. For those who understand etymology admit only these two 
meanings. Others, however, comment on the meaning here in the way beginning, 
"The meaning of virtue {silo.) is the meaning of head (sira), the meaning of virtue is 
the meaning of cool (sitala)." 

20. (iii) Now, what are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate 
cause? Here: 

The characteristic of it is composing 
Even when analyzed in various ways, 
As visibility is of visible data 
Even when analyzed in various ways. 

Just as visibleness is the characteristic of the visible-data base even when analyzed 
into the various categories of blue, yellow, etc., because even when analyzed into 
these categories it does not exceed visible-ness, so also this same composing, 
described above as the coordinating of bodily action, etc., and as the foundation of 

8. Silana and upadharana in this meaning (cf. Ch. I, §141 and sandharana, XIV61) are 
not in PED. 



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profitable states, is the characteristic of virtue even when analyzed into the various 
categories of volition, etc., because even when analyzed into these categories it 
does not exceed the state of coordination and foundation. 

21. While such is its characteristic: 

Its function has a double sense: 
Action to stop misconduct, then 
Achievement as the quality 
Of blamelessness in virtuous men. 

So what is called virtue should be understood to have the function (nature) of 
stopping misconduct as its function (nature) in the sense of action, and a blameless 
function (nature) as its function (nature) in the sense of achievement. For under 
[these headings of] characteristic, etc., it is action (kicca) or it is achievement (sampatti) 
that is called "function" (rasa — nature). 

22. Now, virtue, so say those who know, 
Itself as purity will show; 

And for its proximate cause they tell 

The pair, conscience and shame, as well. [9] 

This virtue is manifested as the kinds of purity stated thus: "Bodily purity, verbal 
purity, mental purity" (A I 271); it is manifested, comes to be apprehended, as a 
pure state. But conscience and shame are said by those who know to be its proximate 
cause; its near reason, is the meaning. For when conscience and shame are in 
existence, virtue arises and persists; and when they are not, it neither arises nor 
persists. 

This is how virtue's characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause, 
should be understood. 

23. (iv) What are the benefits of virtue? Its benefits are the acquisition of the 
several special qualities beginning with non-remorse. For this is said: "Ananda, 
profitable habits (virtues) have non-remorse as their aim and non-remorse as their 
benefit" (A V 1). Also it is said further: "Householder, there are these five benefits 
for the virtuous in the perfecting of virtue. What five? Here, householder, one who 
is virtuous, possessed of virtue, obtains a large fortune as a consequence of diligence; 
this is the first benefit for the virtuous in the perfecting of virtue. Again, of one 
who is virtuous, possessed of virtue, a fair name is spread abroad; this is the second 
benefit for the virtuous in the perfecting of virtue. Again, whenever one who is 
virtuous, possessed of virtue, enters an assembly, whether of khattiyas (warrior- 
nobles) or brahmans or householders or ascetics, he does so without fear or 
hesitation; this is the third benefit for the virtuous in the perfecting of virtue. Again, 
one who is virtuous, possessed of virtue, dies unconfused; this is the fourth benefit 
for the virtuous in the perfecting of virtue. Again, one who is virtuous, possessed 
of virtue, on the breakup of the body, after death, reappears in a happy destiny, in 
the heavenly world; this is the fifth benefit for the virtuous in the perfecting of 
virtue" (D II 86). There are also the many benefits of virtue beginning with being 
dear and loved and ending with destruction of cankers described in the passage 
beginning, "If a bhikkhu should wish, 'May I be dear to my fellows in the life of 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

purity and loved by them, held in respect and honoured by them,' let him perfect 
the virtues" (M 1 33). This is how virtue has as its benefits the several special qualities 
beginning with non-remorse. [10] 

24. Furthermore: 

Dare anyone a limit place 
On benefits that virtue brings, 
Without which virtue clansmen find 
No footing in the dispensation? 

No Ganges, and no Yamuna 

No Sarabhu, Sarassathi, 

Or flowing Aciravati, 

Or noble River of Mahi, 

Is able to wash out the stain 

In things that breathe here in the world; 

For only virtue's water can 

Wash out the stain in living things. 

No breezes that come bringing rain, 
No balm of yellow sandalwood, 
No necklaces beside, or gems 
Or soft effulgence of moonbeams, 
Can here avail to calm and soothe 
Men's fevers in this world; whereas 
This noble, this supremely cool, 
Well-guarded virtue quells the flame. 

Where is there to be found the scent 
That can with virtue's scent compare, 
And that is borne against the wind 
As easily as with it? Where 
Can such another stair be found 
That climbs, as virtue does, to heaven? 
Or yet another door that gives 
Onto the City of Nibbana? 

Shine as they may, there are no kings 
Adorned with jewellery and pearls 
That shine as does a man restrained 
Adorned with virtue's ornament. 
Virtue entirely does away 
With dread of self-blame and the like; 
Their virtue to the virtuous 
Gives gladness always by its fame. 

From this brief sketch it may be known 
How virtue brings reward, and how 
This root of all good qualities 
Robs of its power every fault. 



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25. (v) Now, here is the answer to the question, How many kinds of virtue are 

THERE ? 

1. Firstly all this virtue is of one kind by reason of its own characteristic of 
composing. 

2. It is of two kinds as keeping and avoiding. 

3. Likewise as that of good behaviour and that of the beginning of the life of 
purity, 

4. As abstinence and non-abstinence, 

5. As dependent and independent, 

6. As temporary and lifelong, 

7. As limited and unlimited, 

8. As mundane and supramundane. [11] 

9. It is of three kinds as inferior, medium, and superior. 

10. Likewise as giving precedence to self, giving precedence to the world, and 
giving precedence to the Dhamma, 

11. As adhered to, not adhered to, and tranquillized. 

12. As purified, unpurified, and dubious. 

13. As that of the trainer, that of the non- trainer, and that of the neither- trainer- 
nor-non-trainer. 

14. It is of four kinds as partaking of diminution, of stagnation, of distinction, 
of penetration. 

15. Likewise as that of bhikkhus, of bhikkhunis, of the not-fully-admitted, of 
the laity, 

16. As natural, customary, necessary, due to previous causes, 

17. As virtue of Patimokkha restraint, of restraint of sense faculties, of 
purification of livelihood, and that concerning requisites. 

18. It is of five kinds as virtue consisting in limited purification, etc.; for this is 
said in the Patisambhida: "Five kinds of virtue: virtue consisting in limited 
purification, virtue consisting in unlimited purification, virtue consisting in fulfilled 
purification, virtue consisting in unadhered-to purification, virtue consisting in 
tranquillized purification" (Patis I 42). 

19. Likewise as abandoning, refraining, volition, restraint, and non- 
transgression. 

26. 1. Herein, in the section dealing with that of one kind, the meaning should 
be understood as already stated. 

2. In the section dealing with that of two kinds: fulfilling a training precept 
announced by the Blessed One thus: "This should be done" is keeping; not doing what 
is prohibited by him thus: "This should not be done" is avoiding. Herein, the word- 
meaning is this: they keep (caranti) within that, they proceed as people who fulfil the 
virtues, thus it is keeping (caritta); they preserve, they protect, they avoid, thus it is 



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avoiding. Herein, keeping is accomplished by faith and energy; avoiding, by faith and 
mindfulness. This is how it is of two kinds as keeping and avoiding. 

27. 3. In the second dyad good behaviour is the best kind of behaviour. Good 
behaviour itself is that of good behaviour; or what is announced for the sake of good 
behaviour is that of good behaviour. This is a term for virtue other than that which 
has livelihood as eighth. 9 It is the initial stage of the life of purity consisting in the 
path, thus it is that of the beginning of the life of purity. This is a term for the virtue 
that has livelihood as eighth. It is the initial stage of the path because it has actually 
to be purified in the prior stage too. Hence it is said: "But his bodily action, his 
verbal action, and his livelihood have already been purified earlier" (M III 289). Or 
the training precepts called "lesser and minor" (D II 154) [12] are that of good 
behaviour; the rest are that of the beginning of the life of purity. Or what is included in 
the Double Code (the bhikkhus' and bhikkhunls' Patimokkha) is that of the beginning 
of the life of purity; and that included in the duties set out in the Khandhakas [of 
Vinaya] is that of good behaviour. Through its perfection that of the beginning of the life 
of purity comes to be perfected. Hence it is said also "that this bhikkhu shall fulfil 
the state consisting in the beginning of the life of purity without having fulfilled 
the state consisting in good behaviour — that is not possible" (A III 14-15). So it is 
of two kinds as that of good behaviour and that of the beginning of the life of 
purity. 

28. 4. In the third dyad virtue as abstinence is simply abstention from killing living 
things, etc.; the other kinds consisting in volition, etc., are virtue as non-abstinence. 
So it is of two kinds as abstinence and non-abstinence. 

29. 5. In the fourth dyad there are two kinds of dependence: dependence through 
craving and dependence through [false] views. Herein, that produced by one who 
wishes for a fortunate kind of becoming thus, "Through this virtuous conduct 
[rite] I shall become a [great] deity or some [minor] deity" (M 1 102), is dependent 
through craving. That produced through such [false] view about purification as 
"Purification is through virtuous conduct" (Vibh 374) is dependent through [false] 
view. But the supramundane, and the mundane that is the prerequisite for the 
aforesaid supramundane, are independent. So it is of two kinds as dependent and 
independent. 

30. 6. In the fifth dyad temporary virtue is that undertaken after deciding on a 
time limit. Lifelong virtue is that practiced in the same way but undertaking it for 
as long as life lasts. So it is of two kinds as temporary and lifelong. 

31 . 7. In the sixth dyad the limited is that seen to be limited by gain, fame, relatives, 
limbs, or life. The opposite is unlimited. And this is said in the Patisambhida: "What 
is the virtue that has a limit? There is virtue that has gain as its limit, there is virtue 
that has fame as its limit, there is virtue that has relatives as its limit, there is virtue 
that has limbs as its limit, there is virtue that has life as its limit. What is virtue that 

9. The three kinds of profitable bodily kamma or action (not killing or stealing or 
indulging in sexual misconduct), the four kinds of profitable verbal kamma or action 
(refraining from lying, malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip), and right livelihood 
as the eighth. 

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has gain as its limit? Here someone with gain as cause, with gain as condition, 
with gain as reason, transgresses a training precept as undertaken: that virtue has 
gain as its limit" (Patis I 43), [13] and the rest should be elaborated in the same 
way. Also in the answer dealing with the unlimited it is said: "What is virtue that 
does not have gain as its limit? Here someone does not, with gain as cause, with 
gain as condition, with gain as reason, even arouse the thought of transgressing a 
training precept as undertaken, how then shall he actually transgress it? That virtue 
does not have gain as its limit" (Patis 1 44), and the rest should be elaborated in the 
same way. So it is of two kinds as limited and unlimited. 

32. 8. In the seventh dyad all virtue subject to cankers is mundane; that not subject 
to cankers is supramundane. Herein, the mundanebrings about improvement in future 
becoming and is a prerequisite for the escape from becoming, according as it is 
said: "Discipline is for the purpose of restraint, restraint is for the purpose of non- 
remorse, non-remorse is for the purpose of gladdening, gladdening is for the 
purpose of happiness, happiness is for the purpose of tranquillity, tranquillity is 
for the purpose of bliss, bliss is for the purpose of concentration, concentration is 
for the purpose of correct knowledge and vision, correct knowledge and vision is 
for the purpose of dispassion, dispassion is for the purpose of fading away [of 
greed], fading away is for the purpose of deliverance, deliverance is for the purpose 
of knowledge and vision of deliverance, knowledge and vision of deliverance is 
for the purpose of complete extinction [of craving, etc.] through not clinging. Talk 
has that purpose, counsel has that purpose, support has that purpose, giving ear 
has that purpose, that is to say, the liberation of the mind through not clinging" 
(Vin V 164). The supramundane brings about the escape from becoming and is the 
plane of reviewing knowledge. So it is of two kinds as mundane and supramundane. 

33. 9. In the first of the triads the inferior is produced by inferior zeal, [purity of] 
consciousness, energy, or inquiry; the medium is produced by medium zeal, etc.; 
the superior, by superior (zeal, and so on). That undertaken out of desire for fame is 
inferior; that undertaken out of desire for the fruits of merit is medium; that 
undertaken for the sake of the noble state thus, "This has to be done" is superior. Or 
again, that defiled by self-praise and disparagement of others, etc., thus, "I am 
possessed of virtue, but these other bhikkhus are ill-conducted and evil-natured" 
(M 1 193), is inferior; undefiled mundane virtue is medium; supramundane is superior. 
Or again, that motivated by craving, the purpose of which is to enjoy continued 
existence, is inferior; that practiced for the purpose of one's own deliverance is 
medium; the virtue of the perfections practiced for the deliverance of all beings is 
superior. So it is of three kinds as inferior, medium, and superior. 

34. 10. In the second triad that practiced out of self-regard by one who regards self 
and desires to abandon what is unbecoming to self [14] is virtue giving precedence to 
self. That practiced out of regard for the world and out of desire to ward off the censure 
of the world is virtue giving precedence to the world. That practiced out of regard for the 
Dhamma and out of desire to honour the majesty of the Dhamma is virtue giving 
precedence to the Dhamma. So it is of three kinds as giving precedence to self, and so on. 

35. 1 L In the third triad the virtue that in the dyads was called dependent (no. 5) 
is adhered-to because it is adhered-to through craving and [false] view. That practiced 



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by the magnanimous ordinary man as the prerequisite of the path, and that 
associated with the path in trainers, are not-adhered-to. That associated with trainers' 
and non-trainers' fruition is tranquillized. So it is of three kinds as adhered-to, and 
so on. 

36. 12. In the fourth triad that fulfilled by one who has committed no offence or 
has made amends after committing one is pure. So long as he has not made amends 
after committing an offence it is impure. Virtue in one who is dubious about whether 
a thing constitutes an offence or about what grade of offence has been committed 
or about whether he has committed an offence is dubious. Herein, the meditator 
should purify impure virtue. If dubious, he should avoid cases about which he is 
doubtful and should get his doubts cleared up. In this way his mind will be kept at 
rest. So it is of three kinds as pure, and so on. 

37. 13. In the fifth triad the virtue associated with the four paths and with the 
[first] three fruitions is that of the trainer. That associated with the fruition of 
Arahantship is that of the non-trainer. The remaining kinds are that of the neither- 
trainer-nor-non-trainer. So it is of three kinds as that of the trainer, and so on. 

38. But in the world the nature of such and such beings is called their "habit" (slla) of 
which they say: "This one is of happy habit (sukha-slla), this one is of unhappy habit, 
this one is of quarrelsome habit, this one is of dandified habit." Because of that it is 
said in the Patisambhida figuratively: "Three kinds of virtue (habit): profitable virtue, 
unprofitable virtue, indeterminate virtue" (Patis 1 44). So it is also called of three kinds 
as profitable, and so on. Of these, the unprofitable is not included here since it has 
nothing whatever to do with the headings beginning with the characteristic, which 
define virtue in the sense intended in this [chapter]. So the threefoldness should be 
understood only in the way already stated. 

39. 14. In the first of the tetrads: 

The unvirtuous he cultivates, 
He visits not the virtuous, 
And in his ignorance he sees 
No fault in a transgression here, [15] 
With wrong thoughts often in his mind 
His faculties he will not guard — 
Virtue in such a constitution 
Comes to partake of diminution. 

But he whose mind is satisfied. 
With virtue that has been achieved, 
Who never thinks to stir himself 
And take a meditation subject up, 
Contented with mere virtuousness, 
Nor striving for a higher state — 
His virtue bears the appellation 
Of that partaking of stagnation. 

But who, possessed of virtue, strives 
With concentration for his aim — 



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That bhikkhu's virtue in its function 
Is called partaking of distinction. 

Who finds mere virtue not enough 
But has dispassion for his goal — 
His virtue through such aspiration 
Comes to partake of penetration. 

So it is of four kinds as partaking of diminution, and so on. 

40. 15. In the second tetrad there are training precepts announced for bhikkhus to 
keep irrespective of what is announced for bhikkhunis. This is the virtue of bhikkhus. 
There are training precepts announced for bhikkhunis to keep irrespective of what is 
announced for bhikkhus. This is the virtue of bhikkhunis. The ten precepts of virtue for 
male and female novices are the virtue of the not fully admitted. The five training 
precepts — ten when possible — as a permanent undertaking and eight as the factors of 
the Uposatha Day, 10 for male and female lay followers are the virtue of the laity. So it is 
of four kinds as the virtue of bhikkhus, and so on. 

41 . 16. In the third tetrad the non- transgression on the part of Uttarakuru human 
beings is natural virtue. Each clan's or locality's or sect's own rules of conduct are 
customary virtue. The virtue of the Bodhisatta's mother described thus: "It is the 
necessary rule, Ananda, that when the Bodhisatta has descended into his mother's 
womb, no thought of men that is connected with the cords of sense desire comes to 
her" (D II 13), is necessary virtue. But the virtue of such pure beings as Maha Kassapa, 
etc., and of the Bodhisatta in his various births is virtue due to previous causes. So it 
is of four kinds as natural virtue, and so on. 

42. 17. In the fourth tetrad: 

(a) The virtue described by the Blessed One thus: "Here a bhikkhu dwells 
restrained with the Patimokkha restraint, possessed of the [proper] conduct and 
resort, and seeing fear in the slightest fault, he trains himself by undertaking the 
precepts of training, (Vibh 244)" is virtue of Patimokkha restraint. 

(b) That described thus: "On seeing a visible object with the eye, [16] he 
apprehends neither the signs nor the particulars through which, if he left the eye 
faculty unguarded, evil and unprofitable states of covetousness and grief might 
invade him; he enters upon the way of its restraint, he guards the eye faculty, 
undertakes the restraint of the eye faculty. On hearing a sound with the ear . . . On 
smelling an odour with the nose . . . On tasting a flavour with the tongue . . . On 

10. Uposatha (der. from upavasati, to observe or to prepare) is the name for the day of 
"fasting" or "vigil" observed on the days of the new moon, waxing half moon, full 
moon, and waning half moon. On these days it is customary for laymen to undertake 
the Eight Precepts (sila) or Five Precepts. On the new-moon and full-moon days the 
Patimokkha (see note 11) is recited by bhikkhus. The two quarter-moon days are called 
the "eighth of the half moon." The Full-moon day is called the "fifteenth" (i.e. fifteen 
days from the new moon) and is the last day of the lunar month. That of the new moon 
is called the "fourteenth" when it is the second and fourth new moon of the four- 
month season (i.e. fourteen days from the full moon), the other two are called the 
"fifteenth." This compensates for the irregularities of the lunar period. 

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touching a tangible object with the body . . . On cognizing a mental object with the 
mind, he apprehends neither the signs nor the particulars through which, if he left 
the mind faculty unguarded, evil and unprofitable states of covetousness and grief 
might invade him; he enters upon the way of its restraint, he guards the mind 
faculty, undertakes the restraint of the mind faculty (M 1 180), is virtue of restraint of 
the sense faculties. 

(c) Abstinence from such wrong livelihood as entails transgression of the six training 
precepts announced with respect to livelihood and entails the evil states beginning 
with "Scheming, talking, hinting, belittling, pursuing gain with gain" (M II 75) is virtue 
of livelihood purification. 

(d) Use of the four requisites that is purified by the reflection stated in the way 
beginning, "Reflecting wisely, he uses the robe only for protection from cold" (M I 
10) is called virtue concerning requisites. 

43. Here is an explanatory exposition together with a word commentary starting 
from the beginning. 

(a) Here: in this dispensation. A bhikkhu: a clansman who has gone forth out of 
faith and is so styled because he sees fear in the round of rebirths (samsare bhayarn 
ikkhanata) or because he wears cloth garments that are torn and pieced together, 
and so on. 

Restrained with the Patimokkha restraint: here "Patimokkha" (Rule of the 
Community) 11 is the virtue of the training precepts; for it frees (mokkheti) him who 
protects (pat i) it, guards it, it sets him free (mocayati) from the pains of the states of 
loss, etc., that is why it is called Patimokkha. "Restraint" is restraining; this is a term 
for bodily and verbal non-transgression. The Patimokkha itself as restraint is 
"Patimokkha restraint." "Restrained with the Patimokkha restraint" is restrained 
by means of the restraint consisting in that Patimokkha; he has it, possesses it, is 
the meaning. Dwells: bears himself in one of the postures. [17] 

44. The meaning of possessed of [the proper] conduct and resort, etc., should be 
understood in the way in which it is given in the text. For this is said: "Possessed of 
[the proper] conduct and resort: there is [proper] conduct and improper conduct. 
Herein, what is improper conduct? Bodily transgression, verbal transgression, 
bodily and verbal transgression — this is called improper conduct. Also all 
unvirtuousness is improper conduct. Here someone makes a livelihood by gifts of 
bamboos, or by gifts of leaves, or by gifts of flowers, fruits, bathing powder, and 
tooth sticks, or by flattery, or by bean-soupery or by fondling, or by going on errands 
on foot, or by one or other of the sorts of wrong livelihood condemned by the 
Buddhas — this is called improper conduct. Herein, what is [proper] conduct? Bodily 

11. The Suttavibhariga, the first book of the Vinaya Pitaka, contains in its two parts 
the 227 rules for bhikkhus and the rules for bhikkhunis, who have received the admission 
(upasampada), together with accounts of the incidents that led to the announcement of 
the rules, the modification of the rules and the explanations of them. The bare rules 
themselves form the Patimokkha for bhikkhus and that for bhikkhunis. They are also 
known as the "two codes" (dve matika). The Patimokkha is recited by bhikkhus on the 
Uposatha days of the full moon and new moon. 

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non-transgression, verbal non-transgression, bodily and verbal non-transgression — 
this is called [proper] conduct. Also all restraint through virtue is [proper] conduct. 
Here someone "does not make a livelihood by gifts of bamboos, or by gifts of 
leaves, or by gifts of flowers, fruits, bathing powder, and tooth sticks, or by flattery, 
or by bean-soupery or by fondling, or by going on errands on foot, or by one or 
other of the sorts of wrong livelihood condemned by the Buddhas — this is called 
[proper] conduct." 

45. "[Proper] resort: there is [proper] resort and improper resort. Herein, what is 
improper resort? Here someone has prostitutes as resort, or he has widows, old 
maids, eunuchs, bhikkhums, or taverns as resort; or he dwells associated with kings, 
kings' ministers, sectarians, sectarians' disciples, in unbecoming association with 
laymen; or he cultivates, frequents, honours, such families as are faithless, 
untrusting, abusive and rude, who wish harm, wish ill, wish woe, wish no surcease 
of bondage, forbhikkhus and bhikkhums, for male and female devotees [18] — this 
is called improper resort. Herein, what is [proper] resort? Here someone does not 
have prostitutes as resort ... or taverns as resort; he does not dwell associated with 
kings . . . sectarians' disciples, in unbecoming association with laymen; he cultivates, 
frequents, honours, such families as are faithful and trusting, who are a solace, 
where the yellow cloth glows, where the breeze of sages blows, who wish good, 
wish well, wish joy, wish surcease of bondage, for bhikkhus and bhikkhums, for 
male and female devotees — this is called [proper] resort. Thus he is furnished with, 
fully furnished with, provided with, fully provided with, supplied with, possessed 
of, endowed with, this [proper] conduct and this [proper] resort. Hence it is said, 
'Possessed of [the proper] conduct and resort'" (Vibh 246-47). 

46. Furthermore, [proper] conduct and resort should also be understood here in 
the following way; for improper conduct is twofold as bodily and verbal. Herein, 
what is bodily improper conduct? "Here someone acts disrespectfully before the 
Community, and he stands jostling elder bhikkhus, sits jostling them, stands in 
front of them, sits in front of them, sits on a high seat, sits with his head covered, 
talks standing up, talks waving his arms . . . walks with sandals while elder bhikkhus 
walk without sandals, walks on a high walk while they walk on a low walk, walks 
on a walk while they walk on the ground . . . stands pushing elder bhikkhus, sits 
pushing them, prevents new bhikkhus from getting a seat . . . and in the bath house 
. . . without asking elder bhikkhus he puts wood on [the stove] . . . bolts the door . . . 
and at the bathing place he enters the water jostling elder bhikkhus, enters it in 
front of them, bathes jostling them, bathes in front of them, comes out jostling 
them, comes out in front of them . . . and entering inside a house he goes jostling 
elder bhikkhus, goes in front of them, pushing forward he goes in front of them . . . 
and where families have inner private screened rooms in which the women of the 
family ... the girls of the family, sit, there he enters abruptly, and he strokes a 
child's head" (Nidd I 228-29). This is called bodily improper conduct. 

47. Herein, what is verbal improper conduct? "Here someone acts disrespectfully 
before the Community. Without asking elder bhikkhus he talks on the Dhamma, 
answers questions, recites the Patimokkha, talks standing up, [19] talks waving his 
arms . . . having entered inside a house, he speaks to a woman or a girl thus: 'You, so- 



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and-so of such-and-such a clan, what is there? Is there rice gruel? Is there cooked rice? 
Is there any hard food to eat? What shall we drink? What hard food shall we eat? What 
soft food shall we eat? Or what will you give me?' — he chatters like this" (Nidd 1 230). 
This is called verbal improper conduct. 

48. Proper conduct should be understood in the opposite sense to that. 
Furthermore, a bhikkhu is respectful, deferential, possessed of conscience and 
shame, wears his inner robe properly, wears his upper robe properly, his manner 
inspires confidence whether in moving forwards or backwards, looking ahead or 
aside, bending or stretching, his eyes are downcast, he has (a good) deportment, 
he guards the doors of his sense faculties, knows the right measure in eating, is 
devoted to wakefulness, possesses mindfulness and full awareness, wants little, is 
contented, is strenuous, is a careful observer of good behaviour, and treats the 
teachers with great respect. This is called (proper) conduct. 

This firstly is how (proper) conduct should be understood. 

49. (Proper) resort is of three kinds: (proper) resort as support, (proper) resort as 
guarding, and (proper) resort as anchoring. Herein, what is (proper) resort as 
support? A good friend who exhibits the instances of talk, 12 in whose presence one 
hears what has not been heard, corrects what has been heard, gets rid of doubt, 
rectifies one's view, and gains confidence; or by training under whom one grows 
in faith, virtue, learning, generosity and understanding — this is called (proper) resort 
as support. 

50. What is (proper) resort as guarding? Here "A bhikkhu, having entered inside 
a house, having gone into a street, goes with downcast eyes, seeing the length of a 
plough yoke, restrained, not looking at an elephant, not looking at a horse, a carriage, 
a pedestrian, a woman, a man, not looking up, not looking down, not staring this 
way and that" (Nidd I 474). This is called (proper) resort as guarding. 

51 . What is (proper) resort as anchoring? It is the four foundations of mindfulness 
on which the mind is anchored; for this is said by the Blessed One: "Bhikkhus, 
what is a bhikkhu's resort, his own native place? It is these four foundations of 
mindfulness" (S V 148). This is called (proper) resort as anchoring. 

Being thus furnished with ... endowed with, this (proper) conduct and this 
(proper) resort, he is also on that account called "one possessed of (proper) conduct 
and resort." [20] 

52. Seeing fear in the slightest fault (§42): one who has the habit (slid) of seeing fear 
in faults of the minutest measure, of such kinds as unintentional contravening of a 
minor training rule of the Patimokkha, or the arising of unprofitable thoughts. He 
trains himself by undertaking (samadaya) the precepts of training: whatever there is 
among the precepts of training to be trained in, in all that he trains by taking it up 

12. The "ten instances of talk" (dasa kathavatthuni) refer to the kinds of talk given in 
the Suttas thus: "Such talk as is concerned with effacement, as favours the heart's release, 
as leads to complete dispassion, fading, cessation, peace, direct knowledge, 
enlightenment, Nibbana, that is to say: talk on wanting little, contentment, seclusion, 
aloofness from contact, strenuousness, virtue, concentration, understanding, 
deliverance, knowledge and vision of deliverance" (M 1 145; III 113). 

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rightly (samma adaya). And here, as far as the words, "one restrained by the 
Patimokkha restraint," virtue of Patimokkha restraint is shown by discourse in 
terms of persons. 13 But all that beginning with the words, "possessed of [proper] 
conduct and resort" should be understood as said in order to show the way of 
practice that perfects that virtue in him who so practices it. 

53. (b) Now, as regards the virtue of restraint of faculties shown next to that in the 
way beginning, "on seeing a visible object with the eye," herein he is a bhikkhu 
established in the virtue of Patimokkha restraint. On seeing a visible object with the eye: 
on seeing a visible object with the eye-consciousness that is capable of seeing visible 
objects and has borrowed the name "eye" from its instrument. But the Ancients (porana) 
said: "The eye does not see a visible object because it has no mind. The mind does not 
see because it has no eyes. But when there is the impingement of door and object he 
sees by means of the consciousness that has eye-sensitivity as its physical basis. Now, 
(an idiom) such as this is called an 'accessory locution' (sasambharakatha), like 'He shot 
him with his bow/ and so on. So the meaning here is this: 'On seeing a visible object 
with eye-consciousness.'" 14 

54. Apprehends neither the signs: he does not apprehend the sign of woman or 
man, or any sign that is a basis for defilement such as the sign of beauty, etc.; he 
stops at what is merely seen. Nor the particulars: he does not apprehend any aspect 
classed as hand, foot, smile, laughter, talk, looking ahead, looking aside, etc., which 
has acquired the name "particular" (anubyanjana) because of its particularizing 
(anu anu byanjanato) defilements, because of its making them manifest themselves. 



13. See Ch. IV n. 27. 

14. "'On seeing a visible object with the eye": if the eye were to see the visible object, then 
(organs) belonging to other kinds of consciousness would see too; but that is not so. 
Why? Because the eye has no thought (acetanatta). And then, were consciousness itself 
to see a visible object, it would see it even behind a wall because of being independent 
of sense resistance (appatighabhavato); but that is not so either because there is no seeing 
in all kinds of consciousness. And herein, it is consciousness dependent on the eye that 
sees, not just any kind. And that does not arise with respect to what is enclosed by 
walls, etc., where light is excluded. But where there is no exclusion of light, as in the 
case of a crystal or a mass of cloud, there it does arise even with respect to what is 
enclosed by them. So it is as a basis of consciousness that the eye sees. 

"'When there is the impingement of door and object': what is intended is: when a visible 
datum as object has come into the eye's focus. 'One sees': one looks (oloketi); for when 
the consciousness that has eye-sensitivity as its material support is disclosing (pbhasente) 
by means of the special quality of its support a visible datum as object that is assisted 
by light (aloka), then it is said that a person possessed of that sees the visible datum. 
And here the illuminating is the revealing of the visible datum according to its individual 
essence, in other words, the apprehending of it experientially (paccakkhato) . 

"Here it is the 'sign of woman' because it is the cause of perceiving as 'woman' all 
such things as the shape that is grasped under the heading of the visible data 
(materiality) invariably found in a female continuity, the un-clear-cut-ness (avisadata) 
of the flesh of the breasts, the beardlessness of the face, the use of cloth to bind the hair, 
the un-clear-cut stance, walk, and so on. The 'sign of man' is in the opposite sense. 



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He only apprehends what is really there. Like the Elder Maha Tissa who dwelt at 
Cetiyapabbata. 

55. It seems that as the elder was on his way from Cetiyapabbata to Anuradhapura 
for alms, a certain daughterinlaw of a clan, who had quarrelled with her husband 
and had set out early from Anuradhapura all dressed up and tricked out like a 
celestial nymph to go to her relatives' home, saw him on the road, and being low- 
minded, [21] she laughed a loud laugh. [Wondering] "What is that?" the elder 
looked up and finding in the bones of her teeth the perception of foulness (ugliness), 
he reached Arahantship 15 Hence it was said: 

"He saw the bones that were her teeth, 
And kept in mind his first perception; 
And standing on that very spot 
The elder became an Arahant." 

But her husband, who was going after her, saw the elder and asked, "Venerable 
sir, did you by any chance see a woman?" The elder told him: 

"Whether it was a man or woman 
That went by I noticed not, 



"'The sign of beauty' here is the aspect of woman that is the cause for the arising of 
lust. By the word 'etc' the sign of resentment (patigha), etc., are included, which should 
be understood as the undesired aspect that is the cause for the arising of hate. And 
here admittedly only covetousness and grief are specified in the text but the sign of 
equanimity needs to be included too; since there is non-restraint in the delusion that 
arises due to overlooking, or since 'forgetfulness of unknowing' is said below (§57). 
And here the 'sign of equanimity' should be understood as an object that is the basis 
for the kind of equanimity associated with unknowing through overlooking it. So 'the 
sign of beauty, etc' given in brief thus is actually the cause of greed, hate, and delusion. 

"'He stops at what is merely seen': according to the Sutta method, 'The seen shall be 
merely seen' (Ud 8). As soon as the colour basis has been apprehended by the 
consciousnesses of the cognitive series with eye-consciousness he stops; he does not 
fancy any aspect of beauty etc., beyond that. ... In one who fancies as beautiful, etc., the 
limbs of the opposite sex, defilements arisen with respect to them successively become 
particularized, which is why they are called 'particulars.' But these are simply modes 
of interpreting (sannivesakara) the kinds of materiality derived from the (four) primaries 
that are interpreted (sannivittha) in such and such wise; for apart from that there is in 
the ultimate sense no such thing as a hand and so on" (Vism-mht 40-41). See also Ch. 
Ill, note 31. 

15. "As the elder was going along (occupied) only in keeping his meditation subject 
in mind, since noise is a thorn to those in the early stage, he looked up with the noise of 
the laughter, (wondering) 'What is that?' 'Perception of foulness' is perception of bones; 
for the elder was then making bones his meditation subject. The elder, it seems as soon 
as he saw her teeth-bones while she was laughing, got the counterpart sign with access 
jhana because he had developed the preliminary-work well. While he stood there he 
reached the first jhana. Then he made that the basis for insight, which he augmented 
until he attained the paths one after the other and reached destruction of cankers" 
(Vism-mht 41-42). 



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But only that on this high road 
There goes a group of bones." 

56. As to the words through which, etc., the meaning is: by reason of which, because 
of which non-restraint of the eye faculty, if he, if that person, left the eye faculty 
unguarded, remained with the eye door unclosed by the door-panel of mindfulness, 
these states ofcovetousness, etc., might invade, might pursue, might threaten, him. He 
enters upon the way of its restraint: he enters upon the way of closing that eye faculty 
by the door-panel of mindfulness. It is the same one of whom it is said he guards the 
eye faculty, undertakes the restraint of the eye faculty. 

57. Herein, there is neither restraint nor non-restraint in the actual eye faculty, 
since neither mindfulness nor forgetfulness arises in dependence on eye-sensitivity 
On the contrary when a visible datum as object comes into the eye's focus, then, 
after the life-continuum has arisen twice and ceased, the functional mind-element 
accomplishing the function of adverting arises and ceases. After that, eye- 
consciousness with the function of seeing; after that, resultant mind-element with 
the function of receiving; after that, resultant root-causeless mind-consciousness- 
element with the function of investigating; after that, functional root-causeless 
mind-consciousness-element accomplishing the function of determining arises and 
ceases. Next to that, impulsion impels. 16 Herein, there is neither restraint nor non- 
restraint on the occasion of the life-continuum, or on any of the occasions beginning 
with adverting. But there is non-restraint if unvirtuousness or forgetfulness or 
unknowing or impatience or idleness arises at the moment of impulsion. When 
this happens, it is called "non-restraint in the eye faculty." [22] 

58. Why is that? Because when this happens, the door is not guarded, nor are the 
life-continuum and the consciousnesses of the cognitive series. Like what? Just as, when 
a city's four gates are not secured, although inside the city house doors, storehouses, 
rooms, etc., are secured, yet all property inside the city is unguarded and unprotected 
since robbers coming in by the city gates can do as they please, so too, when 
unvirtuousness, etc., arise in impulsion in which there is no restraint, then the door too 
is unguarded, and so also are the life-continuum and the consciousnesses of the 
cognitive series beginning with adverting. But when virtue, etc., has arisen in it, then 
the door too is guarded and so also are the life-continuum and the consciousnesses of 

16. To expect to find in the Paramatthamanjusa an exposition of the "cognitive series" 
(citta-vithi), and some explanation of the individual members in addition to what is to 
be found in the Visuddhimagga itself, is to be disappointed. There are only fragmentary 
treatments. All that is said here is this: 

"There is no unvirtuousness, in other words, bodily or verbal misconduct, in the 
five doors; consequently restraint of unvirtuousness happens through the mind door, 
and the remaining restraint happens through the six doors. For the arising of 
forgetfulness and the other three would be in the five doors since they are unprofitable 
states opposed to mindfulness, etc.; and there is no arising of unvirtuousness consisting 
in bodily and verbal transgression there because five-door impulsions do not give rise 
to intimation. And the five kinds of non-restraint beginning with unvirtuousness are 
stated here as the opposite of the five kinds of restraint beginning with restraint as 
virtue" (Vism-mht 42). See also Ch. IV note 13. 

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the cognitive series beginning with adverting. Like what? Just as, when the city gates 
are secured, although inside the city the houses, etc., are not secured, yet all property 
inside the city is well guarded, well protected, since when the city gates are shut there 
is no ingress for robbers, so too, when virtue, etc., have arisen in impulsion, the door 
too is guarded and so also are the life-continuum and the consciousnesses of the 
cognitive series beginning with adverting. Thus although it actually arises at the moment 
of impulsion, it is nevertheless called "restraint in the eye faculty" 

59. So also as regards the phrases on hearing a sound with the ear and so on. So it is 
this virtue, which in brief has the characteristic of avoiding apprehension of signs 
entailing defilement with respect to visible objects, etc., that should be understood 
as virtue of restraint of faculties. 

60. (c) Now, as regards the virtue of livelihood purification mentioned above next 
to the virtue of restraint of the faculties (§42), the words of the six precepts announced 
on account of livelihood mean, of the following six training precepts announced thus: 
"With livelihood as cause, with livelihood as reason, one of evil wishes, a prey to 
wishes, lays claim to a higher than human state that is non-existent, not a fact," the 
contravention of which is defeat (expulsion from the Order); "with livelihood as 
cause, with livelihood as reason, he acts as go-between," the contravention of which 
is an offence entailing a meeting of the Order; "with livelihood as cause, with 
livelihood as reason, he says, 'A bhikkhu who lives in your monastery is an 
Arahant,'" the contravention of which is a serious offence in one who is aware of it; 
"with livelihood as cause, with livelihood as reason, a bhikkhu who is not sick eats 
superior food that he has ordered for his own use," the contravention of which is 
an offence requiring expiation: "With livelihood as cause, with livelihood as reason, 
a bhikkhuni who is not sick eats superior food that she has ordered for her own 
use," the contravention of which is an offence requiring confession; "with livelihood 
as cause, with livelihood as reason, one who is not sick eats curry or boiled rice 
[23] that he has ordered for his own use," the contravention of which is an offence 
of wrongdoing (Vin V 146). Of these six precepts. 17 

61. As regards scheming, etc. (§42), this is the text: "Herein, what is scheming? It 
is the grimacing, grimacery scheming, schemery schemedness, 18 by what is called 
rejection of requisites or by indirect talk, or it is the disposing, posing, composing, 
of the deportment on the part of one bent on gain, honour and renown, of one of 
evil wishes, a prey to wishes — this is called scheming. 

62. "Herein, what is talking? Talking at others, talking, talking round, talking up, 
continual talking up, persuading, continual persuading, suggesting, continual 
suggesting, ingratiating chatter, flattery, bean-soupery fondling, on the part of one 
bent on gain, honour and renown, of one of evil wishes, a prey to wishes — this is 
called talking. 

17. This apparently incomplete sentence is also in the Pali text. It is not clear why. 
(BPSEd.) 

18. The formula "kuhana kuhayana kuhitattam," i.e. verbal noun in two forms and 
abstract noun from pp., all from the same root, is common in Abhidhamma definitions. 
It is sometimes hard to produce a corresponding effect in English, yet to render such 
groups with words of different derivation obscures the meaning and confuses the effect. 

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63. "Herein, what is hinting? A sign to others, giving a sign, indication, giving 
indication, indirect talk, roundabout talk, on the part of one bent on gain, honour 
and renown, of one of evil wishes, a prey to wishes — this is called hinting. 

64. "Herein, what is belittling? Abusing of others, disparaging, reproaching, 
snubbing, continual snubbing, ridicule, continual ridicule, denigration, continual 
denigration, tale-bearing, backbiting, on the part of one bent on gain, honour and 
renown, of one of evil wishes, a prey to wishes — this is called belittling. 

65. "Herein, what is pursuing gain with gain? Seeking, seeking for, seeking out, going 
in search of, searching for, searching out material goods by means of material goods, 
such as carrying there goods that have been got from here, or carrying here goods that 
have been got from there, by one bent on gain, honour and renown, by one of evil 
wishes, a prey to wishes — this is called pursuing gain with gain." 19 (Vibh 352-53) 

66. The meaning of this text should be understood as follows: Firstly, as regards 
description of scheming: on the part of one bent on gain, honour and renown is on the 
part of one who is bent on gain, on honour, and on reputation; on the part of one 
who longs for them, is the meaning. [24] Of one of evil wishes: of one who wants to 
show qualities that he has not got. A prey to wishes: 20 the meaning is, of one who is 
attacked by them. And after this the passage beginning or by what is called rejection 
of requisites is given in order to show the three instances of scheming given in the 
Mahaniddesa as rejection of requisites, indirect talk, and that based on deportment. 

67. Herein, [a bhikkhu] is invited to accept robes, etc., and, precisely because he 
wants them, he refuses them out of evil wishes. And then, since he knows that 
those householders believe in him implicitly when they think, "Oh, how few are 
our lord's wishes! He will not accept a thing!" and they put fine robes, etc., before 
him by various means, he then accepts, making a show that he wants to be 
compassionate towards them — it is this hypocrisy of his, which becomes the cause 
of their subsequently bringing them even by cartloads, that should be understood 
as the instance of scheming called rejection of requisites. 

68. For this is said in the Mahaniddesa: "What is the instance of scheming called 
rejection of requisites? Here householders invite bhikkhus [to accept] robes, alms 
food, resting place, and the requisite of medicine as cure for the sick. One who is of 
evil wishes, a prey to wishes, wanting robes . . . alms food . . . resting place . . . the 
requisite of medicine as cure for the sick, refuses robes ... alms food ... resting 
place . . . the requisite of medicine as cure for the sick, because he wants more. He 
says: 'What has an ascetic to do with expensive robes? It is proper for an ascetic to 
gather rags from a charnel ground or from a rubbish heap or from a shop and 
make them into a patchwork cloak to wear. What has an ascetic to do with expensive 



19. The renderings "scheming" and so on in this context do not in all cases agree 
with PED. They have been chosen after careful consideration. The rendering "rejection 
of requisites" takes the preferable reading patisedhana though the more common reading 
here is patisevana (cultivation). 

20 The Pali is: "Icchapakatassa ti icchaya apakatassa; upaddutassa ti attho. " lechaya apakatassa 
simply resolves the compound icchapakatassa and is therefore untranslatable into 
English. Such resolutions are therefore sometimes omitted in this translation. 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

alms food? It is proper for an ascetic to get his living by the dropping of lumps [of 
food into his bowl] while he wanders for gleanings. What has an ascetic to do with 
an expensive resting place? It is proper for an ascetic to be a tree-root-dweller or an 
open-air-dweller. What has an ascetic to do with an expensive requisite of medicine 
as cure for the sick? It is proper for an ascetic to cure himself with putrid urine 21 
and broken gallnuts.' Accordingly he wears a coarse robe, eats coarse alms food, 
[25] uses a coarse resting place, uses a coarse requisite of medicine as cure for the 
sick. Then householders think, 'This ascetic has few wishes, is content, is secluded, 
keeps aloof from company, is strenuous, is a preacher of asceticism,' and they invite 
him more and more [to accept] robes, alms food, resting places, and the requisite 
of medicine as cure for the sick. He says: 'With three things present a faithful 
clansman produces much merit: with faith present a faithful clansman produces 
much merit, with goods to be given present a faithful clansman produces much 
merit, with those worthy to receive present a faithful clansman produces much 
merit. You have faith; the goods to be given are here; and I am here to accept. If I 
do not accept, then you will be deprived of the merit. That is no good to me. Rather 
will I accept out of compassion for you." Accordingly he accepts many robes, he 
accepts much alms food, he accepts many resting places, he accepts many requisites 
of medicine as cure for the sick. Such grimacing, grimacery scheming, schemery 
schemedness, is known as the instance of scheming called rejection of requisites' 
(Nidd I 224-25). 

69. It is hypocrisy on the part of one of evil wishes, who gives it to be understood 
verbally in some way or other that he has attained a higher than human state, that 
should be understood as the instance of scheming called indirect talk, according 
as it is said: "What is the instance of scheming called indirect talk? Here someone 
of evil wishes, a prey to wishes, eager to be admired, [thinking] 'Thus people will 
admire me' speaks words about the noble state. He says, 'He who wears such a 
robe is a very important ascetic' He says, 'He who carries such a bowl, metal cup, 
water filler, water strainer, key, wears such a waist band, sandals, is a very important 
ascetic' He says, 'He who has such a preceptor ... teacher ... who has the same 
preceptor, who has the same teacher, who has such a friend, associate, intimate, 
companion; he who lives in such a monastery, lean-to, mansion, villa, 22 cave, grotto, 
hut, pavilion, watch tower, hall, barn, meeting hall, [26] room, at such a tree root, is 
a very important ascetic' Or alternatively, all-gushing, all-grimacing, all-scheming, 
all-talkative, with an expression of admiration, he utters such deep, mysterious, 
cunning, obscure, supramundane talk suggestive of voidness as 'This ascetic is an 
obtainer of peaceful abidings and attainments such as these.' Such grimacing, 
grimacery, scheming, schemery, schemedness, is known as the instance of scheming 
called indirect talk" (Nidd I 226-27). 

70. It is hypocrisy on the part of one of evil wishes, which takes the form of deportment 
influenced by eagerness to be admired, that should be understood as the instance of 

21 "'Putrid urine' is the name for all kinds of cow's urine whether old or not" (Vism- 
mht 45). Fermented cow's urine with gallnuts (myrobalan) is a common Indian medicine 
today. 

22 It is not always certain now what kind of buildings these names refer to. 

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scheming dependent on deportment, according as it is said: "What is the instance of 
scheming called deportment? Here someone of evil wishes, a prey to wishes, eager to 
be admired, [thinking] 'Thus people will admire me,' composes his way of walking, 
composes his way of lying down; he walks studiedly, stands studiedly, sits studiedly, 
lies down studiedly; he walks as though concentrated, stands, sits, lies down as though 
concentrated; and he is one who meditates in public. Such disposing, posing, 
composing, of deportment, grimacing, grimacery scheming, schemery schemedness, 
is known as the instance of scheming called deportment" (Nidd I 225-26). 

71. Herein, the words by what is called rejection of requisites (§61) mean: by what is 
called thus "rejection of requisites"; or they mean: by means of the rejection of 
requisites that is so called. By indirect talk means: by talking near to the subject. Of 
deportment means: of the four modes of deportment (postures). Disposing is initial 
posing, or careful posing. Posing is the manner of posing. Composing is prearranging; 
assuming a trust-inspiring attitude, is what is meant. Grimacing is making grimaces 
by showing great intenseness; facial contraction is what is meant. One who has the 
habit of making grimaces is a grimacer. The grimacer's state is grimacery. Scheming 
is hypocrisy. The way (ayana) of a schemer (kuha) is schemery (kuhayana). The state 
of what is schemed is schemedness. 

72. In the description of talking: talking at is talking thus on seeing people coming 
to the monastery, "What have you come for, good people? What, to invite bhikkhus? 
If it is that, then go along and I shall come later with [my bowl]," etc.; or alternatively, 
talking at is talking by advertising oneself thus, "I am Tissa, the king trusts me, 
such and such king's ministers trust me." [27] Talking is the same kind of talking 
on being asked a question. Talking round is roundly talking by one who is afraid of 
householders' displeasure because he has given occasion for it. Talking up is talking 
by extolling people thus, "He is a great land-owner, a great ship-owner, a great 
lord of giving." Continual talking up is talking by extolling [people] in all ways. 

73. Persuading is progressively involving 23 [people] thus, "Lay followers, formerly you 
used to give first-fruit alms at such a time; why do you not do so now?" until they say, 
"We shall give, venerable sir, we have had no opportunity," etc.; entangling, is what is 
meant. Or alternatively, seeing someone with sugarcane in his hand, he asks, "Where 
are you coming from, lay follower?" — "From the sugarcane field, venerable sir" — "Is 
the sugarcane sweet there?" — "One can find out by eating, venerable sir" — "It is not 
allowed, lay follower, for bhikkhus to say 'Give [me some] sugarcane.'" Such entangling 
talk from such an entangler is persuading. Persuading again and again in all ways is 
continual persuading. 

74. Suggesting is insinuating by specifying thus, "That family alone understands 
me; if there is anything to be given there, they give it to me only"; pointing to, is 
what is meant. And here the story of the oil-seller should be told. 24 Suggesting in 
all ways again and again is continual suggesting. 

23 Nahana — tying, from nayhati (to tie). The noun in not in PED. 

24 The story of the oil-seller is given in the Sammohavinodanl (Vibh-a 483), which 
reproduces this part of Vism with some additions: "Two bhikkhus, it seems, went into 
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75. Ingratiating chatter is endearing chatter repeated again and again without 
regard to whether it is in conformity with truth and Dhamma. Flattery is speaking 
humbly, always maintaining an attitude of inferiority. Bean-soupery is resemblance 
to bean soup; for just as when beans are being cooked only a few do not get cooked, 
the rest get cooked, so too the person in whose speech only a little is true, the rest 
being false, is called a "bean soup"; his state is bean-soupery. 

76. Fondling is the state of the act of fondling. [28] For when a man fondles children 
on his lap or on his shoulder like a nurse — he nurses, is the meaning — that fondler's 
act is the act of fondling. The state of the act of fondling is fondling. 

77. In the description of hinting (nemittikata): a sign (nimitta) is any bodily or 
verbal act that gets others to give requisites. Giving a sign is making a sign such as 
"What have you got to eat?", etc., on seeing [people] going along with food. 
Indication is talk that alludes to requisites. Giving indication: on seeing cowboys, he 
asks, "Are these milk cows' calves or buttermilk cows' calves?" and when it is said, 
"They are milk cows' calves, venerable sir," [he remarks] "They are not milk cows' 
calves. If they were milk cows' calves the bhikkhus would be getting milk," etc.; 
and his getting it to the knowledge of the boys' parents in this way, and so making 
them give milk, is giving indication. 

78. Indirect talk is talk that keeps near [to the subject]. And here there should be told 
the story of the bhikkhu supported by a family A bhikkhu, it seems, who was supported 
by a family went into the house wanting to eat and sat down. The mistress of the house 
was unwilling to give. Qn seeing him she said, "There is no rice," and she went to a 
neighbour's house as though to get rice. The bhikkhu went into the storeroom. Looking 
round, he saw sugarcane in the corner behind the door, sugar in a bowl, a string of salt 
fish in a basket, rice in a jar, and ghee in a pot. He came out and sat down. When the 
housewife came back, she said, "I did not get any rice." The bhikkhu said, "Lay follower, 
I saw a sign just now that alms will not be easy to get today" — "What, venerable sir?" — 
"I saw a snake that was like sugarcane put in the corner behind the door; looking for 
something to hit it with, I saw a stone like a lump of sugar in a bowl. When the snake 
had been hit with the clod, it spread out a hood like a string of salt fish in a basket, and 
its teeth as it tried to bite the clod were like rice grains in a jar. Then the saliva mixed 
with poison that came out to its mouth in its fury was like ghee put in a pot." She thought, 
"There is no hoodwinking the shaveling," so she gave him the sugarcane [29] and she 
cooked the rice and gave it all to him with the ghee, the sugar and the fish. 

79. Such talk that keeps near [to the subject] should be understood as indirect talk. 
Roundabout talk is talking round and round [the subject] as much as is allowed. 

80. In the description of belittling: abusing is abusing by means of the ten instances 
of abuse. 25 Disparaging is contemptuous talk. Reproaching is enumeration of faults 
such as "He is faithless, he is an unbeliever." Snubbing is taking up verbally thus, 

the other, 'Whose girl is this, venerable sir?' — 'She is the daughter of our supporter the oil- 
seller, friend. When we go to her mother's house and she gives us ghee, she gives it in the 
pot. And this girl too gives it in the pot as her mother does.'" Quoted at Vism-mht 46. 
25. The "ten instances of abuse" (akkosa-vatthu) are given in the Sammohavinodani (Vibh- 
a 340) as: "You are a thief, you are a fool, you are an idiot, you are a camel (ottha), 

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"Don't say that here." Snubbing in all ways, giving grounds and reasons, is continual 
snubbing. Or alternatively, when someone does not give, taking him up thus, "Oh, 
the prince of givers!" is snubbing; and the thorough snubbing thus, "A mighty prince 
of givers!" is continual snubbing. Ridicule is making fun of someone thus, "What 
sort of a life has this man who eats up his seed [grain]?" Continual ridicule is making 
fun of him more thoroughly thus, "What, you say this man is not a giver who 
always gives the words 'There is nothing' to everyone?" 

81 . Denigration 26 is denigrating someone by saying that he is not a giver, or by censuring 
him. All-round denigration is continual denigration. Tale-bearing is bearing tales from 
house to house, from village to village, from district to district, [thinking] "So they 
will give to me out of fear of my bearing tales." Backbiting is speaking censoriously 
behind another's back after speaking kindly to his face; for this is like biting the 
flesh of another's back, when he is not looking, on the part of one who is unable to 
look him in the face; therefore it is called backbiting. This is called belittling 
(nippesikata) because it scrapes off (nippeseti), wipes off, the virtuous qualities of 
others as a bamboo scraper (velupesika) does unguent, or because it is a pursuit of 
gain by grinding (nippimsitva) and pulverizing others' virtuous qualities, like the 
pursuit of perfume by grinding perfumed substances; that is why it is called 
belittling. 

82. 'In the description of pursuing gain with gain: pursuing is hunting after. Got 
from here is got from this house. There is into that house. Seeking is wanting. Seeking 
for is hunting after. Seeking out is hunting after again and again. [30] The story of 
the bhikkhu who went round giving away the alms he had got at first to children 
of families here and there and in the end got milk and gruel should be told here. 
Searching, etc., are synonyms for "seeking," etc., and so the construction here should 
be understood thus: going in search of is seeking; searching for is seeking for; searching 
out is seeking out. 

This is the meaning of scheming, and so on. 

83. Now, [as regards the words] The evil states beginning with (§42): here the words 
beginning with should be understood to include the many evil states given in the 
Brahmajala Sutta in the way beginning, "Or just as some worthy ascetics, while 
eating the food given by the faithful, make a living by wrong livelihood, by such 
low arts as these, that is to say, by palmistry, by fortune-telling, by divining omens, 
by interpreting dreams, marks on the body, holes gnawed by mice; by fire sacrifice, 
by spoon oblation ..." (D I 9). 



you are an ox, you are a donkey, you belong to the states of loss, you belong to hell, you 
are a beast, there is not even a happy or an unhappy destiny to be expected for you" 
(see also Sn-a 364). 

26. The following words of this paragraph are not in PED: Papana (denigration), 
papanam (nt. denigrating), nippeseti (scrapes off — from pimsati? cf. nippesikata — 
"belittling" §§42, 64), nippunchati (wipes off — only punchati in PED), pesika (scraper — not 
in this sense in PED: from same root as nippeseti), nippimsitva (grinding, pounding), 
abbhahga (unguent = abbhahjana, Vism-mht 47). 

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84. So this wrong livelihood entails the transgression of these six training precepts 
announced on account of livelihood, and it entails the evil states beginning with 
"Scheming, talking, hinting, belittling, pursuing gain with gain." And so it is the 
abstinence from all sorts of wrong livelihood that is virtue of livelihood purification, 
the word-meaning of which is this: on account of it they live, thus it is livelihood. 
What is that? It is the effort consisting in the search for requisites. "Purification" is 
purifiedness. "Livelihood purification" is purification of livelihood. 

85. (d) As regards the next kind called virtue concerning requisites, [here is the 
text: "Reflecting wisely, he uses the robe only for protection from cold, for protection 
from heat, for protection from contact with gadflies, flies, wind, burning and 
creeping things, and only for the purpose of concealing the private parts. Reflecting 
wisely, he uses alms food neither for amusement nor for intoxication nor for 
smartening nor for embellishment, but only for the endurance and continuance of 
this body, for the ending of discomfort, and for assisting the life of purity: 'Thus I 
shall put a stop to old feelings and shall not arouse new feelings, and I shall be 
healthy and blameless and live in comfort.' Reflecting wisely, he uses the resting 
place only for the purpose of protection from cold, for protection from heat, for 
protection from contact with gadflies, flies, wind, burning and creeping things, 
and only for the purpose of warding off the perils of climate and enjoying retreat. 
Reflecting wisely, he uses the requisite of medicine as cure for the sick only for 
protection from arisen hurtful feelings and for complete immunity from affliction" 
(M I 10). Herein, reflecting wisely is reflecting as the means and as the way; 27 by 
knowing, by reviewing, is the meaning. And here it is the reviewing stated in the 
way beginning, "For protection from cold" that should be understood as "reflecting 
wisely." 

86. Herein, the robe is any one of those beginning with the inner cloth. He uses: he 
employs; dresses in [as inner cloth], or puts on [as upper garment]. Only [31] is a 
phrase signifying invariability in the definition of a limit 28 of a purpose; the purpose 
in the meditator's making use of the robes is that much only, namely, protection 
from cold, etc., not more than that. From cold: from any kind of cold arisen either 
through disturbance of elements internally or through change in temperature 
externally. For protection: for the purpose of warding off; for the purpose of 
eliminating it so that it may not arouse affliction in the body. For when the body is 
afflicted by cold, the distracted mind cannot be wisely exerted. That is why the 
Blessed One permitted the robe to be used for protection from cold. So in each 
instance, except that from heat means from the heat of fire, the origin of which 
should be understood as forest fires, and so on. 

87. From contact with gadflies and flies, wind and burning and creeping things: here 
gadflies are flies that bite; they are also called "blind flies." Flies are just flies. Wind 
is distinguished as that with dust and that without dust. Burning is burning of the 
sun. Creeping things are any long creatures such as snakes and so on that move by 
crawling. Contact with them is of two kinds: contact by being bitten and contact 

27. For attention (manasi-kara) as the means (upaya) and the way (patha) see M-a I 64. 

28. Avadhi— ■"limit" = odhi: this form is not in PED (see M-a II 292). 



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by being touched. And that does not worry him who sits with a robe on. So he uses 
it for the purpose of protection from such things. 

88. Only: the word is repeated in order to define a subdivision of the invariable 
purpose; for the concealment of the private parts is an invariable purpose; the 
others are purposes periodically. Herein, private parts are any parts of the 
pudendum. For when a member is disclosed, conscience (hiri) is disturbed 
(kuppati), offended. It is called "private parts" (hirikopina) because of the 
disturbance of conscience (hiri-kopana) . For the purpose of concealing the private 
parts: for the purpose of the concealment of those private parts. [As well as the 
reading "hiriko-pina-paticchadanattham] there is a reading "hirikoplnam 
paticchadanattham." 

89. Alms food is any sort of food. For any sort of nutriment is called "alms food" 
(pindapata — lit. "lump-dropping") because of its having been dropped (patitatta) 
into a bhikkhu's bowl during his alms round (pindolya). Or alms food (pindapata) is 
the dropping (pata) of the lumps (pinda); it is the concurrence (sannipata), the 
collection, of alms (bhikkha) obtained here and there, is what is meant. 

Neither for amusement: neither for the purpose of amusement, as with village 
boys, etc.; for the sake of sport, is what is meant. Nor for intoxication: not for the 
purpose of intoxication, as with boxers, etc.; for the sake of intoxication with strength 
and for the sake of intoxication with manhood, is what is meant. [32] Nor for 
smartening: not for the purpose of smartening, as with royal concubines, courtesans, 
etc.; for the sake of plumpness in all the limbs, is what is meant. Nor for embellishment: 
not for the purpose of embellishment, as with actors, dancers, etc.; for the sake of a 
clear skin and complexion, is what is meant. 

90. And here the clause neither for amusement is stated for the purpose of 
abandoning support for delusion; nor for intoxication is said for the purpose of 
abandoning support for hate; nor for smartening nor for embellishment is said for the 
purpose of abandoning support for greed. And neither for amusement nor for 
intoxication is said for the purpose of preventing the arising of fetters for oneself. 
Nor for smartening nor for embellishment is said for the purpose of preventing the 
arising of fetters for another. And the abandoning of both unwise practice and 
devotion to indulgence of sense pleasures should be understood as stated by these 
four. Only has the meaning already stated. 

91. Of this body: of this material body consisting of the four great primaries. For 
the endurance: for the purpose of continued endurance. And continuance: for the 
purpose of not interrupting [life's continued] occurrence, or for the purpose of 
endurance for a long time. He makes use of the alms food for the purpose of the 
endurance, for the purpose of the continuance, of the body, as the owner of an old 
house uses props for his house, and as a carter uses axle grease, not for the purpose 
of amusement, intoxication, smartening, and embellishment. Furthermore, 
endurance is a term for the life faculty. So what has been said as far as the words/or 
the endurance and continuance of this body can be understood to mean: for the purpose 
of maintaining the occurrence of the life faculty in this body. 

92. For the ending of discomfort: hunger is called "discomfort" in the sense of 
afflicting. He makes use of alms food for the purpose of ending that, like anointing 

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a wound, like counteracting heat with cold, and so on. For assisting the life of purity: 
for the purpose of assisting the life of purity consisting in the whole dispensation 
and the life of purity consisting in the path. For while this [bhikkhu] is engaged in 
crossing the desert of existence by means of devotion to the three trainings 
depending on bodily strength whose necessary condition is the use of alms food, 
he makes use of it to assist the life of purity just as those seeking to cross the desert 
used their child's flesh, 29 just as those seeking to cross a river use a raft, and just as 
those seeking to cross the ocean use a ship. 

93. Thus I shall put a stop to old feelings and shall not arouse new feelings: [33] thus as 
a sick man uses medicine, he uses [alms food, thinking]: "By use of this alms food 
I shall put a stop to the old feeling of hunger, and I shall not arouse a new feeling 
by immoderate eating, like one of the [proverbial] brahmans, that is, one who eats 
till he has to be helped up by hand, or till his clothes will not meet, or till he rolls 
there [on the ground], or till crows can peck from his mouth, or until he vomits 
what he has eaten. Or alternatively, there is that which is called 'old feelings' because, 
being conditioned by former kamma, it arises now in dependence on unsuitable 
immoderate eating — I shall put a stop to that old feeling, forestalling its condition 
by suitable moderate eating. And there is that which is called 'new feeling' because 
it will arise in the future in dependence on the accumulation of kamma consisting 
in making improper use [of the requisite of alms food] now — I shall also not arouse 
that new feeling, avoiding by means of proper use the production of its root." This 
is how the meaning should be understood here. What has been shown so far can 
be understood to include proper use [of requisites], abandoning of devotion to 
self -mortification, and not giving up lawful bliss (pleasure). 

94. And I shall be healthy: "In this body, which exists in dependence on requisites, 
I shall, by moderate eating, have health called 'long endurance' since there will be 
no danger of severing the life faculty or interrupting the [continuity of the] 
postures." [Reflecting] in this way, he makes use [of the alms food] as a sufferer 
from a chronic disease does of his medicine. And blameless and live in comfort (lit. 
"and have blamelessness and a comfortable abiding"): he makes use of them 
thinking: "I shall have blamelessness by avoiding improper search, acceptance and 
eating, and I shall have a comfortable abiding by moderate eating." Or he does so 
thinking: "I shall have blamelessness due to absence of such faults as boredom, 
sloth, sleepiness, blame by the wise, etc., that have unseemly immoderate eating as 
their condition; and I shall have a comfortable abiding by producing bodily strength 
that has seemly moderate eating as its condition." Or he does so thinking: "I shall 
have blamelessness by abandoning the pleasure of lying down, lolling and torpor, 
through refraining from eating as much as possible to stuff the belly; and I shall 
have a comfortable abiding by controlling the four postures through eating four or 
five mouthfuls less than the maximum." For this is said: 

29. " 'Child 's flesh" (putta-mamsa) is an allusion to the story (S II 98) of the couple who 
set out to cross a desert with an insufficient food supply but got to the other side by 
eating the flesh of their child who died on the way. The derivation given in PED, "A 
metaphor probably distorted from putamamsa," has no justification. The reference to 
rafts might be to D II 89. 

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With four or five lumps still to eat 

Let him then end by drinking water; 

For energetic bhikkhus' needs 

This should suffice to live in comfort (Th 983). [34] 

Now, what has been shown at this point can be understood as discernment of 
purpose and practice of the middle way. 

95. Resting place (senasana): this is the bed (sena) and seat (asana). For wherever 
one sleeps (seti), whether in a monastery or in a lean-to, etc., that is the bed (sena); 
wherever one seats oneself (asati), sits (nisldati), that is the seat (asana). Both together 
are called "resting-place" (or "abode" — senasana). 

For the purpose of warding off the perils of climate and enjoying retreat: the climate 
itself in the sense of imperilling (parisahana) is "perils of climate" (utu-parissaya) . 
Unsuitable climatic conditions that cause mental distraction due to bodily affliction 
can be warded off by making use of the resting place; it is for the purpose of warding 
off these and for the purpose of the pleasure of solitude, is what is meant. Of 
course, the warding off of the perils of climate is stated by [the phrase] "protection 
from cold," etc., too; but, just as in the case of making use of the robes the 
concealment of the private parts is stated as an invariable purpose while the others 
are periodical [purposes], so here also this [last] should be understood as mentioned 
with reference to the invariable warding off of the perils of climate. Or alternatively, 
this "climate" of the kind stated is just climate; but "perils" are of two kinds: evident 
perils and concealed perils (see Nidd 1 12). Herein, evident perils are lions, tigers, 
etc., while concealed perils are greed, hate, and so on. When a bhikkhu knows and 
reflects thus in making use of the kind of resting place where these [perils] do not, 
owing to unguarded doors and sight of unsuitable visible objects, etc., cause 
affliction, he can be understood as one who "reflecting wisely makes use of the 
resting place for the purpose of warding off the perils of climate." 

96. The requisite of medicine as cure for the sick: here "cure" (paccaya = going against) 
is in the sense of going against (pati-ayana) illness; in the sense of countering, is the 
meaning. This is a term for any suitable remedy. It is the medical man's work 
(bhisakkassa kammam) because it is permitted by him, thus it is medicine (bhesajja). 
Or the cure for the sick itself as medicine is "medicine as cure for the sick." Any 
work of a medical man such as oil, honey, ghee, etc., that is suitable for one who is 
sick, is what is meant. A "requisite" (parikkhara) , however, in such passages as "It is 
well supplied with the requisites of a city" (A IV 106) is equipment; in such passages 
as "The chariot has the requisite of virtue, the axle of jhana, the wheel of energy" 
(S V 6) [35] it is an ornament; in such passages as "The requisites for the life of one 
who has gone into homelessness that should be available" (M I 104), it is an 
accessory. But here both equipment and accessory are applicable. For that medicine 
as a cure for the sick is equipment for maintaining life because it protects by 
preventing the arising of affliction destructive to life; and it is an accessory too 
because it is an instrument for prolonging life. That is why it is called "requisite." 
So it is medicine as cure for the sick and that is a requisite, thus it is a "requisite of 
medicine as cure for the sick." [He makes use of] that requisite of medicine as cure 



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for the sick; any requisite for life consisting of oil, honey, molasses, ghee, etc., that 
is allowed by a medical man as suitable for the sick, is what is meant. 

97. From arisen: from born, become, produced. Hurtful: here "hurt (affliction)" is 
a disturbance of elements, and it is the leprosy, tumours, boils, etc., originated by 
that disturbance. Hurtful (veyyabadhika) because arisen in the form of hurt (byabadha). 
Feelings: painful feelings, feelings resulting from unprofitable kamma — from those 
hurtful feelings. For complete immunity from affliction: for complete freedom from 
pain; so that all that is painful is abandoned, is the meaning. 

This is how this virtue concerning requisites should be understood. In brief its 
characteristic is the use of requisites after wise reflection. The word-meaning here 
is this: because breathing things go (ayanti), move, proceed, using [what they use] 
in dependence on these robes, etc., these robes, etc., are therefore called requisites 
(paccaya = ger. of pat i + ayati); "concerning requisites" is concerning those requisites. 

98. (a) So, in this fourfold virtue, Patimokkha restraint has to be undertaken by 
means of faith. For that is accomplished by faith, since the announcing of training 
precepts is outside the disciples' province; and the evidence here is the refusal of 
the request to [allow disciples to] announce training precepts (see Vin III 9-10). 
Having therefore undertaken through faith the training precepts without exception 
as announced, one should completely perfect them without regard for life. For 
this is said: [36] 

"As a hen guards her eggs, 

Or as a yak her tail, 

Or like a darling child, 

Or like an only eye — 

So you who are engaged 

Your virtue to protect, 

Be prudent at all times 

And ever scrupulous." (Source untraced) 

Also it is said further: "So too, sire, when a training precept for disciples is 
announced by me, my disciples do not transgress it even for the sake of life" (A IV 
201). 

99. And the story of the elders bound by robbers in the forest should be understood 
in this sense. 

It seems that robbers in the Mahavattani Forest bound an elder with black 
creepers and made him lie down. While he lay there for seven days he augmented 
his insight, and after reaching the fruition of non-return, he died there and was 
reborn in the Brahma-world. Also they bound another elder in Tambapanni Island 
(Sri Lanka) with string creepers and made him lie down. When a forest fire came 
and the creepers were not cut, he established insight and attained Nibbana 
simultaneously with his death. When the Elder Abhaya, a preacher of the Digha 
Nikaya, passed by with five hundred bhikkhus, he saw [what had happened] and he 
had the elder's body cremated and a shrine built. Therefore let other clansmen also: 

Maintain the rules of conduct pure, 
Renouncing life if there be need, 



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Rather than break virtue's restraint 
By the World's Saviour decreed. 

100. (b) And as Patimokkha restraint is undertaken out of faith, so restraint of the 
sense faculties should be undertaken with mindfulness. For that is accomplished by 
mindfulness, because when the sense faculties' functions are founded on 
mindfulness, there is no liability to invasion by covetousness and the rest. So, 
recollecting the Fire Discourse, which begins thus, "Better, bhikkhus, the extirpation 
of the eye faculty by a red-hot burning blazing glowing iron spike than the 
apprehension of signs in the particulars of visible objects cognizable by the eye" (S 
IV 168), this [restraint] should be properly undertaken by preventing with 
unremitting mindfulness any apprehension, in the objective fields consisting of 
visible data, etc., of any signs, etc., likely to encourage covetousness, etc., to invade 
consciousness occurring in connection with the eye door, and so on. 

101. [37] When not undertaken thus, virtue of Patimokkha restraint is 
unenduring: it does not last, like a crop not fenced in with branches. And it is 
raided by the robber defilements as a village with open gates is by thieves. And 
lust leaks into his mind as rain does into a badly-roofed house. For this is said: 

"Among the visible objects, sounds, and smells, 
And tastes, and tangibles, guard the faculties; 
For when these doors are open and unguarded, 
Then thieves will come and raid as 'twere a village (?). 

And just as with an ill-roofed house 
The rain comes leaking in, so too 
Will lust come leaking in for sure 
Upon an undeveloped mind" (Dhp 13). 

102. When it is undertaken thus, virtue of Patimokkha restraint is enduring: it 
lasts, like a crop well fenced in with branches. And it is not raided by the robber 
defilements, as a village with well-guarded gates is not by thieves. And lust does 
not leak into his mind, as rain does not into a well-roofed house. For this is said: 

"Among the visible objects, sounds and smells, 
And tastes and tangibles, guard the faculties; 
For when these doors are closed and truly guarded, 
Thieves will not come and raid as 'twere a village (?). 

"And just as with a well-roofed house 
No rain comes leaking in, so too 
No lust comes leaking in for sure 
Upon a well-developed mind" (Dhp 14). 

103. This, however, is the teaching at its very highest. 

This mind is called "quickly transformed" (A 1 10), so restraint of the faculties 
should be undertaken by removing arisen lust with the contemplation of foulness, 
as was done by the Elder Varigisa soon after he had gone forth. [38] 

As the elder was wandering for alms, it seems, soon after going forth, lust arose 
in him on seeing a woman. Thereupon he said to the venerable Ananda: 



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"I am afire with sensual lust. 

And burning flames consume my mind; 

In pity tell me, Gotama, 

How to extinguish it for good" (S 1 188). 

The elder said: 

"You do perceive mistakenly 

That burning flames consume your mind. 

Look for no sign of beauty there, 

For that it is which leads to lust. 

See foulness there and keep your mind 

Harmoniously concentrated; 

Formations see as alien, 

As ill, not self, so this great lust 

May be extinguished, and no more 

Take fire thus ever and again" (S 1 188). 

The elder expelled his lust and then went on with his alms round. 

104. Moreover, a bhikkhu who is fulfilling restraint of the faculties should be like 
the Elder Cittagutta resident in the Great Cave at Kurandaka, and like the Elder 
Maha Mitta resident at the Great Monastery of Coraka. 

105. In the Great Cave of Kurandaka, it seems, there was a lovely painting of the 
Renunciation of the Seven Buddhas. A number of bhikkhus wandering about among 
the dwellings saw the painting and said, "What a lovely painting, venerable sir!" 
The elder said: "For more than sixty years, friends, I have lived in the cave, and I 
did not know whether there was any painting there or not. Now, today, I know it 
through those who have eyes." The elder, it seems, though he had lived there for so 
long, had never raised his eyes and looked up at the cave. And at the door of his 
cave there was a great ironwood tree. And the elder had never looked up at that 
either. He knew it was in flower when he saw its petals on the ground each year. 

106. The king heard of the elder's great virtues, and he sent for him three times, 
desiring to pay homage to him. When the elder did not go, he had the breasts of all 
the women with infants in the town bound and sealed off, [saying] "As long as the 
elder does not come let the children go without milk," [39] Out of compassion for 
the children the elder went to Mahagama. When the king heard [that he had come, 
he said] "Go and bring the elder in. I shall take the precepts." Having had him 
brought up into the inner palace, he paid homage to him and provided him with a 
meal. Then, saying, "Today, venerable sir, there is no opportunity. I shall take the 
precepts tomorrow," he took the elder's bowl. After following him for a little, he 
paid homage with the queen and turned back. As seven days went by thus, whether 
it was the king who paid homage or whether it was the queen, the elder said, 
"May the king be happy." 

107. Bhikkhus asked: "Why is it, venerable sir, that whether it is the king who 
pays the homage or the queen you say 'May the king be happy'?" The elder replied: 
"Friends, I do not notice whether it is the king or the queen." At the end of seven 
days [when it was found that] the elder was not happy living there, he was dismissed 



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by the king. He went back to the Great Cave at Kurandaka. When it was night he 
went out onto his walk. A deity who dwelt in the ironwood tree stood by with a 
torch of sticks. Then his meditation subject became quite clear and plain. The elder, 
[thinking] "How clear my meditation subject is today!" was glad, and immediately 
after the middle watch he reached Arahantship, making the whole rock resound. 30 

108. So when another clansman seeks his own good: 

Let him not be hungry-eyed, 
Like a monkey in the groves, 
Like a wild deer in the woods, 
Like a nervous little child. 
Let him go with eyes downcast 
Seeing a plough yoke's length before, 
That he fall not in the power 
Of the forest-monkey mind. 

109. The Elder Maha Mitta's mother was sick with a poisoned tumour. She told 
her daughter, who as a bhikkhum had also gone forth, "Lady, go to your brother. 
Tell him my trouble and bring back some medicine." She went and told him. The 
elder said: "I do not know how to gather root medicines and such things and concoct 
a medicine from them. But rather I will tell you a medicine: since I went forth I 
have not broken [my virtue of restraint of] the sense faculties by looking at the 
bodily form of the opposite sex with a lustful mind. By this [40] declaration of 
truth may my mother get well. Go and tell the lay devotee and rub her body." She 
went and told her what had happened and then did as she had been instructed. At 
that very moment the lay devotee's tumour vanished, shrinking away like a lump 
of froth. She got up and uttered a cry of joy: "If the Fully Enlightened One were 
still alive, why should he not stroke with his netadorned hand the head of a bhikkhu 
like my son?" So: 

110. Let another noble clansman 
Gone forth in the Dispensation 
Keep, as did the Elder Mitta, 
Perfect faculty restraint. 

111. (c) As restraint of the faculties is to be undertaken by means of mindfulness, so 
livelihood purification is to be undertaken by means of energy. For that is accomplished 
by energy, because the abandoning of wrong livelihood is effected in one who has 
rightly applied energy Abandoning, therefore, unbefitting wrong search, this should 
be undertaken with energy by means of the right kind of search consisting in going on 
alms round, etc., avoiding what is of impure origin as though it were a poisonous 
snake, and using only requisites of pure origin. 

112. Herein, for one who has not taken up the ascetic practices, any requisites obtained 
from the Community from a group of bhikkhus, or from laymen who have confidence 
in his special qualities of teaching the Dhamma, etc., are called "of pure origin." But 

30. "'Making the whole rock resound': 'making the whole rock reverberate as one doing 
so by means of an earth tremor. But some say that is was owing to the cheering of the 
deities who lived there'" (Vism-mht 58). 

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those obtained on alms round, etc., are of extremely pure origin. For one who has 
taken up the ascetic practices, those obtained on alms round, etc., and — as long as this 
is in accordance with the rules of the ascetic practices — from people who have 
confidence in his special qualities of asceticism, are called "of pure origin." And if he 
has got putrid urine with mixed gall nuts and "four-sweets" 31 for the purpose of curing 
a certain affliction, and he eats only the broken gall nuts, thinking, "Other companions 
in the life of purity will eat the 'four-sweets'," his undertaking of the ascetic practices 
is befitting, for he is then called a bhikkhu who is supreme in the Noble Ones' heritages 
(A II 28). 

113. As to the robe and the other requisites, no hint, indication, roundabout talk, 
or intimation about robes and alms food is allowable for a bhikkhu who is purifying 
his livelihood. But a hint, indication, or roundabout talk about a resting place is 
allowable for one who has not taken up the ascetic practices. [41] 

114. Herein, a "hint" is when one who is getting the preparing of the ground, 
etc., done for the purpose of [making] a resting place is asked, "What is being 
done, venerable sir? Who is having it done?" and he replies, "No one"; or any 
other such giving of hints. An "indication" is saying, "Lay follower, where do you 
live?" — "In a mansion, venerable sir" — "But, lay follower, a mansion is not allowed 
forbhikkhus." Or any other such giving of indication. "Roundabout talk" is saying, 
"The resting place for the Community of Bhikkhus is crowded"; or any other such 
oblique talk. 

115. All, however, is allowed in the case of medicine. But when the disease is 
cured, is it or is it not allowed to use the medicine obtained in this way? Herein, 
the Vinaya specialists say that the opening has been given by the Blessed One, 
therefore it is allowable. But the Suttanta specialists say that though there is no 
offence, nevertheless the livelihood is sullied, therefore it is not allowable. 

116. But one who does not use hints, indications, roundabout talk, or intimation, 
though these are permitted by the Blessed One, and who depends only on the 
special qualities of fewness of wishes, etc., and makes use only of requisites obtained 
otherwise than by indication, etc., even when he thus risks his life, is called supreme 
in living in effacement, like the venerable Sariputta. 

117. It seems that the venerable one was cultivating seclusion at one time, living 
in a certain forest with the Elder Maha Moggallana. One day an affliction of colic 
arose in him, causing him great pain. In the evening the Elder Maha Moggallana 
went to attend upon him. Seeing him lying down, he asked what the reason was. 
And then he asked, "What used to make you better formerly, friend?" The elder 
said, "When I was a layman, friend, my mother used to mix ghee, honey, sugar 
and so on, and give me rice gruel with pure milk. That used to make me better." 
Then the other said, "So be it, friend. If either you or I have merit, perhaps tomorrow 
we shall get some." 

118. Now, a deity who dwelt in a tree at the end of the walk overheard their 
conversation. [Thinking] "I will find rice gruel for the lord tomorrow," he went 

31. "Four-sweets" — catumadhura: a medicinal sweet made of four ingredients: honey 
palm-sugar, ghee and sesame oil. 

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meanwhile to the family who was supporting the elder [42] and entered into the 
body of the eldest son, causing him discomfort. Then he told the assembled relatives 
the price of the cure: "If you prepare rice gruel of such a kind tomorrow for the 
elder, I will set this one free." They said: "Even without being told by you we 
regularly supply the elder's needs," and on the following day they prepared rice 
gruel of the kind needed. 

119. The Elder Maha Moggallana came in the morning and said, "Stay here, friend, 
till I come back from the alms round." Then he went into the village. Those people 
met him. They took his bowl, filled it with the stipulated kind of rice gruel, and 
gave it back to him. The elder made as though to go, but they said, "Eat, venerable 
sir, we shall give you more." When the elder had eaten, they gave him another 
bowlful. The elder left. Bringing the alms food to the venerable Sariputta, he said, 
"Here, friend Sariputta, eat." When the elder saw it, he thought, "The gruel is very 
nice. How was it got?" and seeing how it had been obtained, he said, "Friend, the 
alms food cannot be used." 

120. Instead of thinking, "He does not eat alms food brought by the likes of me," 
the other at once took the bowl by the rim and turned it over on one side. As the 
rice gruel fell on the ground the elder's affliction vanished. From then on it did not 
appear again during forty-five years. 

121 . Then he said to the venerable Maha Moggallana, "Friend, even if one's bowels 
come out and trail on the ground, it is not fitting to eat gruel got by verbal 
intimation," and he uttered this exclamation: 

My livelihood might well be blamed 
If I were to consent to eat 
The honey and the gruel obtained 
By influence of verbal hints. 

And even if my bowels obtrude 
And trail outside, and even though 
My life is to be jeopardized, 
I will not blot my livelihood (Mil 370). 

For I will satisfy my heart 

By shunning all wrong kinds of search; 

And never will I undertake 

The search the Buddhas have condemned. [43] 

122 And here too should be told the story of the Elder Maha Tissa the Mango- 
eater who lived at Qragumba 32 (see §132 below). So in all respects: 

32. "The Elder Maha Tissa, it seems, was going on a journey during a famine, and 
being tired in body and weak through lack of food and travel weariness, he lay down at 
the root of a mango tree covered with fruit. There were many fallen mangoes here and 
there" (Vism-mht 60). "Through ownerless mangoes were lying fallen on the ground 
near him, he would not eat them in the absence of someone to accept them from" (Vism- 
mht 65). "Then a lay devotee, who was older than he, went to the elder, and learning of 
his exhaustion, gave him mango juice to drink. Then he mounted him on his back and 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

A man who has gone forth in faith 
Should purify his livelihood 
And, seeing clearly, give no thought 
To any search that is not good. 

123. (d) And as livelihood purification is to be undertaken by means of energy, 
so virtue dependent on requisites is to be undertaken by means of understanding. For 
that is accomplished by understanding, because one who possesses understanding 
is able to see the advantages and the dangers in requisites. So one should abandon 
greed for requisites and undertake that virtue by using requisites obtained lawfully 
and properly, after reviewing them with understanding in the way aforesaid. 

124. Herein, reviewing is of two kinds: at the time of receiving requisites and at 
the time of using them. For use (paribhoga) is blameless in one who at the time of 
receiving robes, etc., reviews them either as [mere] elements or as repulsive, 33 and 
puts them aside for later use, and in one who reviews them thus at the time of 
using them. 

125. Here is an explanation to settle the matter. There are four kinds of use: use 
as theft, 34 use as a debt?, use as an inheritance, use as a master. Herein, use by one 
who is unvirtuous and makes use [of requisites], even sitting in the midst of the 
Community, is called "use as theft." Use without reviewing by one who is virtuous 
is "use as a debt"; therefore the robe should be reviewed every time it is used, and 
the alms food lump by lump. One who cannot do this [should review it] before the 
meal, after the meal, in the first watch, in the middle watch, and in the last watch. 
If dawn breaks on him without his having reviewed it, he finds himself in the 
position of one who has used it as a debt. Also the resting place should be reviewed 
each time it is used. Recourse to mindfulness both in the accepting and the use of 
medicine is proper; but while this is so, though there is an offence for one who uses 
it without mindfulness after mindful acceptance, there is no offence for one who is 
mindful in using after accepting without mindfulness. 

126. Purification is of four kinds: purification by the Teaching, purification by 
restraint, purification by search, and purification by reviewing. Herein, virtue of 

took him to his home. Meanwhile the elder admonished himself as follows: 'Nor your 
mother nor your father,' etc. (see §133). And beginning the comprehension [of 
formations], and augmenting insight, he realized Arahantship after the other paths in 
due succession while he was still mounted on his back" (Vism-mht 60). 

33. '"As elements' in this way: 'This robe, etc., consists merely of [the four] elements 
and occurs when its conditions are present; and the person who uses it [likewise].' 'As 
repulsive' in this way: Firstly perception of repulsiveness in nutriment in the case of 
alms food; then as bringing repulsiveness to mind thus: 'But all these robes, etc., which 
are not in themselves disgusting, become utterly disgusting on reaching this filthy 
body'" (Vism-mht 61). 

34. '"Use as theft': use by one who is unworthy. And the requisites are allowed by the 
Blessed One to one in his own dispensation who is virtuous, not unvirtuous; and the 
generosity of the givers is towards one who is virtuous, not towards one who is not, 
since they expect great fruit from their actions" (Vism-mht 61; cf. MN 142 and 
commentary). 

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the Patimokkha restraint is called "purification by the Teaching"; [44] for that is so 
called because it purifies by means of teaching. Virtue of restraint of faculties is called 
"purification by restraint"; for that is so called because it purifies by means of the 
restraint in the mental resolution, "I shall not do so again." Virtue of livelihood 
purification is called "purification by search"; for that is so called because search is 
purified in one who abandons wrong search and gets requisites lawfully and 
properly. Virtue dependent on requisites is called "purification by reviewing"; for 
that is so called because it purifies by the reviewing of the kind already described. 
Hence it was said above (§125): "There is no offence for one who is mindful in 
using after accepting without mindfulness." 

127. Use of the requisites by the seven kinds of trainers is called "use as an 
inheritance"; for they are the Buddha's sons, therefore they make use of the 
requisites as the heirs of requisites belonging to their father. But how then, is it the 
Blessed One's requisites or the laity's requisites that are used? Although given by 
the laity, they actually belong to the Blessed One, because it is by the Blessed One 
that they are permitted. That is why it should be understood that the Blessed One's 
requisites are used. The confirmation here is in the Dhammadayada Sutta (MN 3). 

Use by those whose cankers are destroyed is called "use as a master"; for they 
make use of them as masters because they have escaped the slavery of craving. 

128. As regards these kinds of use, use as a master and use as an inheritance are 
allowable for all. Use as a debt is not allowable, to say nothing of use as theft. But 
this use of what is reviewed by one who is virtuous is use freed from debt because 
it is the opposite of use as a debt or is included in use as an inheritance too. For one 
possessed of virtue is called a trainer too because of possessing this training. 

129. As regards these three kinds of use, since use as a master is best, when a 
bhikkhu undertakes virtue dependent on requisites, he should aspire to that and use 
them after reviewing them in the way described. And this is said: [45] 

"The truly wise disciple 

Who listens to the Dhamma 

As taught by the Sublime One 

Makes use, after reviewing, 

Of alms food, and of dwelling, 

And of a resting place, 

And also of the water 

For washing dirt from robes" (Sn 391). 

"So like a drop of water 

Lying on leaves of lotus, 

A bhikkhu is unsullied 

By any of these matters, 

By alms food, [and by dwelling,] 

And by a resting place, 

And also by the water 

For washing dirt from robes" (Sn 392). 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

"Since aid it is and timely 

Procured from another 

The right amount he reckons, 

Mindful without remitting 

In chewing and in eating, 

In tasting food besides: 

He treats it as an ointment 

Applied upon a wound." (Source untraced) 

"So like the child's flesh in the desert 
Like the greasing for the axle, 
He should eat without delusion 
Nutriment to keep alive." (Source untraced) 

130. And in connection with the fulfilling of this virtue dependent on requisites 
there should be told the story of the novice Sarigharakkhita the Nephew; For he 
made use of requisites after reviewing, according as it is said: 

"Seeing me eat a dish of rice 

Quite cold, my preceptor observed: 

'Novice, if you are not restrained, 

Be careful not to burn your tongue.' 

On hearing my Preceptor's words, 

I then and there felt urged to act 

And, sitting in a single session, 

I reached the goal of Arahantship. 

Since I am now waxed full in thought 

Like the full moon of the fifteenth (M III 277), 

And all my cankers are destroyed, 

There is no more becoming now." [46] 

And so should any other man 
Aspiring to end suffering 
Make use of all the requisites 
Wisely after reviewing them. 

So virtue is of four kinds as "virtue of Patimokkha restraint," and so on. 

131. 18. In the first pentad in the fivefold section the meaning should be 
understood in accordance with the virtue of those not fully admitted to the Order, 
and so on. For this is said in the Patisambhida: "(a) What is virtue consisting in 
limited purification? That of the training precepts for those not fully admitted to 
the Order: such is virtue consisting in limited purification, (b) What is virtue 
consisting in unlimited purification? That of the training precepts for those fully 
admitted to the Order: such is virtue consisting in unlimited purification, (c) What 
is virtue consisting in fulfilled purification? That of magnanimous ordinary men 
devoted to profitable things, who are perfecting [the course] that ends in trainership, 
regardless of the physical body and life, having given up [attachment to] life: such is 
virtue of fulfilled purification, (d) What is virtue consisting in purification not adhered 
to? That of the seven kinds of trainer: such is virtue consisting in purification not adhered 
to. (e) What is virtue consisting in tranquillized purification? That of the Perfect One's 

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disciples with cankers destroyed, of the Paccekabuddhas, of the Perfect Ones, 
accomplished and fully enlightened: such is virtue consisting in tranquillized 
purification" (Patis I A2-A3). 

132. (a) Herein, the virtue of those not fully admitted to the Order should be 
understood as virtue consisting in limited purification, because it is limited by the 
number [of training precepts, that is, five or eight or ten]. 

(b) That of those fully admitted to the Order is [describable] thus: 

Nine thousand millions, and a hundred 
And eighty millions then as well, 
And fifty plus a hundred thousand, 
And thirty-six again to swell. 

The total restraint disciplines: 
These rules the Enlightened One explains 
Told under heads for filling out, 
Which the Discipline restraint contains. 35 

So although limited in number, [47] it should yet be understood as virtue 
consisting in unlimited purification, since it is undertaken without reserve and has 
no obvious limit such as gain, fame, relatives, limbs or life. Like the virtue of the 
Elder Maha Tissa the Mango-eater who lived at Ciragumba (see §122 above). 

133. For that venerable one never abandoned the following good man's 
recollection: 

"Wealth for a sound limb's sake should be renounced, 
And one who guards his life gives up his limbs; 
And wealth and limbs and life, each one of these, 
A man gives up who practices the Dhamma." 

And he never transgressed a training precept even when his life was in the 
balance, and in this way he reached Arahantship with that same virtue of unlimited 
purification as his support while he was being carried on a lay devotee's back. 
According to as it is said: 

"Nor your mother nor your father 
Nor your relatives and kin 
Have done as much as this for you 
Because you are possessed of virtue." 
So, stirred with urgency, and wisely 
Comprehending 36 with insight, 

35. The figures depend on whether koti is taken as 1,000,000 or 100,000 or 10,000. 

36. "Comprehending" (sammasana) is a technical term that will become clear in 
Chapter XX. In short, it is inference that generalizes the "three characteristics" from 
one's own directly-known experience to all possible formed experience at all times 
(see S II 107). Commenting on "He comprehended that same illness" (§138), Vism-mht 
says: "He exercised insight by discerning the feeling in the illness under the heading 
of the feeling [aggregate] and the remaining material dhammas as materiality" 
(Vism-mht 65). 

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While carried on his helper's back 
He reached the goal of Arahantship. 

134. (c) The magnanimous ordinary man's virtue, which from the time of 
admission to the Order is devoid even of the stain of a [wrong] thought because of 
its extreme purity, like a gem of purest water, like well-refined gold, becomes the 
proximate cause for Arahantship itself, which is why it is called consisting of fulfilled 
purification; like that of the lders Sangharakkhita the Great and Sangharakkhita 
the Nephew. 

135. The Elder Sangharakkhita the Great (Maha Sangharakkhita), aged over sixty, 
was lying, it seems, on his deathbed. The Order of Bhikkhus questioned him about 
attainment of the supramundane state. The elder said: "I have no supramundane 
state." Then the young bhikkhu who was attending on him said: "Venerable sir, 
people have come as much as twelve leagues, thinking that you have reached 
Nibbana. It will be a disappointment for many if you die as an ordinary man." — 
"Friend, thinking to see the Blessed One Metteyya, I did not try for insight. [48] So 
help me to sit up and give me the chance." He helped the elder to sit up and went 
out. As he went out the elder reached Arahantship and he gave a sign by snapping 
his fingers. The Order assembled and said to him: "Venerable sir, you have done a 
difficult thing in achieving the supramundane state in the hour of death." — "That was 
not difficult, friends. But rather I will tell you what is difficult. Friends, I see no action 
done [by me] without mindfulness and unknowingly since the time I went forth." His 
nephew also reached Arahantship in the same way at the age of fifty years. 

136. "Now, if a man has little learning 
And he is careless of his virtue, 
They censure him on both accounts 
For lack of virtue and of learning. 

"But if he is of little learning 
Yet he is careful of his virtue, 
They praise him for his virtue, so 
It is as though he too had learning. 

"And if he is of ample learning 
Yet he is careless of his virtue, 
They blame him for his virtue, so 
It is as though he had no learning. 

"But if he is of ample learning 
And he is careful of his virtue, 
They give him praise on both accounts 
For virtue and as well for learning. 

"The Buddha's pupil of much learning 
Who keeps the Law with understanding — 
A jewel of Jambu River gold 37 
Who is here fit to censure him? 



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Deities praise him [constantly], 

By Brahma also is he praised (A II 7). 

137. (d) What should be understood as virtue consisting in purification not adhered 
to is trainers' virtue, because it is not adhered to by [false] view, and ordinary 
men's virtue when not adhered to by greed. Like the virtue of the Elder Tissa the 
Landowner's Son (Kutumbiyaputta-Tissa-thera). Wanting to become established in 
Arahantship in dependence on such virtue, this venerable one told his enemies: 

I broke the bones of both my legs 

To give the pledge you asked from me. 

I am revolted and ashamed 

At death accompanied by greed. [49] 

"And after I had thought on this, 
And wisely then applied insight, 
When the sun rose and shone on me, 
I had become an Arahant" (M-a I 233). 

138. Also there was a certain senior elder who was very ill and unable to eat with 
his own hand. He was writhing smeared with his own urine and excrement. Seeing 
him, a certain young bhikkhu said, "Oh, what a painful process life is!" The senior 
elder told him: "If I were to die now, friend, I should obtain the bliss of heaven; I 
have no doubt of that. But the bliss obtained by breaking this virtue would be like 
the lay state obtained by disavowing the training," and he added: "I shall die 
together with my virtue." As he lay there, he comprehended that same illness 
[with insight], and he reached Arahantship. Having done so, he pronounced these 
verses to the Order of Bhikkhus: 

"I am victim of a sickening disease 

That racks me with its burden of cruel pain; 

As flowers in the dust burnt by the sun, 

So this my corpse will soon have withered up. 

"Unbeautiful called beautiful, 
Unclean while reckoned as if clean, 
Though full of ordure seeming fair 
To him that cannot see it clear. 

"So out upon this ailing rotting body, 

Fetid and filthy, punished with affliction, 

Doting on which this silly generation 

Has lost the way to be reborn in heaven!" (J-a II 437) 

139. (e) It is the virtue of the Arahants, etc., that should be understood as 
tranquillized purification, because of tranquillization of all disturbance and because 
of purifiedness. 

So it is of five kinds as "consisting in limited purification," and so on. 

140. 19. In the second pentad the meaning should be understood as the 
abandoning, etc., of killing living things, etc.; for this is said in the Patisambhida: 
"Five kinds of virtue: (1) In the case of killing living things, (a) abandoning is 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

virtue, (b) abstention is virtue, (c) volition is virtue, (d) restraint is virtue, (e) non- 
transgression is virtue. (2) In the case of taking what is not given ... (3) In the case 
of sexual misconduct ... (4) In the case of false speech ... (5) In the case of malicious 
speech ... (6) In the case of harsh speech ... (7) In the case of gossip . . . [50] (8) In 
the case of covetousness ... (9) In the case of ill will ... (10) In the case of wrong 
view ... 

(11) "Through renunciation in the case of lust, (a) abandoning is virtue ... (12) 
Through non-ill-will in the case of ill-will ... (13) Through perception of light in 
the case of stiffness-and-torpor ... (14) Through non-distraction ... agitation ... 
(15) Through definition of states (dhamma) ... uncertainty ... (16) Through 
knowledge ... ignorance ... (17) Through gladdening in the case of boredom ... 

(18) "Through the first jhana in the case of the hindrances, (a) abandoning is virtue 
. . . (19) Through the second jhana . . . applied and sustained thought . . . (20) Through 
the third jhana . . . happiness . . . (21) Through the fourth jhana in the case of pleasure 
and pain, (a) abandoning is virtue . . . (22) Through the attainment of the base consisting 
of boundless space in the case of perceptions of matter, perceptions of resistance, and 
perceptions of variety, (a) abandoning is virtue . . . (23) Through the attainment of the 
base consisting of boundless consciousness in the case of the perception of the base 
consisting of boundless space . . . (24) Through the attainment of the base consisting of 
nothingness in the case of the perception of the base consisting of boundless 
consciousness ... (25) Through the attainment of the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception in the case of the perception of the base consisting of 
nothingness . . . 

(26) "Through the contemplation of impermanence in the case of the perception 
of permanence, (a) abandoning is virtue ... (27) Through the contemplation of 
pain in the case of the perception of pleasure . . . (28) Through the contemplation of 
not-self in the case of the perception of self . . . (29) Through the contemplation of 
dispassion in the case of the perception of delighting ... (30) Through the 
contemplation of fading away in the case of greed ... (31) Through the 
contemplation of cessation in the case of originating ... (32) Through the 
contemplation of relinquishment in the case of grasping . . . 

(33) "Through the contemplation of destruction in the case of the perception of 
compactness, (a) abandoning is virtue . . . (34) Through the contemplation of fall 
[of formations] in the case of accumulating [kamma] ... (35) Through the 
contemplation of change in the case of the perception of lastingness . . . (36) Through 
the contemplation of the signless in the case of a sign ... (37) Through the 
contemplation of the desireless in the case of desire ... (38) Through the 
contemplation of voidness in the case of misinterpreting (insistence) . . . (39) Through 
insight into states that is higher understanding in the case of misinterpreting 
(insistence) due to grasping . . . (40) Through correct knowledge and vision in the 
case of misinterpreting (insistence) due to confusion ... (41) Through the 
contemplation of danger in the case of misinterpreting (insistence) due to reliance 
[on formations] ... (42) Through reflection in the case of non-reflection ... (43) 
Through the contemplation of turning away in the case of misinterpreting 
(insistence) due to bondage . . . 



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(44) "Through the path of stream-entry in the case of defilements coefficient 
with [false] view, (a) abandoning is virtue ... (45) Through the path of once-return 
in the case of gross defilements . . . (46) Through the path of non-return in the case 
of residual defilements . . . (47) Through the path of Arahantship in the case of all 
defilements, (a) abandoning is virtue, (b) abstention is virtue, (c) volition is virtue, 
(d) restraint is virtue, (e) non-transgression is virtue. 

"Such virtues lead to non-remorse in the mind, to gladdening, to happiness, to 
tranquillity to joy, to repetition, to development, to cultivation, to embellishment, to 
the requisite [for concentration], to the equipment [of concentration], to fulfilment, to 
complete dispassion, to fading away to cessation, to peace, to direct-knowledge, to 
enlightenment, to Nibbana." 38 (Patis 1 46^7) 

141 . And here there is no state called abandoning other than the mere non-arising 
of the killing of living things, etc., as stated. But the abandoning of a given 
[unprofitable state] upholds [51] a given profitable state in the sense of providing a 
foundation for it, and concentrates it by preventing wavering, so it is called "virtue" 
(slla) in the sense of composing (sTlana), reckoned as upholding and concentrating 
as stated earlier (§19). 

The other four things mentioned refer to the presence 39 of occurrence of will as 
abstention from such and such, as restraint of such and such, as the volition 
associated with both of these, and as non-transgression in one who does not 
transgress such and such. But their meaning of virtue has been explained already. 

So it is of five kinds as "virtue consisting in abandoning" and so on. 

142. At this point the answers to the questions, "What is virtue? In what sense is 
it virtue? What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause? 
What are the benefits of virtue? How many kinds of virtue are there?" are complete. 

143. However, it was also asked (vi) What is the detilinc ot it? and What is the 

CLEANSING OF IT? 

We answer that virtue's tornness, etc., is its defiling, and that its untornness, 
etc., is its cleansing. Now, that tornness, etc., are comprised under the breach that 
has gain, fame, etc., as its cause, and under the seven bonds of sexuality. When a 
man has broken the training course at the beginning or at the end in any instance 
of the seven classes of offences, 40 his virtue is called torn, like a cloth that is cut at 
the edge. But when he has broken it in the middle, it is called rent, like a cloth that 

38. This list describes, in terms of abandoning, etc., the stages in the normal progress 
from ignorance to Arahantship, and it falls into the following groups: I. Virtue: the 
abandoning of the ten unprofitable courses of action (1-10). II. Concentration: A. 
abandoning the seven hindrances to concentration by means of their opposites (11- 
17); B. The eight attainments of concentration, and what is abandoned by each (18-25). 
III. Understanding: A. Insight: the eighteen principal insights beginning with the seven 
contemplations (26^43). B. Paths: The four paths and what is abandoned by each (44^47). 

39. Sabbhava — "presence" ( = sat + bhava): not in PED. Not to be confused with sabhava — 
"individual essence" ( = sa (Skr. sva) + bhava, or saha + bhava). 

40. The seven consisting of parajika, sahghadisesa, pacittiya, patidesanlya, dukkata, 
thullaccaya, dubbhasita (mentioned at M-a II 33). 

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is rent in the middle. When he has broken it twice or thrice in succession, it is 
called blotched, like a cow whose body is some such colour as black or red with a 
discrepant colour appearing on the back or the belly. When he has broken it [all 
over] at intervals, it is called mottled, like a cow speckled [all over] with discrepant- 
coloured spots at intervals. This in the first place, is how there comes to be tornness 
with the breach that has gain, etc., as its cause. 

144. And likewise with the seven bonds of sexuality; for this is said by the Blessed 
One: "Here, brahman, some ascetic or brahman claims to lead the life of purity 
rightly; for he does not [52] enter into actual sexual intercourse with women. Yet 
he agrees to massage, manipulation, bathing and rubbing down by women. He 
enjoys it, desires it and takes satisfaction in it. This is what is torn, rent, blotched 
and mottled in one who leads the life of purity. This man is said to lead a life of 
purity that is unclean. As one who is bound by the bond of sexuality, he will not be 
released from birth, ageing and death ... he will not be released from suffering, I 
say. 

145. "Furthermore, brahman, . . . while he does not agree to [these things], yet he 
jokes, plays and amuses himself with women . . . 

146. "Furthermore, brahman, . . . while he does not agree to [these things], yet he 
gazes and stares at women eye to eye . . . 

147. "Furthermore, brahman, . . . while he does not agree to [these things], yet he 
listens to the sound of women through a wall or through a fence as they laugh or 
talk or sing or weep . . . 

148. "Furthermore, brahman, . . . while he does not agree to [these things], yet he 
recalls laughs and talks and games that he formerly had with women . . . 

149. "Furthermore, brahman, ... while he does not agree to [these things], [53] 
yet he sees a householder or a householder's son possessed of, endowed with, and 
indulging in, the five cords of sense desire . . . 

150. "Furthermore, brahman, while he does not agree to [these things], yet he 
leads the life of purity aspiring to some order of deities, [thinking] 'Through this 
rite (virtue) or this ritual (vow) or this asceticism I shall become a [great] deity or 
some [lesser] deity' He enjoys it, desires it, and takes satisfaction in it. This, 
brahman, is what is torn, rent, blotched and mottled in one who leads the life of 
purity. This man ... will not be released from suffering, I say" (A IV 54-56). 

This is how tornness, etc., should be understood as included under the breach 
that has gain, etc., as its cause and under the seven bonds of sexuality. 

151 Untornness, however, is accomplished by the complete non-breaking of 
the training precepts, by making amends for those broken for which amends should 
be made, by the absence of the seven bonds of sexuality, and, as well, by the non- 
arising of such evil things as anger, enmity, contempt, domineering, envy, avarice, 
deceit, fraud, obduracy, presumption, pride (conceit), haughtiness, conceit (vanity), 
and negligence (MN 7), and by the arising of such qualities as fewness of wishes, 
contentment, and effacement (MN 24). 



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152. Virtues not broken for the purpose of gain, etc., and rectified by making 
amends after being broken by the faults of negligence, etc., and not damaged by 
the bonds of sexuality and by such evil things as anger and enmity, are called 
entirely untorn, unrent, unblotched, and unmottled. And those same virtues are 
liberating since they bring about the state of a freeman, and praised by the wise 
since it is by the wise that they are praised, and unadhered-to since they are not 
adhered to by means of craving and views, and conducive to concentration since 
they conduce to access concentration or to absorption concentration. That is why 
their untornness, etc., should be understood as "cleansing" (see also Vll.lOlf.). 

153. This cleansing comes about in two ways: through seeing the danger of failure 
in virtue, and through seeing the benefit of perfected virtue. [54] Herein, the danger 
of failure in virtue can be seen in accordance with such suttas as that beginning, 
"Bhikkhus, there are these five dangers for the unvirtuous in the failure of virtue" 
(A III 252). 

154. Furthermore, on account of his unvirtuousness an unvirtuous person is 
displeasing to deities and human beings, is uninstructable by his fellows in the life 
of purity, suffers when unvirtuousness is censured, and is remorseful when the 
virtuous are praised. Owing to that unvirtuousness he is as ugly as hemp cloth. 
Contact with him is painful because those who fall in with his views are brought 
to long-lasting suffering in the states of loss. He is worthless because he causes no 
great fruit [to accrue] to those who give him gifts. He is as hard to purify as a 
cesspit many years old. He is like a log from a pyre (see It 99); for he is outside 
both [recluseship and the lay state]. Though claiming the bhikkhu state he is no 
bhikkhu, so he is like a donkey following a herd of cattle. He is always nervous, 
like a man who is everyone's enemy. He is as unfit to live with as a dead carcase. 
Though he may have the qualities of learning, etc., he is as unfit for the homage of 
his fellows in the life of purity as a charnel-ground fire is for that of brahmans. He 
is as incapable of reaching the distinction of attainment as a blind man is of seeing 
a visible object. He is as careless of the Good Law as a guttersnipe is of a kingdom. 
Though he fancies he is happy, yet he suffers because he reaps suffering as told in 
the Discourse on the Mass of Fire (A IV 128-34). 

155. Now, the Blessed One has shown that when the unvirtuous have their minds 
captured by pleasure and satisfaction in the indulgence of the five cords of sense 
desires, in [receiving] salutation, in being honoured, etc., the result of that kamma, 
directly visible in all ways, is very violent pain, with that [kamma] as its condition, 
capable of producing a gush of hot blood by causing agony of heart with the mere 
recollection of it. Here is the text: 

"Bhikkhus, do you see that great mass of fire burning, blazing and glowing? — 
Yes, venerable sir. — What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one [gone 
forth] should sit down or lie down embracing that mass of fire burning, blazing 
and glowing, or that he should sit down or lie down embracing a warrior-noble 
maiden or a brahman maiden or a maiden of householder family, with soft, delicate 
hands and feet? — It would be better, venerable sir, that he should sit down or lie 
down embracing a warrior-noble maiden . . . [55] It would be painful, venerable sir, 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

if he sat down or lay down embracing that great mass of fire burning, blazing and 
glowing. 

156. "I say to you, bhikkhus, I declare to you, bhikkhus, that it would be better 
for one [gone forth] who is unvirtuous, who is evil-natured, of unclean and suspect 
habits, secretive of his acts, who is not an ascetic and claims to be one, who does 
not lead the life of purity and claims to do so, who is rotten within, lecherous, and 
full of corruption, to sit down or lie down embracing that great mass of fire burning, 
blazing and glowing. Why is that? By his doing so, bhikkhus, he might come to 
death or deadly suffering, yet he would not on that account, on the breakup of the 
body, after death, reappear in states of loss, in an unhappy destiny, in perdition, in 
hell. But if one who is unvirtuous, evil-natured . . . and full of corruption, should 
sit down or lie down embracing a warrior-noble maiden . . . that would be long for 
his harm and suffering: on the break-up of the body, after death, he would reappear 
in states of loss, in an unhappy destiny, in perdition, in hell" (A IV 128-29). 

157. Having thus shown by means of the analogy of the mass of fire the suffering 
that is bound up with women and has as its condition the indulgence of the five 
cords of sense desires [by the unvirtuous], to the same intent he showed, by the 
following similes of the horse-hair rope, the sharp spear, the iron sheet, the iron 
ball, the iron bed, the iron chair, and the iron cauldron, the pain that has as its 
condition [acceptance of] homage and reverential salutation, and the use of robes, 
alms food, bed and chair, and dwelling [by unvirtuous bhikkhus]: 

"What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should have a strong horse- 
hair rope twisted round both legs by a strong man and tightened so that it cut through 
the outer skin, and having cut through the outer skin it cut through the inner skin, and 
having cut through the inner skin it cut through the flesh, and having cut through the 
flesh it cut through the sinews, and having cut through the sinews it cut through the 
bones, and having cut through the bones it remained crushing the bone marrow — or 
that he should consent to the homage of great warrior-nobles, great brahmans, great 
householders?" (A IV 129). [56] 

And: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should have a 
strong man wound one's breast with a sharp spear tempered in oil — or that he 
should consent to the reverential salutation of great warrior-nobles, great brahmans, 
great householders?" (A IV 130). 

And: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one's body should be 
wrapped by a strong man in a red-hot iron sheet burning, blazing and glowing — 
or that he should use robes given out of faith by great warrior-nobles, great 
brahmans, great householders?" (A IV 130-31). 

And: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one's mouth should 
be prised open by a strong man with red-hot iron tongs burning, blazing and 
glowing, and that into his mouth should be put a red-hot iron ball burning, blazing 
and glowing, which burns his lips and burns his mouth and tongue and throat and 
belly and passes out below carrying with it his bowels and entrails — or that he should 
use alms food given out of faith by great warrior-nobles ...?" (A IV 131-32). 



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And: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should have a strong 
man seize him by the head or seize him by the shoulders and seat him or lay him on a 
red-hot iron bed or iron chair, burning, blazing and glowing — or that he should use a 
bed or chair given out of faith by great warrior-nobles ... ?" (A IV 132-33). 

And: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should have a 
strong man take him feet up and head down and plunge him into a red-hot metal 
cauldron burning, blazing and glowing, to be boiled there in a swirl of froth, and as 
he boils in the swirl of froth to be swept now up, now down, and now across — or that 
he should use a dwelling given out of faith by great warrior-nobles ...?" (A IV 133-34). 

158. What pleasure has a man of broken virtue 

Forsaking not sense pleasures, which bear fruit 
Of pain more violent even than the pain 
In the embracing of a mass of fire? 

What pleasure has he in accepting homage 

Who, having failed in virtue, must partake 

Of pain that will excel in agony 

The crushing of his legs with horse-hair ropes? [57] 

What pleasure has a man devoid of virtue 
Accepting salutations of the faithful, 
Which is the cause of pain acuter still 
Than pain produced by stabbing with a spear? 

What is the pleasure in the use of garments 
For one without restraint, whereby in hell 
He will for long be forced to undergo 
The contact of the blazing iron sheet? 

Although to him his alms food may seem tasty, 
Who has no virtue, it is direst poison, 
Because of which he surely will be made 
For long to swallow burning iron balls. 

And when the virtueless make use of couches 
And chairs, though reckoned pleasing, it is pain 
Because they will be tortured long indeed 
On red-hot blazing iron beds and chairs. 

Then what delight is there for one unvirtuous 
Inhabiting a dwelling given in faith, 
Since for that reason he will have to dwell 
Shut up inside a blazing iron pan? 

The Teacher of the world, in him condemning, 
Described him in these terms: "Of suspect habits, 
Full of corruption, lecherous as well, 
By nature evil, rotten too within." 

So out upon the life of him abiding 
Without restraint, of him that wears the guise 



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Chapter I Description of Virtue 

Of the ascetic that he will not be, 

And damages and undermines himself! 

What is the life he leads, since any person, 
No matter who, with virtue to his credit 
Avoids it here, as those that would look well 
Keep far away from dung or from a corpse? 

He is not free from any sort of terror, 
Though free enough from pleasure of attainment; 
While heaven's door is bolted fast against him, 
He is well set upon the road to hell. 

Who else if not one destitute of virtue 
More fit to be the object of compassion? 
Many indeed and grave are the defects 
That brand a man neglectful of his virtue. 

Seeing danger in the failure of virtue should be understood as reviewing in 
such ways as these. And seeing benefits in perfected vir-tue should be understood 
in the opposite sense. 

159. Furthermore: [58] 

His virtue is immaculate, 
His wearing of the bowl and robes 
Gives pleasure and inspires trust, 
His going forth will bear its fruit. 

A bhikkhu in his virtue pure 
Has never fear that self-reproach 
Will enter in his heart: indeed 
There is no darkness in the sun. 
A bhikkhu in his virtue bright 
Shines forth in the Ascetics' Wood 41 
As by the brightness of his beams 
The moon lights up the firmament. 

Now, if the bodily perfume 

Of virtuous bhikkhus can succeed 

In pleasing even deities, 

What of the perfume of his virtue? 

It is more perfect far than all 
The other perfumes in the world, 
Because the perfume virtue gives 
Is borne unchecked in all directions. 

The deeds done for a virtuous man, 
Though they be few, will bear much fruit, 



41 . An allusion to the Gosiriga Suttas (MN 31, 32). 



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And so the virtuous man becomes 
A vessel of honour and renown. 

There are no cankers here and now 
To plague the virtuous man at all; 
The virtuous man digs out the root 
Of suffering in lives to come. 

Perfection among human kind 
And even among deities. 
If wished for, is not hard to gain 
For him whose virtue is perfected; 

But once his virtue is perfected, 
His mind then seeks no other kind 
han the perfection of Nibbana, 
The state where utter peace prevails. 
Such is the blessed fruit of virtue, 
Showing full many a varied form, 
So let a wise man know it well 
This root of all perfection's branches. 

160. The mind of one who understands thus, shudders at failure in virtue and 
reaches out towards the perfecting of virtue. So virtue should be cleansed with all 
care, seeing this danger of failure in virtue and this benefit of the perfection of 
virtue in the way stated. 

161 . And at this point in the Path of Purification, which is shown under the headings 
of virtue, concentration and understanding by the stanza, "When a wise man, 
established well in virtue" (§1), virtue, firstly, has been fully illustrated. 

The first chapter called "The Description of Virtue" in the 
Path of Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening 
good people. 



:>[ 



Chapter II 

The Ascetic Practices 
(Dhutanga-niddesa) 

1. [59] Now, while a meditator is engaged in the pursuit of virtue, he should set 
about undertaking the ascetic practices in order to perfect those special qualities 
of fewness of wishes, contentment, etc., by which the virtue of the kind already 
described, is cleansed. For when his virtue is thus washed clean of stains by the 
waters of such special qualities as fewness of wishes, contentment, effacement, 
seclusion, dispersal, energy, and modest needs, it will become quite purified; and 
his vows will succeed as well. And- so, when his whole behaviour has been purified 
by the special quality of blameless virtue and vows and he has become established 
in the [first] three of the ancient Noble Ones' heritages, he may become worthy to 
attain to the fourth called "delight in development" (A II 27). We shall therefore 
begin the explanation of the ascetic practices. 

[The 13 kinds of Ascetic Practices] 

2. Thirteen kinds of ascetic practices have been allowed by the Blessed One to 
clansmen who have given up the things of the flesh and, regardless of body and 
life, are desirous of undertaking a practice in conformity [with their aim]. They 
are: 

i. the refuse-rag-wearer's practice, 

ii. the triple-robe-wearer's practice, 

iii. the alms-food-eater's practice, 

iv the house-to-house-seeker's practice, 

v. the one-sessioner's practice, 

vi. the bowl-food-eater's practice, 

vii. the later-food-refuser's practice, 

viii. the forest-dweller's practice, 

ix. the tree-root-dweller's practice, 

x. the open-air-dweller's practice, 

xi. the charnel-ground-dweller's practice, 

xii. the any-bed-user's practice, 

xiii. the sitter's practice. 



3. Herein: 



(1) As to meaning, (2) characteristic, et cetera, 
(3) The undertaking and directions, 



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And then the grade, and breach as well, 
And benefits of each besides, 

(4) As to the profitable triad, 

(5) "Ascetic" and so on distinguished, 

(6) And as to groups, and also (7) singly, 
The exposition should be known. [60] 

4. 1. Herein, as to meaning, in the first place. 

i. It is "refuse" (pamsukula) since, owing to its being found on refuse in any 
such place as a street, a charnel ground, or a midden, it belongs, as it were, to the 
refuse in the sense of being dumped in anyone of these places. Or alternatively: 
like refuse it gets to a vile state (PAMSU viya KUcchitabhavam ULAti), thus it is 
"refuse" (pamsukula); it goes to a vile state, is what is meant. The wearing of a 
refuse-[rag], which has acquired its derivative name 1 in this way, is "refuse-[rag- 
wearing]" (pamsukula). That is his habit, thus he is a "refuse-[rag-wear-]er" 
(pamsukulika). The practice (anga) of the refuse-[rag-wear-]er is the "refuse-[rag- 
wear-]er's practice" (pamsukulikahga). It is the action that is called the "practice." 
Therefore it should be understood as a term for that by undertaking which one 
becomes a refuse-[rag-wear-]er. 

ii. In the same way, he has the habit of [wearing] the triple robe (ti-clvara) — in 
other words, the cloak of patches, the upper garment, and the inner clothing — 
thus he is a "triple-robe-[wear-]er" (teclvarika). His practice is called the "triple- 
robe-wearer's practice." 

5. iii. The dropping (pata) of the lumps (pinda) of material sustenance (amisa) 
called alms (bhikkha) is "alms food" (pindapata); the falling (nipatana) into the bowl 
of lumps (pinda) given by others, is what is meant. He gleans that alms food (that 
falling of lumps), he seeks it by approaching such and such a family, thus he is 
called an "alms-food [eat-]er" (pindapatika). Or his vow is to gather (patitum) 2 the 
lump (pinda), thus he is a "lump-gatherer" (pindapatin). To "gather" is to wander 
for. A "lump-gatherer" (pindapatin) is the same as an "alms-food-eater" (pindapatika). 
The practice of the alms-food-eater is the "alms-food-eater's practice." 

6. iv It is a hiatus (avakhandana) that is called a "gap" (dana). 3 It is removed (apeta) 
from a gap, thus it is called "gapless" (apadana); the meaning is, it is without hiatus. 
It is together with (saha) what is gapless (apadana), thus it is "with the gapless" 
(sapadana); devoid of hiatus — from house to house — is what is meant. His habit is 
to wander on what-is-with-the-gapless, thus he is a "gapless wanderer" (sapadana- 
carin). A gapless wanderer is the same as a "house-to-house-seeker" (sapadana- 
carika). His practice is the "house-to-house-seeker's practice." 

7. v. Eating in one session is "one-session." He has that habit, thus he is a "one- 
sessioner." His practice is the "one-sessioner's practice." 

1. Nibbacana — "derivative name (or verbal derivative)"; gram, term not in PED; M-a I 
61,105; VismXVI.16. 

2. Patati — "to gather (or to wander)": not in PED. 

3. Avakhandana — "hiatus" and dana — "gap": not in PED. 



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vi. Alms (pinda) in one bowl (patta) only because of refusing a second vessel, is 
"bowl-alms" (patta-pinda). Now, making "bowl alms" (patta-pinda) the name for 
the taking of alms food in the bowl: bowl-alms-food is his habit, thus he is a "bowl- 
food-eater" (pattapindika). His practice is the "bowl-food-eater's practice." 

8. vii. "No" (khalu) is a particle in the sense of refusing. [61] Food (bhatta) obtained 
later by one who has shown that he is satisfied is called "later-food" (paccha-bhatta). 
The eating of that later food is "later-food-eating." Making "later-food" (paccha- 
bhatta) the name for that later-food-eating: later-food is his habit, thus he is a "later- 
food-[eat-]er" (pacchabhattika). Not a later-food-eater is a "no-later-food- [eat-] er" 
(khalu-pacchabhattika) , [that is, a "later-food-refuser"]. This is the name for one who 
as an undertaking refuses extra food. But it is said in the commentary 4 "Khalu is a 
certain kind of bird. When it has taken a fruit into its beak and that drops, it does 
not eat any more. This [bhikkhu] is like that." Thus he is "a later-food-refuser" 
(khalu-paccha-bhattika). His practice is the "later-food-refuser's practice." 

9. viii. His habit is dwelling in the forest, thus he is a "forest-dweller." His practice 
is the "forest-dweller's practice." 

ix. Dwelling at the root of a tree is "tree-root-dwelling." He has that habit, thus 
he is a "tree-root-dweller." The practice of the tree-root-dweller is the "tree-root- 
dweller's practice." 

x., xi. Likewise with the open-air-dweller and the charnel-ground-dweller. 

10. xii. Only what has been distributed (yad eva santhata) is "as distributed" 
(yathasanthata) . This is a term for the resting place first allotted thus "This one falls 
to you." He has the habit of dwelling in that as distributed, thus he is an "as- 
distributed-user" (yathasanthatika), [that is, an "any-bed-user"]. His practice is the 
"any-bed-user's practice." 

xiii. He has the habit of keeping to the sitting [posture when resting], refusing 
to lie down, thus he is a "sitter." His practice is the "sitter's practice." 

1 1 . All these, however, are the practices (ahga) of a bhikkhu who is ascetic (dhuta) 
because he has shaken off (dhuta) defilement by undertaking one or other of them. 
Or the knowledge that has got the name "ascetic" (dhuta) because it shakes off 
(dhunana) defilement is a practice (ahga) belonging to these, thus they are "ascetic 
practices" (dhutahga). Or alternatively, they are ascetic (dhuta) because they shake 
off (niddhunana) opposition, and they are practices (ahga) because they are a way 
(patipatti). 

This, firstly, is how the exposition should be known here as to meaning. 

12. 2. All of them have as their characteristic the volition of undertaking. For this 
is said [in the commentary]: "He who does the undertaking is a person. That 
whereby he does the undertaking is states of consciousness and consciousness- 
concomitants. The volition of the act of undertaking is the ascetic practice. What it 
rejects is the instance." All have the function of eliminating cupidity, and they 

4. Such references to "the Commentary" are to the old Sinhalese commentary, no 
longer extant, from which Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa drew his material. 

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manifest themselves with the production of non-cupidity. For their proximate cause 
they have the noble states consisting of fewness of wishes, and so on. [62] This is 
how the exposition should be known as to characteristic, etc., here. 

13. 3. As regards the five beginning with the undertaking and directions: during 
the Blessed One's lifetime all ascetic practices should be undertaken in the Blessed 
One's presence. After his attainment of Nibbana this should be done in the presence 
of a principal disciple. When he is not available it should be done in the presence 
of one whose cankers are destroyed, of a non-returner, of a once-returner, of a 
stream-enterer, of one who knows the three Pitakas, of one who knows two of the 
Pitakas, of one who knows one of the Pitakas, of one who knows one Collection, 5 
of a teacher of the Commentaries. When he is not available it should be done in the 
presence of an observer of an ascetic practice. When he is not available, then after 
one has swept out the shrine terrace they can be undertaken seated in a reverential 
posture as though pronouncing them in the Fully Enlightened One's presence. 
Also it is permitted to undertake them by oneself. 

And here should be told the story of the senior of the two brothers who were 
elders at Cetiyapabbata and their fewness of wishes with respect to the ascetic 
practices 6 (M-a II 140). 

This, firstly, is what applies to all [the practices]. 

14. Now, we shall proceed to comment on the undertaking, directions, grade, 
breach and benefits, of each one [separately]. 

i. First, the refuse-rag-wearer' s practice is undertaken with one of these two 
statements: "I refuse robes given by householders" or "I undertake the refuse-rag- 
wearer's practice." This, firstly, is the undertaking. 

15. One who has done this should get a robe of one of the following kinds: one 
from a charnel ground, one from a shop, a cloth from a street, a cloth from a midden, 
one from a childbed, an ablution cloth, a cloth from a washing place, one worn 
going to and returning from [the charnel ground], one scorched by fire, one gnawed 
by cattle, one gnawed by ants, one gnawed by rats, one cut at the end, one cut at the 
edge, one carried as a flag, a robe from a shrine, an ascetic's robe, one from a 
consecration, one produced by supernormal power, one from a highway, one borne 
by the wind, one presented by deities, one from the sea. Taking one of these robe 
cloths, he should tear off and throw away the weak parts, and then wash the sound 
parts and make up a robe. He can use it after getting rid of his old robe given by 
householders. 

16. Herein, "one from a charnel ground" is one dropped on a charnel ground. 

5. "'Ekasahgltika': one who knows one of the five collections (nikaya) beginning with 
the Collection of Long Discourses (Dlgha Nikaya). (Vism-mht 76)" 

6. "That elder, it seems, was a sitter, but no one knew it. Then one night the other saw 
him by the light of a flash of lightning sitting up on his bed. He asked, 'Are you a sitter, 
venerable sir?' Out of fewness of wishes that his ascetic practice should get known, the 
elder lay down. Afterwards he undertook the practice anew. So the story has come 
down. (Vism-mht 77)" 

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"One from a shop" is one dropped at the door of a shop. 

"A cloth from a street" is a cloth thrown into a street from inside a window by 
those who seek merit. 

"A cloth from a midden" [63] is a cloth thrown onto a place for rubbish. 

"One from a childbed" is a cloth thrown away after wiping up the stains of 
childbirth with it. The mother of Tissa the Minister, it seems, had the stains of 
childbirth wiped up with a cloth worth a hundred [pieces], and thinking, "The 
refuse-rag wearers will take it," she had it thrown onto the Talaveli Road. 7 Bhikkhus 
took it for the purpose of mending worn places. 

17. "An ablution cloth" is one that people who are made by devil doctors to bathe 
themselves, including their heads, are accustomed to throw away as a "cloth of ill 
luck." 

"A cloth from washing place" is rags thrown away at a washing place where bathing 
is done. 

"One worn going to and coming from" is one that people throw away after they 
have gone to a charnel ground and returned and bathed. 

"One scorched by fire" is one partly scorched by fire; for people throw that away. 

"One gnawed by cattle," etc., are obvious; for people throw away such as these 
too. 

"One carried as a flag": Those who board a ship do so after hoisting a flag. It is 
allowable to take this when they have gone out of sight. Also it is allowable, when 
the two armies have gone away, to take a flag that has been hoisted on a battlefield. 

18. "A robe from a shrine" is an offering made by draping a termite-mound [in 
cloth]. 

"An ascetic's robe" is one belonging to a bhikkhu. 

"One from a consecration" is one thrown away at the king's consecration place. 

"One produced by supernormal power" is a "come-bhikkhu" robe. 8 "One from a 
highway" is one dropped in the middle of a road. But one dropped by the owner's 
negligence should be taken only after waiting a while. 

"One borne by the wind" is one that falls a long way off, having been carried by 
the wind. It is allowable to take it if the owners are not in sight. 

"One presented by deities" is one given by deities like that given to the Elder 
Anuruddha (Dhp-a II 173-74). 

"One from the sea" is one washed up on dry land by the sea waves. 

19. One given thus "We give it to the Order" or got by those who go out for alms- 
cloth is not a refuse-rag. And in the case of one presented by a bhikkhu, one given 

7. "The name of a street in Mahagama (S.E. Sri Lanka). Also in Anuradhapura, they 
say" (Vism-mht 77). 

8. On certain occasions, when the going forth was given by the Buddha with only the 
words, "Ehi bhikkhu (Come, bhikkhu)," owing to the disciple's past merit robes appeared 
miraculously upon him (see e.g. Vin Mahavagga, Kh. 1). 

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after it has been got [at a presentation of robes by householders] at the end of the 
Rains, or a "resting-place robe" [that is, one automatically supplied by a householder 
to the occupant of a certain resting place] is not a refuse-rag. It is a refuse-rag only 
when given after not having been so obtained. And herein, that placed by the donors 
at a bhikkhu's feet but given by that bhikkhu to the refuse-rag wearer by placing it 
in his hand is called pure in one way. That given to a bhikkhu by placing it in his 
hand but placed by him at the [refuse-rag wearer's] feet is also pure in one way. 
That which is both placed at a bhikkhu's feet and then given by him in the same 
way is pure in both ways. [64] One obtained by being placed in the hand and 
[given by being] placed in the hand too is not a strict man's robe. So a refuse-rag 
wearer should use the robe after getting to know about the kinds of refuse-rags. 
These are the directions for it in this instance. 

20. The grades are these. There are three kinds of refuse-rag wearers: the strict, the 
medium, and the mild. Herein, one who takes it only from a charnel ground is strict. 
One who takes one left [by someone, thinking] "One gone forth will take it" is medium. 
One who takes one given by being placed at his feet [by a bhikkhu] is mild. 

The moment anyone of these of his own choice or inclination agrees to [accept] 
a robe given by a householder, his ascetic practice is broken. This is the breach in 
this instance. 

21 . The benefits are these. He actually practices in conformity with the dependence, 
because of the words "The going forth by depending on the refuse-rag robe" (Vin 
1 58, 96); he is established in the first of the Noble Ones' heritages (A II 27); there is 
no suffering due to protecting; he exists independent of others; there is no fear of 
robbers; there is no craving connected with use [of robes]; it is a requisite suitable 
for an ascetic; it is a requisite recommended by the Blessed One thus "valueless, 
easy to get, and blameless" (A II 26); it inspires confidence; it produces the fruits 
of fewness of wishes, etc.; the right way is cultivated; a good example is set 9 to later 
generations. 

22. While striving for Death's army's rout 
The ascetic clad in rag-robe clout 
Got from a rubbish heap, shines bright 
As mail-clad warrior in the fight. 

This robe the world's great teacher wore, 
Leaving rare Kasi cloth and more; 
Of rags from off a rubbish heap 
Who would not have a robe to keep? 

Minding the words he did profess 
When he went into homelessness, 
Let him to wear such rags delight 
As one in seemly garb bedight. 

This, firstly, is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, 
and benefits, in the case of the refuse-rag-wearer's practice. 

9. Apadana — "institution (or production)," not in PED. 

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23. ii. Next there is the triple-robe-wearer's practice. This is undertaken with one 
of the following statements: "I refuse a fourth robe" or "I undertake the triple- 
robe-wearer's practice." [65] 

When a triple-robe wearer has got cloth for a robe, he can put it by for as long 
as, owing to ill-health, he is unable to make it up, or for as long as he does not find 
a helper, or lacks a needle, etc., and there is no fault in his putting it by. But it is not 
allowed to put it by once it has been dyed. That is called cheating the ascetic practice. 
These are the directions for it. 

24. This too has three grades. Herein, one who is strict should, at the time of dyeing, 
first dye either the inner cloth or the upper garment, and having dyed it, he should 
wear that round the waist and dye the other. Then he can put that on over the 
shoulder and dye the cloak of patches. But he is not allowed to wear the cloak of 
patches round the waist. This is the duty when in an abode inside a village. But it 
is allowable for him in the forest to wash and dye two together. However, he should 
sit in a place near [to the robes] so that, if he sees anyone, he can pull a yellow cloth 
over himself. But for the medium one there is a yellow cloth in the dyeing room for 
use while dyeing, and it is allowable for him to wear that [as an inner cloth] or to 
put it on [as an upper garment] in order to do the work of dyeing. For the mild one 
it is allowable to wear, or put on, the robes of bhikkhus who are in communion (i.e. 
not suspended, etc.) in order to do the work of dyeing. A bedspread that remains 
where it is 10 is also allowable for him, but he must not take it about him. And it is 
allowed for him to use from time to time the robes of bhikkhus who are in 
communion. It is allowed to one who wears the triple robe as an ascetic practice to 
have a yellow shoulder-cloth too as a fourth; but it must be only a span wide and 
three hands long. 

The moment anyone of these three agrees to [accept] a fourth robe, his ascetic 
practice is broken. This is the breach in this instance. 

25. The benefits are these. The bhikkhu who is a triple-robe wearer is content 
with the robe as a protection for the body. Hence he goes taking it with him as a 
bird does its wings (M 1 180); and such special qualities as having few undertakings, 
avoidance of storage of cloth, a frugal existence, the abandoning of greed for many 
robes, living in effacement by observing moderation even in what is permitted, 
production of the fruits of fewness of wishes, etc., are perfected. [66] 

26. No risk of hoarding haunts the man of wit 
Who wants no extra cloth for requisite; 
Using the triple robe where'er he goes 
The pleasant relish of content he knows. 



10. Tatratthaka-paccattharana — "a bedspread that remains there"; "A name for what 
has been determined upon as a bedspread in one's own resting place or in someone 
else's. They say accordingly (it is said in a commentary) that there is no breach of the 
ascetic practice even when these two, that is, the bedspread and the undyed cloth, are 
kept as extra robes" (Vism-mht 78-79). For tatratthaka (fixture) see also §61. 



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So, would the adept wander undeterred 
With naught else but his robes, as flies the bird 
With its own wings, then let him too rejoice 
That frugalness in garments be his choice. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the triple-robe-wearer's practice. 

27. iii. The alms-food-eater's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse a supplementary [food] supply" or "I undertake the alms- 
food-eater's practice." 

Now, this alms-food eater should not accept the following fourteen kinds of 
meal: a meal offered to the Order, a meal offered to specified bhikkhus, an invitation, 
a meal given by a ticket, one each half-moon day, one each Uposatha day, one each 
first of the half-moon, a meal given for visitors, a meal for travellers, a meal for the 
sick, a meal for sick-nurses, a meal supplied to a [particular] residence, a meal 
given in a principal house, 11 a meal given in turn. 

If, instead of saying "Take a meal given to the Order", [meals] are given saying 
"The Order is taking alms in our house; you may take alms too", it is allowable to 
consent. Tickets from the Order that are not for actual food, 12 and also a meal 
cooked in a monastery, are allowable as well. 

These are the directions for it. 

28. This too has three grades. Herein, one who is strict takes alms brought both 
from before and from behind, and he gives the bowl to those who take it while he 
stands outside a door. He also takes alms brought to the refectory and given there. 
But he does not take alms by sitting [and waiting for it to be brought later] that day. 
The medium one takes it as well by sitting [and waiting for it to be brought later] 
that day; but he does not consent to [its being brought] the next day. The mild one 
consents to alms [being brought] on the next day and on the day after. Both these 
last miss the joy of an independent life. There is, perhaps, a preaching on the Noble 
Ones' heritages (A II 28) in some village. The strict one says to the others "Let us 
go, friends, and listen to the Dhamma." One of them says, "I have been made to sit 
[and wait] by a man, venerable sir," and the other, "I have consented to [receive] 
alms tomorrow, venerable sir." So they are both losers. The other wanders for alms 
in the morning and then he goes and savours the taste of the Dhamma. [67] 

The moment anyone of these three agrees to the extra gain consisting of a meal 
given to the Order, etc., his ascetic practice is broken. This is the breach in this 
instance. 

29. The benefits are these. He actually practices in conformity with the dependence 
because of the words "The going forth by depending on the eating of lumps of 

11. "A meal to be given by setting it out in a principal house only." (Vism-mht 79) 
This meaning of dhura-bhatta not in PED. 

12. "Tickets that are not for actual food, but deal with medicine, etc." (Vism-mht 79) 
Patikkamana — "refectory" (28) = bojun hal (eating hall) in Sinhalese translation. 



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alms food" (Vin II 58, 96); he is established in the second of the Noble Ones' 
heritages; his existence is independent of others; it is a requisite recommended by 
the Blessed One thus "Valueless, easy to get, blameless" (A II 26); idleness is 
eliminated; livelihood is purified; the practice of the minor training rule [of the 
Patimokkha] is fulfilled; he is not maintained by another; he helps others; pride is 
abandoned; craving for tastes is checked; the training precepts about eating as a 
group, substituting one meal [invitation for another] (see Vinaya, Pacittiya 33 and 
Corny), and good behaviour, are not contravened; his life conforms to [the principles 
of] fewness of wishes; he cultivates the right way; he has compassion for later 
generations. 

30. The monk content with alms for food 
Has independent livelihood, 

And greed in him no footing finds; 
He is as free as the four winds. 
He never need be indolent, 
His livelihood is innocent, 
So let a wise man not disdain 
Alms-gathering for his domain. 

Since it is said: 

"If a bhikkhu can support himself on alms 
And live without another's maintenance, 
And pay no heed as well to gain and fame, 
The very gods indeed might envy him" (Ud 31). 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach and 
benefits, in the case of the alms-food-eater's practice. 

31. iv The house-to-house seeker's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements "I refuse a greedy alms round" or "I undertake the house-to-house 
seeker's practice." 

Now, the house-to-house seeker should stop at the village gate and make sure 
that there is no danger. If there is danger in any street or village, it is allowable to 
leave it out and wander for alms elsewhere. When there is a house door or a street 
or a village where he [regularly] gets nothing at all, he can go [past it] not counting 
it as a village. But wherever he gets anything at all it is not allowed [subsequently] 
to go [past] there and leave it out. This bhikkhu should enter the village early so 
that he will be able to leave out any inconvenient place and go elsewhere. [68] But 
if people who are giving a gift [of a meal] in a monastery or who are coming along 
the road take his bowl and give alms food, it is allowable. And as this [bhikkhu] is 
going along the road, he should, when it is the time, wander for alms in any village 
he comes to and not pass it by. If he gets nothing there or only a little, he should 
wander for alms in the next village in order. These are the directions for it. 

32. This too has three grades. Herein, one who is strict does not take alms brought 
from before or brought from behind or brought to the refectory and given there. 
He hands over his bowl at a door, however; for in this ascetic practice there is none 
equal to the Elder Maha Kassapa, yet an instance in which even he handed over his 

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bowl is mentioned (see Ud 29). The medium one takes what is brought from before 
and from behind and what is brought to the refectory, and he hands over his bowl 
at a door. But he does not sit waiting for alms. Thus he conforms to the rule of the 
strict alms-food eater. The mild one sits waiting [for alms to be brought] that day. 

The ascetic practice of these three is broken as soon as the greedy alms round 
starts [by going only to the houses where good alms food is given]. This is the 
breach in this instance. 

33. The benefits are these. He is always a stranger among families and is like the 
moon (S II 197); he abandons avarice about families; he is compassionate impartially; 
he avoids the dangers in being supported by a family; he does not delight in 
invitations; he does not hope for [meals] to be brought; his life conforms to [the 
principles of] fewness of wishes, and so on. 

34. The monk who at each house his begging plies 
Is moonlike, ever new to families, 

Nor does he grudge to help all equally, 
Free from the risks of house-dependency 
Who would the self-indulgent round forsake 
And roam the world at will, the while to make 
His downcast eyes range a yoke-length before, 
Then let him wisely seek from door to door. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the house-to-house-seeker's practice. [69] 

35. v. The one-sessioner's practice is undertaken with one of the following statements: 
"I refuse eating in several sessions" or "I undertake the one-sessioner's practice." 

When the one-sessioner sits down in the sitting hall, instead of sitting on an 
elder's seat, he should notice which seat is likely to fall to him and sit down on 
that. If his teacher or preceptor arrives while the meal is still unfinished, it is 
allowable for him to get up and do the duties. But the Elder Tipitaka Cula-Abhaya 
said: "He should either keep his seat [and finish his meal] or [if he gets up he 
should leave the rest of] his meal [in order not to break the ascetic practice]. And 
this is one whose meal is still unfinished; therefore let him do the duties, but in 
that case let him not eat the [rest of the] meal." These are the directions. 

36. This too has three grades. Herein, one who is strict may not take anything 
more than the food that he has laid his hand on whether it is little or much. And if 
people bring him ghee, etc., thinking "The elder has eaten nothing," while these 
are allowable for the purpose of medicine, they are not so for the purpose of food. 
The medium one may take more as long as the meal in the bowl is not exhausted; 
for he is called "one who stops when the food is finished." The mild one may eat 
as long as he does not get up from his seat. He is either "one who stops with the 
water" because he eats until he takes [water for] washing the bowl, or "one who 
stops with the session" because he eats until he gets up. 

The ascetic practice of these three is broken at the moment when food has been 
eaten at more than one session. This is the breach in this instance. 



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37. The benefits are these. He has little affliction and little sickness; he has lightness, 
strength, and a happy life; there is no contravening [rules] about food that is not 
what is left over from a meal; craving for tastes is eliminated; his life conforms to 
the [principles of] fewness of wishes, and so on. 

38. No illness due to eating shall he feel 
Who gladly in one session takes his meal; 
No longing to indulge his sense of taste 
Tempts him to leave his work to go to waste. 
His own true happiness a monk may find 
In eating in one session, pure in mind. 
Purity and effacement wait on this; 

For it gives reason to abide in bliss. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the one-sessioner's practice. [70] 

39. vi. The bowl-food-eater's practice is undertaken with one of the following statements: 
"I refuse a second vessel" or "I undertake the bowl-food-eater's practice." 

When at the time of drinking rice gruel, the bowl-food eater gets curry that is 
put in a dish; he can first either eat the curry or drink the rice gruel. If he puts it in 
the rice gruel, the rice gruel becomes repulsive when a curry made with cured 
fish, etc., is put into it. So it is allowable [to do this] only in order to use it without 
making it repulsive. Consequently this is said with reference to such curry as that. 
But what is unrepulsive, such as honey, sugar, 13 etc., should be put into it. And in 
taking it he should take the right amount. It is allowable to take green vegetables 
with the hand and eat them. But unless he does that they should be put into the 
bowl. Because a second vessel has been refused it is not allowable [to use] anything 
else, not even the leaf of a tree. These are its directions. 

40. This too has three grades. Herein, for one who is strict, except at the time of 
eating sugarcane, it is not allowed [while eating] to throw rubbish away, and it is 
not allowed while eating to break up rice-lumps, fish, meat and cakes. [The rubbish 
should be thrown away and the rice-lumps, etc., broken up before starting to eat.] 
The medium one is allowed to break them up with one hand while eating; and he 
is called a "hand ascetic." The mild one is called a "bowl ascetic"; anything that 
can be put into his bowl he is allowed, while eating, to break up, [that is, rice lumps, 
etc.,] with his hand or [such things as palm sugar, ginger, etc.,] with his teeth. 

The moment anyone of these three agrees to a second vessel his ascetic practice 
is broken. This is the breach in this instance. 

41 . The benefits are these. Craving for variety of tastes is eliminated; excessiveness 
of wishes is abandoned; he sees the purpose and the [right] amount in nutriment; 
he is not bothered with carrying saucers, etc., about; his life conforms to [the 
principles of] fewness of wishes and so on. 

42. He baffles doubts that might arise 
With extra dishes; downcast eyes 

13. Sakkara — "sugar": spelt sakkhara in PED. 

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The true devotedness imply 14 
Of one uprooting gluttony. 
Wearing content as if 'twere part 
Of his own nature, glad at heart; 
None but a bowl-food eater may 
Consume his food in such a way. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the bowl-food-eater's practice. [71] 

43. vii. The later-food-refuser's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse additional food" or "I undertake the later-food-refuser's 
practice." 

Now, when that later-food refuser has shown that he is satisfied, he should not 
again have the food made allowable [by having it put into his hands according to 
the rule forbhikkhus] and eat it. These are the directions for it. 

44. This too has three grades. Herein, there is no showing that he has had enough 
with respect to the first lump, but there is when he refuses more while that is being 
swallowed. So when one who is strict has thus shown that he has had enough 
[with respect to the second lump], he does not eat the second lump after swallowing 
the first. The medium one eats also that food with respect to which he has shown 
that he has had enough. But the mild one goes on eating until he gets up from his 
seat. 

The moment any one of these three has eaten what has been made allowable 
[again] after he has shown that he has had enough, his ascetic practice is broken. 
This is the breach in this instance. 

45. The benefits are these. One is far from committing an offence concerned with 
extra food; there is no overloading of the stomach; there is no keeping food back; 
there is no renewed search [for food]; he lives in conformity with [the principles 
of] fewness of wishes, and so on. 

46. When a wise man refuses later food 

He needs no extra search in weary mood, 

Nor stores up food till later in the day, 

Nor overloads his stomach in this way. 

So, would the adept from such faults abstain, 

Let him assume this practice for his gain, 

Praised by the Blessed One, which will augment 

The special qualities such as content. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the later-food-refuser's practice. 

47. viii. The forest-dweller's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse an abode in a village" or "I undertake the forest-dweller's 
practice." 

14. Subbata — "truly devoted": fm. su + vata (having good vows). See also §59. 

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48. Now, that forest dweller must leave an abode in a village in order to meet the 
dawn in the forest. Herein, a village abode is the village itself with its precincts. A 
"village" may consist of one cottage or several cottages, it may be enclosed by a 
wall or not, have human inhabitants or not, and it can also be a caravan that is 
inhabited for more than four months. [72] The "village precincts" cover the range 
of a stone thrown by a man of medium stature standing between the gate-posts of 
a walled village, if there are two gate-posts, as at Anuradhapura (cf. Vin III 46). The 
Vinaya experts say that this [stone's throw] is characterized as up to the place 
where a thrown stone falls, as, for instance, when young men exercise their arms 
and throw stones in order to show off their strength. But the Suttanta experts say 
that it is up to where one thrown to scare crows normally falls. In the case of an 
unwalled village, the house precinct is where the water falls when a woman standing 
in the door of the outermost house of all throws water from a basin. Within a 
stone's throw of the kind already described from that point is the village. Within a 
second stone's throw is the village precinct. 

49. "Forest," according to the Vinaya method firstly, is described thus: "Except 
the village and its precincts, all is forest" (Vin III 46). According to the Abhidhamma 
method it is described thus: "Having gone out beyond the boundary post, all that 
is forest" (Vibh 251; Patis I 176). But according to the Suttanta method its 
characteristic is this: "A forest abode is five hundred bow-lengths distant" (Vin IV 
183). That should be defined by measuring it with a strung instructor's bow from 
the gate-post of a walled village, or from the range of the first stone's throw from 
an unwalled one, up to the monastery wall. 

50. But if the monastery is not walled, it is said in the Vinaya commentaries, it 
should be measured by making the first dwelling of all the limit, or else the refectory 
or regular meeting place or Bodhi Tree or shrine, even if that is far from a dwelling 
[belonging to the monastery]. But in the Majjhima commentary it is said that, 
omitting the precincts of the monastery and the village, the distance to be measured 
is that between where the two stones fall. This is the measure here. 

51. Even if the village is close by and the sounds of men are audible to people in 
the monastery, still if it is not possible to go straight to it because of rocks, rivers, 
etc., in between, the five hundred bow -lengths can be reckoned by that road even if 
one has to go by boat. But anyone who blocks the path to the village here and there 
for the purpose of [lengthening it so as to be able to say that he is] taking up the 
practice is cheating the ascetic practice. 

52. If a forest-dwelling bhikkhu's preceptor or teacher is ill and does not get 
what he needs in the forest, [73] he should take him to a village abode and attend 
him there. But he should leave in time to meet the dawn in a place proper for the 
practice. If the affliction increases towards the time of dawn, he must attend him 
and not bother about the purity of his ascetic practice. These are the directions. 

53. This too has three grades. Herein, one who is strict must always meet the dawn 
in the forest. The medium one is allowed to live in a village for the four months of 
the Rains. And the mild one, for the winter months too. 



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If in the period defined any one of these three goes from the forest and hears 
the Dhamma in a village abode, his ascetic practice is not broken if he meets the 
dawn there, nor is it broken if he meets it as he is on his way back after hearing [the 
Dhamma]. But if, when the preacher has got up, he thinks "We shall go after lying 
down awhile" and he meets the dawn while asleep or if of his own choice he meets 
the dawn while in a village abode, then his ascetic practice is broken. This is the 
breach in this instance. 

54. The benefits are these. A forest-dwelling bhikkhu who has given attention to 
the perception of forest (see MN 121) can obtain hitherto unobtained concentration, 
or preserve that already obtained. And the Master is pleased with him, according 
as it is said: "So, Nagita, I am pleased with that bhikkhu's dwelling in the forest" 
(A III 343). And when he lives in a remote abode his mind is not distracted by 
unsuitable visible objects, and so on. He is free from anxiety; he abandons 
attachment to life; he enjoys the taste of the bliss of seclusion, and the state of the 
refuse-rag wearer, etc., becomes him. 

55. He lives secluded and apart, 
Remote abodes delight his heart; 
The Saviour of the world, besides, 
He gladdens that in groves abides. 
The hermit that in woods can dwell 
Alone, may gain the bliss as well 
Whose savour is beyond the price 
Of royal bliss in paradise. 

Wearing the robe of rags he may 
Go forth into the forest fray; 
Such is his mail, for weapons too 
The other practices will do. 

One so equipped can be assured 
Of routing Mara and his horde. 
So let the forest glades delight 
A wise man for his dwelling's site. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the forest-dweller's practice. [74] 

56. ix. The tree-root-dweller' s practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse a roof" or "I undertake the tree-root-dweller's practice." 

The tree-root dweller should avoid such trees as a tree near a frontier, a shrine 
tree, a gum tree, a fruit tree, a bats' tree, a hollow tree, or a tree standing in the 
middle of a monastery. He can choose a tree standing on the outskirts of a monastery 
These are the directions. 

57. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to have a tree 
that he has chosen tidied up. He can move the fallen leaves with his foot while 
dwelling there. The medium one is allowed to get it tidied up by those who happen 
to come along. The mild one can take up residence there after summoning 

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monastery attendants and novices and getting them to clear it up, level it, strew 
sand and make a fence round with a gate fixed in it. On a special day, a tree-root 
dweller should sit in some concealed place elsewhere rather than there. 

The moment any one of these three makes his abode under a roof, his ascetic 
practice is broken. The reciters of the Anguttara say that it is broken as soon as he 
knowingly meets the dawn under a roof. This is the breach in this instance. 

58. The benefits are these. He practices in conformity with the dependence, because 
of the words "The going forth by depending on the root of a tree as an abode" (Vin 
1 58, 96); it is a requisite recommended by the Blessed One thus "Valueless, easy to 
get, and blameless" (A II 26); perception of impermanence is aroused through 
seeing the continual alteration of young leaves; avarice about abodes and love of 
[building] work are absent; he dwells in the company of deities; he lives in 
conformity with [the principles of] fewness of wishes, and so on. 

59. The Blessed One praised roots of trees 
As one of the dependencies (Vin I 58); 
Can he that loves secludedness 

Find such another dwelling place? 

Secluded at the roots of trees 
And guarded well by deities 
He lives in true devotedness 
Nor covets any dwelling place. [75] 

And when the tender leaves are seen 
Bright red at first, then turning green, 
And then to yellow as they fall, 
He sheds belief once and for all 

In permanence. Tree roots have been 
Bequeathed by him; secluded scene 
No wise man will disdain at all 
For contemplating [rise and fall]. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the tree-root-dweller's practice. 

60. x. The open-air-dweller's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse a roof and a tree root" or "I undertake the open-air-dweller's 
practice." 

An open-air dweller is allowed to enter the Uposatha-house for the purpose of 
hearing the Dhamma or for the purpose of the Uposatha. If it rains while he is 
inside, he can go out when the rain is over instead of going out while it is still 
raining. He is allowed to enter the eating hall or the fire room in order to do the 
duties, or to go under a roof in order to ask elder bhikkhus in the eating hall about 
a meal, or when teaching and taking lessons, or to take beds, chairs, etc., inside 
that have been wrongly left outside. If he is going along a road with a requisite 
belonging to a senior and it rains, he is allowed to go into a wayside rest house. If 
he has nothing with him, he is not allowed to hurry in order to get to a rest house; 

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but he can go at his normal pace and enter it and stay there as long as it rains. These are 
the directions for it. And the same rule applies to the tree-root dweller too. 

61. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to live near 
a tree or a rock or a house. He should make a robe-tent right out in the open and 
live in that. The medium one is allowed to live near a tree or a rock or a house so 
long as he is not covered by them. The mild one is allowed these: a [rock] overhang 
without a drip-ledge cut in it, 15 a hut of branches, cloth stiffened with paste, and a 
tent treated as a fixture, that has been left by field watchers, and so on. 

The moment any one of these three goes under a roof or to a tree root to dwell there, 
[76] his ascetic practice is broken. The reciters of the Ahguttara say that it is broken as 
soon as he knowingly meets the dawn there. This is the breach in this case. 

62. The benefits are these: the impediment of dwellings is severed; stiffness and 
torpor are expelled; his conduct deserves the praise "Like deer the bhikkhus live 
unattached and homeless" (S 1 199); he is detached; he is [free to go in] any direction; 
he lives in conformity with [the principles of] fewness of wishes, and so on. 

63. The open air provides a life 

That aids the homeless bhikkhu's strife, 
Easy to get, and leaves his mind 
Alert as a deer, so he shall find 

Stiffness and torpor brought to halt. 
Under the star-bejewelled vault 
The moon and sun furnish his light, 
And concentration his delight. 
The joy seclusion's savour gives 
He shall discover soon who lives 
In open air; and that is why 
The wise prefer the open sky. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the open-air-dweller's practice. 

64. xi. The charnel-ground-dweller's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse what is not a charnel ground" or "I undertake the charnel- 
ground-dweller's practice." 



15. Reading acchinna-mariyadam with Vism-mht, which says: "'Without a drip-ledge 
cut (acchinna-mariyadam)' means without a drip-ledge (mariyada) made above, which 
might come under the heading of a drip-ledge (mariyada-sankhepena) made to prevent 
rain water from coming in. But if the rain water comes under the overhang (pabbhara) 
and is allowed to go in under it, then this comes under the heading of the open air 
(abbhokasika-sahkhepa)" (Vism-mht 84). This seems to refer to the widespread habit in 
ancient Sri Lanka of cutting a drip-ledge on overhanging rocks used for bhikkhus' 
dwellings so that the rain that falls on top of the rock drips down in front of the space 
under the overhang instead of trickling down under the rock and wetting the back and 
floor. Pabbhara in this context is "over hang" rather than "slope." 

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Now, the charnel-ground dweller should not live in some place just because the 
people who built the village have called it "the charnel ground" for it is not a 
charnel ground unless a dead body has been burnt on it. But as soon as one has 
been burnt on it, it becomes a charnel ground. And even if it has been neglected 
for a dozen years, it is so still. 

65. One who dwells there should not be the sort of person who gets walks, 
pavilions, etc., built, has beds and chairs set out and drinking and washing water 
kept ready, and preaches Dhamma; for this ascetic practice is a momentous thing. 
Whoever goes to live there should be diligent. And he should first inform the senior 
elder of the Order or the king's local representative in order to prevent trouble. 
When he walks up and down, he should do so looking at the pyre with half an eye. 
[77] On his way to the charnel ground he should avoid the main roads and take a 
by-path. He should define all the objects [there] while it is day, so that they will not 
assume frightening shapes for him at night. Even if non-human beings wander 
about screeching, he must not hit them with anything. It is not allowed to miss 
going to the charnel ground even for a single day. The reciters of the Anguttara say 
that after spending the middle watch in the charnel ground he is allowed to leave 
in the last watch. He should not take such foods as sesame flour, pease pudding, 
fish, meat, milk, oil, sugar, etc., which are liked by non-human beings. He should 
not enter the homes of families. 16 These are the directions for it. 

66. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict should live where there are 
always burnings and corpses and mourning. The medium one is allowed to live 
where there is one of these three. The mild one is allowed to live in a place that 
possesses the bare characteristics of a charnel ground already stated. 

When any one of these three makes his abode in some place not a charnel ground, 
his ascetic practice is broken. It is on the day on which he does not go to the charnel 
ground, the Anguttara reciters say. This is the breach in this case. 

67. The benefits are these. He acquires mindfulness of death; he lives diligently; 
the sign of foulness is available (see Ch. VI); greed for sense desires is removed; he 
constantly sees the body's true nature; he has a great sense of urgency; he abandons 
vanity of health, etc.; he vanquishes fear and dread (MN 4); non-human beings 
respect and honour him; he lives in conformity with [the principles of] fewness of 
wishes, and so on. 

68. Even in sleep the dweller in a charnel ground shows naught 
Of negligence, for death is ever present to his thought; 

He may be sure there is no lust after sense pleasure preys 
Upon his mind, with many corpses present to his gaze. 

Rightly he strives because he gains a sense of urgency, 
While in his search for final peace he curbs all vanity. 
Let him that feels a leaning to Nibbana in his heart 
Embrace this practice for it has rare virtues to impart. 

16. "He should not go into families' houses because he smells of the dead and is 
followed by pisaca goblins" (Vism-mht 84). 

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This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the charnel-ground dweller's practice. [78] 

69. xii. The any-bed-user's practice is undertaken with one of the following 
statements: "I refuse greed for resting places" or "I undertake the any-bed-user's 
practice." 

The any-bed user should be content with whatever resting place he gets thus: 
"This falls to your lot." He must not make anyone else shift [from his bed]. These 
are the directions. 

70. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to ask about 
the resting place that has fallen to his lot: "Is it far?" or "Is it too near?" or "Is it 
infested by non-human beings, snakes, and so on?" or "Is it hot?" or "Is it cold?". 
The medium one is allowed to ask, but not to go and inspect it. The mild one is 
allowed to inspect it and, if he does not like it, to choose another. 

As soon as greed for resting places arises in any one of these three, his ascetic 
practice is broken. This is the breach in this instance. 

71. The benefits are these. The advice "He should be content with what he gets" 
(J-a 1 476; Vin IV 259) is carried out; he regards the welfare of his fellows in the life 
of purity; he gives up caring about inferiority and superiority; approval and 
disapproval are abandoned; the door is closed against excessive wishes; he lives in 
conformity with [the principles] of fewness of wishes, and so on. 

72. One vowed to any bed will be 
Content with what he gets, and he 
Can sleep in bliss without dismay 
On nothing but a spread of hay. 

He is not eager for the best, 
No lowly couch does he detest, 
He aids his young companions too 
That to the monk's good life are new. 

So for a wise man to delight 
In any kind of bed is right; 
A Noble One this custom loves 
As one the sages' Lord approves. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the any-bed-user's practice. 

73. xiii. The sitter's practice is undertaken with one of the following statements: "I 
refuse lying down" or "I undertake the sitter's practice." 

The sitter can get up in any one of three watches of the night and walk up and 
down: for lying down is the only posture not allowed. These are the directions. [79] 

74. This has three grades too. Herein, one who is strict is not allowed a back-rest 
or cloth band or binding-strap [to prevent falling while asleep]. 17 The medium one 

17. Ayogapatta — "a binding-strap": this is probably the meaning. But cf. Vin II 135 
andVin-a891. 

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is allowed any one of these three. The mild one is allowed a back-rest, a cloth band, 
a binding-strap, a cushion, a "five-limb" and a "seven-limb" A "five-limb" is [a 
chair] made with [four legs and] a support for the back. A "seven-limb" is one 
made with [four legs,] a support for the back and an [arm] support on each side. 
They made that, it seems, for the Elder Pithabhaya (Abhaya of the Chair). The 
elder became a non-returner, and then attained Nibbana. 

As soon as any one of these three lies down, his ascetic practice is broken. This 
is the breach in this instance. 

75. The benefits are these. The mental shackle described thus, "He dwells indulging 
in the pleasure of lying prone, the pleasure of lolling, the pleasure of torpor" (M I 
102), is severed; his state is suitable for devotion to any meditation subject; his 
deportment inspires confidence; his state favours the application of energy; he 
develops the right practice. 

76. The adept that can place crosswise 
His feet to rest upon his thighs 
And sit with back erect shall make 
Foul Mara's evil heart to quake. 
No more in supine joys to plump 
And wallow in lethargic dump; 
Who sits for rest and finds it good 
Shines forth in the Ascetics' Wood. 

The happiness and bliss it brings 
Has naught to do with worldly things; 
So must the sitter's vow befit 
The manners of a man of wit. 

This is the commentary on the undertaking, directions, grades, breach, and 
benefits, in the case of the sitter's practice. 

77. Now, there is the commentary according to the stanza: 

(4) As to the profitable triad, 

(5) "Ascetic" and so on distinguished, 

(6) As to groups, and also (7) singly, 

The exposition should be known (see §3). 

78. 4. Herein, as to the profitable triad: (Dhs, pi) all the ascetic practices, that is to 
say, those of trainers, ordinary men, and men whose cankers have been destroyed, 
may be either profitable or [in the Arahant's case] indeterminate. [80] No ascetic 
practice is unprofitable. 

But if someone should say: There is also an unprofitable ascetic practice because 
of the words "One of evil wishes, a prey to wishes, becomes a forest dweller" (A III 
219), etc., he should be told: We have not said that he does not live in the forest 
with unprofitable consciousness. Whoever has his dwelling in the forest is a forest 
dweller; and he may be one of evil wishes or of few wishes. But, as it was said 
above (§11), they "are the practices (ahga) of a bhikkhu who is ascetic (dhuta) because 
he has shaken off (dhuta) defilement by undertaking one or other of them. Or the 

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knowledge that has got the name "ascetic" (dhuta) because it shakes off (dhunana) 
defilement is a practice {anga) belonging to these, thus they are "ascetic practices" 
(dhutanga). Or alternatively, they are ascetic (dhuta) because they shake off 
(niddhunana) opposition, and they are practices {anga) because they are a way 
(patipatti)." Now, no one called "ascetic" on account of what is unprofitable could 
have these as his practices; nor does what is unprofitable shake off anything so 
that those things to which it belonged as a practice could be called "ascetic 
practices." And what is unprofitable does not both shake off cupidity for robes, 
etc., and become the practice of the way. Consequently it was rightly said that no 
ascetic practice is unprofitable. 

79. And those who hold that an ascetic practice is outside the profitable triad 18 
have no ascetic practice as regards meaning. Owing to the shaking off of what is 
non-existent could it be called an ascetic practice? Also there are the words 
"Proceeded to undertake the ascetic qualities" (Vin III 15), and it follows 19 that 
those words are contradicted. So that should not be accepted. 

This, in the first place, is the commentary on the profitable triad. 

80. 5. As to "ascetic and so on distinguished," the following things should be 
understood, that is to say, ascetic, a preacher of asceticism, ascetic states, ascetic 
practices, and for whom the cultivation of ascetic practices is suitable. 

81. Herein, ascetic means either a person whose defilements are shaken off, or a 
state that entails shaking off defilements. 

A preacher of asceticism: one is ascetic but not a preacher of asceticism, another is 
not ascetic but a preacher of asceticism, another is neither ascetic nor a preacher of 
asceticism, and another is both ascetic and a preacher of asceticism. 

82. Herein, one who has shaken off his defilements with an ascetic practice but 
does not advise and instruct another in an ascetic practice, like the Elder Bakkula, 
is "ascetic but not a preacher of asceticism," according as it is said: "Now, the 
venerable Bakkula was ascetic but not a preacher of asceticism." 

One who [81] has not shaken off his own defilements but only advises and 
instructs another in an ascetic practice, like the Elder Upananda, is "not ascetic but 
a preacher of asceticism," according as it is said: "Now, the venerable Upananda 
son of the Sakyans was not ascetic but a preacher of asceticism." 

One who has failed in both, like Laludayin, is "neither ascetic nor a preacher of 
asceticism," according as it is said: "Now, the venerable Laludayin was neither 
ascetic nor a preacher of asceticism." 

18. For the triads of the Abhidhamma Matika (Abhidhamma Schedule) see Ch. XIII, 
n.20. "'Those who hold': a reference to the inhabitants of the Abhayagiri Monastery at 
Anuradhapura. For they say that ascetic practice is a concept consisting in a name 
(nama-pahnatti). That being so, they could have no meaning of shaking off defilements, 
or possibility of being undertaken, because in the ultimate sense they would be non- 
existent [concepts having no existence]" (Vism-mht 87). Cf. IV29. 

19. Apajjati (and its noun apatti) is the normal word used for undesirable consequences 
that follow on some unsound logical proposition. See XVI.68f. This meaning is not in PED. 

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One who has succeeded in both, like the General of the Dhamma, is "both ascetic 
and a preacher of asceticism," according as it is said: "Now, the venerable Sariputta 
was ascetic and a preacher of asceticism." 

83. Ascetic states: the five states that go with the volition of an ascetic practice, that 
is to say, fewness of wishes, contentment, effacement, seclusion, and that specific 
quality 20 are called "ascetic states' because of the words "Depending on fewness of 
wishes" (A III 219), and so on. 

84. Herein, feloness of wishes and contentment are non-greed. Effacement and 
seclusion belong to the two states, non-greed and non-delusion. That specific quality 
is knowledge. Herein, by means of non-greed a man shakes off greed for things 
that are forbidden. By means of non-delusion he shakes off the delusion that hides 
the dangers in those same things. And by means of non-greed he shakes off 
indulgence in pleasure due to sense desires that occurs under the heading of using 
what is allowed. And by means of non-delusion he shakes off indulgence in self- 
mortification that occurs under the heading of excessive effacement in the ascetic 
practices. That is why these states should be understood as "ascetic states." 

85. Ascetic practices: these should be understood as the thirteen, that is to say, the 
refuse-rag-wearer's practice . . . the sitter's practice, which have already been 
described as to meaning and as to characteristic, and so forth. 

86. For whom the cultivation of ascetic practices is suitable: [they are suitable] for one 
of greedy temperament and for one of deluded temperament. Why? Because the 
cultivation of ascetic practices is both a difficult progress 21 and an abiding in 
effacement; and greed subsides with the difficult progress, while delusion is got 
rid of in those diligent by effacement. Or the cultivation of the forest-dweller's 
practice and the tree-root-dweller's practice here are suitable for one of hating 
temperament; for hate too subsides in one who dwells there without coming into 
conflict. 

This is the commentary "as to 'ascetic' and so on distinguished." [82] 

87. 6. and 7. As to groups and also singly . Now, 6. as to groups: these ascetic practices 
are in fact only eight, that is to say, three principal and five individual practices. 
Herein, the three, namely, the house-to-house-seeker's practice, the one-sessioner's 
practice, and the open-air-dweller's practice, are principal practices. For one who 
keeps the house-to-house-seeker's practice will keep the alms-food-eater's practice; 
and the bowl-food-eater's practice and the later-food-refuser's practice will be well 
kept by one who keeps the one-sessioner's practice. And what need has one who 
keeps the open-air-dweller's practice to keep the tree-root-dweller's practice or 
the any-bed-user's practice? So there are these three principal practices that, 



20. Idamatthita — "that specific quality": "Owing to these profitable states it exists, (thus 
it is 'specific by those'; imehi kusaladhammehi atthi = idam-atthi). The knowledge by means 
of which one who has gone forth should be established in the refuse-rag-wearer's 
practice, etc., and by means of which, on being so instructed one undertakes and persists 
in the ascetic qualities — that knowledge is idamatthita" (Vism-mht 88). 

21. SeeXXI.117. 

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together with the five individual practices, that is to say, the forest-dweller's practice, 
the refuse-rag-wearer's practice, the triple-robe-wearer's practice, the sitter's 
practice, and the charnel-ground-dweller's practice, come to eight only. 

88. Again they come to four, that is to say, two connected with robes, five connected 
with alms food, five connected with the resting place, and one connected with 
energy. Herein, it is the sitter's practice that is connected with energy; the rest are 
obvious. 

Again they all amount to two only, since twelve are dependent on requisites 
and one on energy. Also they are two according to what is and what is not to be 
cultivated. For when one cultivating an ascetic practice finds that his meditation 
subject improves, he should cultivate it; but when he is cultivating one and finds 
that his meditation subject deteriorates, he should not cultivate it. But when he 
finds that, whether he cultivates one or not, his meditation subject only improves 
and does not deteriorate, he should cultivate them out of compassion for later 
generations. And when he finds that, whether he cultivates them or not, his 
meditation subject does not improve, he should still cultivate them for the sake of 
acquiring the habit for the future. So they are of two kinds as what is and what is 
not to be cultivated. 

89. And all are of one kind as volition. For there is only one ascetic practice, 
namely, that consisting in the volition of undertaking. Also it is said in the 
Commentary: "It is the volition that is the ascetic practice, they say." 

90. 7. Singly: with thirteen for bhikkhus, eight for bhikkhums, twelve for novices, 
seven for female probationers and female novices, and two for male and female lay 
followers, there are thus forty-two. 

91 . If there is a charnel ground in the open that complies with the forest-dweller's 
practice, one bhikkhu is able to put all the ascetic practices into effect simultaneously. 

But the two, namely, the forest-dweller's practice and the later-food-refuser's 
practice, are forbidden to bhikkhums by training precept. [83] And it is hard for 
them to observe the three, namely, the open-air-dweller's practice, the tree-root- 
dweller's practice, and the charnel-ground-dweller's practice, because a bhikkhum 
is not allowed to live without a companion, and it is hard to find a female companion 
with like desire for such a place, and even if available, she would not escape having 
to live in company. This being so, the purpose of cultivating the ascetic practice 
would scarcely be served. It is because they are reduced by five owing to this 
inability to make use of certain of them that they are to be understood as eight 
only for bhikkhums. 

92. Except for the triple-robe-wearer's practice all the other twelve as stated should 
be understood to be for novices, and all the other seven for female probationers 
and female novices. 

The two, namely, the one-sessioner's practice and the bowl-food-eater's practice, 
are proper for male and female lay followers to employ. In this way there are two 
ascetic practices. 

This is the commentary "as to groups and also singly." 



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93. And this is the end of the treatise on the ascetic practices to be undertaken for 
the purpose of perfecting those special qualities of fewness of wishes, contentment, 
etc., by means of which there comes about the cleansing of virtue as described in 
the Path of Purification, which is shown under the three headings of virtue, 
concentration, and understanding, contained in the stanza, "When a wise man, 
established well in virtue" (1.1). 

The second chapter called "The Description of the Ascetic 
Practices" in the Path of Purification composed for the 
purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter III 

Taking a Meditation Subject 
(Kammatthana-gahana-niddesa) 

1 . [84] Now, concentration is described under the heading of "consciousness" in 
the phrase "develops consciousness and understanding" (1.1). It should be 
developed by one who has taken his stand on virtue that has been purified by 
means of the special qualities of fewness of wishes, etc., and perfected by observance 
of the ascetic practices. But that concentration has been shown only very briefly 
and so it is not even easy to understand, much less to develop. There is therefore 
the following set of questions, the purpose of which is to show the method of its 
development in detail: 

(i) What is concentration? 

(ii) In what sense is it concentration? 

(iii) What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate 

cause? 

(iv) How many kinds of concentration are there? 

(v) What is its defilement? 

(vi) What is its cleansing? 

(vii) How should it be developed? 

(viii) What are the benefits of the development of concentration? 1 

2. Here are the answers: 

(i) What is concentration? Concentration is of many sorts and has various 
aspects. An answer that attempted to cover it all would accomplish neither its 
intention nor its purpose and would, besides, lead to distraction; so we shall confine 
ourselves to the kind intended here, calling concentration profitable unification of 
mind. 2 



1. The answer to question (vii) stretches from III. 27 to XI.119. That to question (viii) 
from XI. 120 up to the end of Ch. XIII. 

2. "Cittass' ekaggata" is rendered here as "unification of mind" in the sense of 
agreement or harmony (cf. samagga) of consciousness and its concomitants in focusing 
on a single object (see A I 70). It is sometimes rendered "one-pointedness" in that 
sense, or in the sense of the focusing of a searchlight. It may be concluded that this 
term is simply a synonym for samadhi and nothing more, firstly from its use in the 
suttas, and secondly from the fact that it is given no separate definition in the description 
of the formations aggregate in Ch. XIV Cf. gloss at M-a 1 124. 

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3. (ii) In what sense is it concentration? It is concentration (samadhi) in the sense 
of concentrating (samadhana) . What is this concentrating? It is the centring (adhana) 
of consciousness and consciousness-concomitants evenly (samam) and rightly 
(samma) on a single object; placing, is what is meant. [85] So it is the state in virtue 
of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single 
object, undistracted and unscattered, that should be understood as concentrating. 

4. (iii) What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause? 
Concentration has non-distraction as its characteristic. 3 Its function is to eliminate 
distraction. It is manifested as non-wavering. Because of the words, "Being blissful, 
his mind becomes concentrated" (D I 73), its proximate cause is bliss. 

5. (iv) HOW MANY KINDS OF CONCENTRATION ARE THERE? 

(1) First of all it is of one kind with the characteristic of non-distraction. (2) 
Then it is of two kinds as access and absorption; 4 (3) likewise as mundane and 
supramundane, 5 (4) as with happiness and without happiness, and (5) as 
accompanied by bliss and accompanied by equanimity 6 It is of three kinds (6) as 
inferior, medium and superior; likewise (7) as with applied thought and sustained 
thought, etc., (8) as accompanied by happiness, etc., and (9) as limited, exalted, 
and measureless. It is of four kinds (10) as of difficult progress and sluggish 

3. "The characteristic of non-distraction is the individual essence peculiar to 
concentration. Hence no analysis of it is possible, which is why he said: 'It is of one kind 
with the characteristic of non-distraction'" (Vism-mht 91). 

4. "Applied thought that occurs as though absorbing (appento) associated states in 
the object is absorption (appana). Accordingly it is described as 'absorption, absorbing 
(appana vyappana)' (M III 73). Now since that is the most important, the usage of the 
Commentaries is to call all exalted and unsurpassed jhana states 'absorption' [as well 
as the applied thought itself], and likewise to apply the term of common usage 'access' 
to the limited [i.e. sense-sphere] jhana that heralds the arising of the former, just as the 
term 'village access,' etc. is applied to the neighbourhood of a village" (Vism-mht 91). 

5. "The round (vatta, see XVII. 298) [including fine-material and immaterial heavens] 
is called the world (loka) because of its crumbling (lujjana) and disintegrating (palujjana). 
'Mundane' (lokiya) means connected with the world because of being included in it or 
found there. 'Supramundane' (loknttara) means beyond the world, excepted from it, 
because of not being included in it [through being associated with Nibbana]" (Vism- 
mht 91). See also "nine supramundane states. (VII.68, 74f.)" 

6. In loose usage piti (happiness) and sukha (pleasure or bliss) are almost synonyms. 
They become differentiated in the jhana formulas (see IV100), and then technically pit i, 
as the active thrill of rapture, is classed under the formations aggregate and sukha under 
the feeling aggregate. The valuable word "happiness" was chosen for piti rather than 
the possible alternatives of "joy" (needed for somanassa), "interest" (which is too flat), 
"rapture" (which is overcharged), or "zest." For sukha, while "pleasure" seemed to fit 
admirably where ordinary pleasant feeling is intended, another, less crass, word seemed 
necessary for the refined pleasant feeling of jhana and the "bliss" of Nibbana (which is 
not feeling aggregate — see M I 400). "Ease" is sometimes used. 

"Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is intended here by 'equanimity' (npekkha, lit, 
onlooking); for it 'looks on' (upekkhati) at the occurrence of [bodily] pleasure and pain 
by maintaining the neutral (central) mode" (Vism-mht 92). 

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direct-knowledge, etc.; likewise (11) as limited with limited object, etc., (12) 
according to the factors of the four jhanas, (13) as partaking of diminution, etc., 
(14) as of the sense sphere, etc., and (15) as predominance, and so on. (16) It is of 
five kinds according to the factors of the five jhanas reckoned by the fivefold method. 

6. 1. Herein, the section dealing with that of one kind is evident in meaning. 

2. In the section dealing with that of two kinds, access concentration is the 
unification of mind obtained by the following, that is to say, the six recollections, 
mindfulness of death, the recollection of peace, the perception of repulsiveness in 
nutriment, and the defining of the four elements, and it is the unification that 
precedes absorption concentration. Absorption concentration is the unification that 
follows immediately upon the preliminary-work (IV74) because of the words, "The 
first-jhana preliminary-work is a condition, as proximity condition, for the first 
jhana" (Patth II 350 (Se). So it is of two kinds as access and absorption. 

7. 3. In the second dyad mundane concentration is profitable unification of mind 
in the three planes. Supramundane concentration is the unification associated with 
the noble paths. So it is of two kinds as mundane and supramundane. 

8. 4. In the third dyad concentration with happiness is the unification of mind in 
two jhanas in the fourfold reckoning and in three jhanas in the fivefold reckoning. 
[86] Concentration without happiness is the unification in the remaining two jhanas. 
But access concentration may be with happiness or without happiness. So it is of 
two kinds as with happiness and without happiness. 

9. 5. In the fourth dyad concentration accompanied by bliss is the unification in 
three jhanas in the fourfold and four in the fivefold reckoning. That accompanied by 
equanimity is that in the remaining jhana. Access concentration may be accompanied 
by bliss or accompanied by equanimity. So it is of two kinds as accompanied by 
bliss and accompanied by equanimity. 

10. 6. In the first of the triads what has only just been acquired is inferior. What is 
not very well developed is medium. What is well developed and has reached mastery 
is superior. So it is of three kinds as inferior, medium, and superior. 

11. 7. In the second triad that with applied thought and sustained thought is the 
concentration of the first jhana together with access concentration. That without 
applied thought, with sustained thought only, is the concentration of the second jhana 
in the fivefold reckoning. For when a man sees danger only in applied thought 
and not in sustained thought, he aspires only to abandon applied thought when 
he passes beyond the first jhana, and so he obtains concentration without applied 
thought and with sustained thought only. This is said with reference to him. 
Concentration without applied thought and sustained thought is the unification in the 
three jhanas beginning with the second in the fourfold reckoning and with the 
third in the fivefold reckoning (see D III 219). So it is of three kinds as with applied 
thought and sustained thought, and so on. 

12. 8. In the third triad concentration accompanied by happiness is the unification 
in the two first jhanas in the fourfold reckoning and in the three first jhanas in the 
fivefold reckoning. Concentration accompanied by bliss is the unification in those 
same jhanas and in the third and the fourth respectively in the two reckonings. 

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That accompanied by equanimity is that in the remaining jhana. Access concentration 
may be accompanied by bliss and happiness or accompanied by equanimity. So it 
is of three kinds as accompanied by happiness, and so on. 

13. 9. In the fourth triad limited concentration is unification on the plane of access. 
Exalted concentration is unification in profitable [consciousness, etc.,] of the fine- 
material sphere and immaterial sphere. Measureless concentration is unification 
associated with the noble paths. So it is of three kinds as limited, exalted, and 
measureless. 

14. 10. In the first of the tetrads there is concentration of difficult progress and 
sluggish direct-knowledge. There is that of difficult progress and swift direct- 
knowledge. There is that of easy progress and sluggish direct-knowledge. And 
there is that of easy progress and swift direct-knowledge. 

15. Herein, the development of concentration that occurs from the time of the 
first conscious reaction up to the arising of the access of a given jhana is called 
progress. And the understanding that occurs from the time of access until absorption 
is called direct-knowledge. That progress is difficult for some, being troublesome 
owing to the tenacious resistance of the inimical states beginning with the 
hindrances. The meaning is that it is cultivated without ease. [87] It is easy for 
others because of the absence of those difficulties. Also the direct-knowledge is 
sluggish in some and occurs slowly, not quickly. In others it is swift and occurs 
rapidly, not slowly. 

16. Herein, we shall comment below upon the suitable and unsuitable (IV35f.), the 
preparatory tasks consisting in the severing of impediments (IV20), etc., and skill in 
absorption (IV42). When a man cultivates what is unsuitable, his progress is difficult 
and his direct-knowledge sluggish. When he cultivates what is suitable, his progress is 
easy and his direct-knowledge swift. But if he cultivates the unsuitable in the earlier 
stage and the suitable in the later stage, or if he cultivates the suitable in the earlier 
stage and the unsuitable in the later stage, then it should be understood as mixed in 
his case. Likewise if he devotes himself to development without carrying out the 
preparatory tasks of severing impediments, etc., his progress is difficult. It is easy in 
the opposite case. And if he is not accomplished in skill in absorption, his direct- 
knowledge is sluggish. It is swift if he is so accomplished. 

17. Besides, they should be understood as classed according to craving and 
ignorance, and according to whether one has had practice in serenity and insight. 7 
For if a man is overwhelmed by craving, his progress is difficult. If not, it is easy. 
And if he is overwhelmed by ignorance, his direct-knowledge is sluggish. If not, it 
is swift. And if he has had no practice in serenity, his progress is difficult. If he has, 
it is easy. And if he has had no practice in insight, his direct-knowledge is sluggish. 
If he has, it is swift. 

18. Also they should be understood as classed according to defilements and 
faculties. For if a man's defilements are sharp and his faculties dull, then his progress 

7. Samatha — "serenity" is a synonym for absorption concentration, and "insight" 
(vipassana) a synonym for understanding. Samatha is sometimes rendered by 
"tranquillity" (reserved here for passaddhi) or "calm" or "quiet." 

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is difficult and his direct-knowledge sluggish; but if his faculties are keen, his 
direct-knowledge is swift. And if his defilements are blunt and his faculties dull, 
then his progress is easy and his direct-knowledge sluggish; but if his faculties are 
keen, his direct-knowledge is swift. 

19. So as regards this progress and this direct-knowledge, when a person reaches 
concentration with difficult progress and sluggish direct-knowledge, his 
concentration is called concentration of difficult progress and sluggish direct-knowledge; 
similarly in the cases of the remaining three. 

So it is of four kinds as of difficult progress and sluggish direct-knowledge, and 
so on. 

20. 11. In the second tetrad there is limited concentration with a limited object, 
there is limited concentration with a measureless object, there is measureless 
concentration with a limited object, and there is measureless concentration with a 
measureless object. Herein, concentration that is unfamiliar and incapable of being 
a condition for a higher jhana [88] is limited. When it occurs with an unextended 
object (IV126), it is with a limited object. When it is familiar, well developed, and 
capable of being a condition for a higher jhana, it is measureless. And when it occurs 
with an extended object, it is with a measureless object. The mixed method can be 
understood as the mixture of the characteristics already stated. So it is of four 
kinds as limited with limited object, and so on. 

21. 12. In the third tetrad the first jhana has five factors, that is to say, applied 
thought, sustained thought, happiness, bliss, and concentration, following 
suppression of the hindrances. The second has the three factors remaining after 
the elimination of applied and sustained thought. The third has two factors with 
the fading away of happiness. The fourth, where bliss is abandoned, has two factors 
with concentration and the equanimous feeling that accompanies it. Thus there 
are four kinds of concentration according to the factors of these four jhanas. So it is 
of four kinds according to the factors of the four jhanas. 

22. 13. In the fourth tetrad there is concentration partaking of diminution, there 
is concentration partaking of stagnation, there is concentration partaking of 
distinction, and there is concentration partaking of penetration. Herein, it should 
be understood that the state of partaking of diminution is accessibility to opposition, 
the state of partaking of stagnation (thiti) is stationariness (santhana) of the 
mindfulness that is in conformity with that [concentration], the state of partaking of 
distinction is the attaining of higher distinction, and the state of partaking of 
penetration is accessibility to perception and attention accompanied by dispassion, 
according as it is said: "When a man has attained the first jhana and he is accessible 
to perception and attention accompanied by sense desire, then his understanding 
partakes of diminution. When his mindfulness that is in conformity with that 
stagnates, then his understanding partakes of stagnation. When he is accessible to 
perception and attention unaccompanied by applied thought, then his 
understanding partakes of distinction. When he is accessible to perception and 
attention accompanied by dispassion and directed to fading away, then his 
understanding partakes of penetration" (Vibh 330). The kinds of concentration 



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associated with that [fourfold] understanding are also four in number. So it is of 
four kinds as partaking of diminution, and so on. 

23. 14. In the fifth tetrad there are the following four kinds of concentration, that 
is to say, sense-sphere concentration, fine-material-sphere concentration, immaterial- 
sphere concentration, and unincluded [that is, path] concentration. Herein, sense- 
sphere concentration is all kinds of access unification. Likewise the other three are 
respectively profitable unification of mind associated with fine-material, 
[immaterial, and path, jhana]. So it is of four kinds as of the sense-sphere, and so 
on. 

24. 15. In the sixth tetrad: "If a bhikkhu obtains concentration, obtains unification 
of mind, by making zeal (desire) predominant, [89] this is called concentration 
due to zeal. If ... by making energy predominant ... If ... by making [natural purity 
of] consciousness predominant... If ... by making inquiry predominant, this is 
called concentration due to inquiry" (Vibh 216-19). So it is of four kinds as 
predominance. 

25. 16. In the pentad there are five jhanas by dividing in two what is called the 
second jhana in the fourfold reckoning (see §21), taking the second jhana to be due 
to the surmounting of only applied thought and the third jhana to be due to the 
surmounting of both applied and sustained thought. There are five kinds of 
concentration according to the factors of these five jhanas. So its fivefoldness should 
be understood according to the five sets of jhana factors. 

26. (v) What is its defilement? (vi) What is its cleansing? Here the answer is given 
in the Vibhariga: "Defilement is the state partaking of diminution, cleansing is the 
state partaking of distinction" (Vibh 343). Herein, the state partaking of diminution 
should be understood in this way: "When a man has attained the first jhana and he 
is accessible to perception and attention accompanied by sense desire, then his 
understanding partakes of diminution" (Vibh 330). And the state partaking of 
distinction should be understood in this way: "When he is accessible to perception 
and attention unaccompanied by applied thought, then his understanding partakes 
of distinction" (Vibh 330). 

27. (vii) Hoiv should it be developed? 

[A. Development in Brief] 

The method of developing the kind of concentration associated with the noble 
paths mentioned (§7) under that "of two kinds as mundane and supramundane," 
etc., is included in the method of developing understanding; (Ch. XXII) for in 
developing [path] understanding that is developed too. So we shall say nothing 
separately [here] about how that is to be developed. 

28. But mundane concentration should be developed by one who has taken his 
stand on virtue that is quite purified in the way already stated. He should sever 
any of the ten impediments that he may have. He should then approach the good 
friend, the giver of a meditation subject, and he should apprehend from among 
the forty meditation subjects one that suits his own temperament. After that he 
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go to live in one that is favourable. Then he should sever the lesser impediments 
and not overlook any of the directions for development. This is in brief. 

[B. Development in Detail] 

29. The detail is this: 

[The Ten Impediments] 
Firstly it was said above, he should sever any of the ten impediments that he may 
have. [90] Now, the "ten impediments" are: 

A dwelling, family, and gain, 
A class, and building too as fifth, 
And travel, kin, affliction, books, 
And supernormal powers: ten. 

Herein, the dwelling itself is the "impediment due to the dwelling." So too with 
the family and so on. 

30. 1. Herein, a single inner room or a single hut or a whole monastery for the 
Community is called a dwelling. This is not an impediment for everyone. It is an 
impediment only for anyone whose mind is exercised about the building, etc., that 
goes on there, or who has many belongings stored there, or whose mind is caught 
up by some business connected with it. For any other it is not an impediment. 

31. Here is a relevant story. Two clansmen left Anuradhapura, it seems, and 
eventually went forth at the Thuparama. 8 One of them made himself familiar with 
the Two Codes, 9 and when he had acquired five years' seniority, he took part in the 
Pavarana 10 and then left for the place called Pacinakhandaraji. 11 The other stayed 
on where he was. Now, when the one who had gone to Pacinakhandaraji had lived 
there a long time and had become an elder, 12 he thought, "This place is good for 
retreat; suppose I told my friend about it?" So he set out, and in due course he 
entered the Thuparama. As he entered, the elder of the same seniority saw him, 
went to meet him, took his bowl and robe and did the duties. 

8. One of the principal monasteries in Anuradhapura. 

9. Dve matika — the "two codes": see Ch. I, n. 11. But Vism-mht says here: "'Observers 
of the codes' are observers of the codes (summaries) of the Dhamma and 
Vinaya" (Vism-mht 117). 

10. Pavarana: ceremony held at the end of the rains, during three months of which 
season bhikkhus have to undertake to live in one place in order to avoid travel while 
crops are growing. It consists in a meeting of the bhikkhus who have spent the rains 
together, at which each member present invites (pavareti) the Community to point out 
his faults (breaches of Vinaya rules) committed during the preceding three months 
(VinI155). 

11. " Pacinakhandaraja ti puratthimadisaya pabbatakhandanam antare vanarajttthanam" 
(Vism-mht 97). 

12. For the first five years after the admission (upasampada) a bhikkhu is called a "new 
(nava) bhikkhu"; from five to ten years he is called a "middle (majjhima) bhikkhu"; 
with ten or more years' seniority he is called an "elder (thera) bhikkhu." 

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32. The visiting elder went into his lodging. He thought, "Now my friend will be 
sending me ghee or molasses or a drink; for he has lived long in this city." He got 
nothing that night, and in the morning he thought, "Now he will be sending me 
rice gruel and solid food sent by his supporters." When he saw none, he thought, 
"There is no one to bring it. No doubt they will give it when we go into the town." 
Early in the morning they went into the town together. When they had wandered 
through one street and had got only a ladleful of gruel, they sat down in a sitting 
hall to drink it. 13 

33. Then the visitor thought, "Perhaps there is no individual giving of gruel. But 
as soon as it is the time for the meal people will give special food." But when it was 
time for the meal, they ate what they had got by wandering for alms. Then the 
visitor said, "Venerable sir, how is this? Do you live in this way all the time?" — 
"Yes, friend." — "Venerable sir, Pacinakhandaraji is comfortable; let us go there." 
Now, as the elder came out from the city [91] by the southern gate he took the 
Kumbhakaragama road [which leads to Pacinakhandaraji]. The visitor asked, "But, 
venerable sir, why do you take this road?" — "Did you not recommend 
Pacinakhandaraji, friend?" — "But how is this, venerable sir, have you no extra 
belongings in the place you have lived in for so long?" — "That is so, friend. The 
bed and chair belong to the Community, and they are put away [as usual]. There is 
nothing else." — "But, venerable sir, I have left my staff and my oil tube and my 
sandal bag there." — "Have you already collected so much, friend, living there for 
just one day?" — "Yes, venerable sir." 

34. He was glad in his heart, and he paid homage to the elder: "For those like 
you, venerable sir, everywhere is a forest dwelling. The Thuparama is a place where 
the relics of four Buddhas are deposited; there is suitable hearing of the Dhamma 
in the Brazen Palace; there is the Great Shrine to be seen; and one can visit elders. 
It is like the time of the Buddha. It is here that you should live." On the following 
day he took his bowl and [outer] robe and went away by himself. It is no impediment 
for one like that. 

35. 2 Family means a family consisting of relatives or of supporters. For even a 
family consisting of supporters is an impediment for someone who lives in close 
association with it in the way beginning, "He is pleased when they are pleased" (S 
III 11), and who does not even go to a neighbouring monastery to hear the Dhamma 
without members of the family. 

36. But even mother and father are not an impediment for another, as in the case 
of the young bhikkhu, the nephew of the elder who lived at the Korandaka 
Monastery. He went to Rohana for instruction, it seems. The elder's sister, who was 
a lay devotee, was always asking the elder how her son was getting on. One day 
the elder set out for Rohana to fetch him back. 

37. The young bhikkhu too thought, "I have lived here for a long time. Now I 
might go and visit my preceptor and find out how the lay devotee is," and he left 

13. The last sentence here might refer to a free mass distribution of gruel (i/agu), which 
appears to have been more or less constantly maintained at Anuradhapura. 



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Rohana. The two met on the banks of the [Mahaveli] River. He did the duties to the 
elder at the foot of a tree. When asked, "Where are you going?" he told him his 
purpose. The elder said: "You have done well. The lay devotee is always asking 
after you. That was why I came. You may go, but I shall stay here for the Rains," 
and he dismissed him. [92] He arrived at the monastery on the actual day for taking 
up residence for the Rains. The lodging allotted to him happened to be the one for 
which his father had undertaken responsibility. 

38. His father came on the following day and asked, "To whom was our lodging 
allotted, venerable sirs?" When he heard that it had fallen to a young visitor, he 
went to him. After paying homage to him, he said, "Venerable sir, there is an 
obligation for him who has taken up residence for the Rains in our lodging." — 
"What is it, lay follower?" — "It is to take alms food only in our house for the three 
months, and to let us know the time of departure after the Pavarana ceremony." 
He consented in silence. The lay devotee went home and told his wife. "There is a 
visiting lord who has taken up residence for the Rains in our lodging. He must be 
carefully looked after," and she agreed. She prepared good food of various kinds 
for him. 14 Though the youth went to his relatives' home at the time of the meal, no 
one recognized him. 

39. When he had eaten alms food there during the three months and had 
completed the residence for the Rains, he announced his departure. Then his 
relatives said, "Let it be tomorrow, venerable sir," and on the following day, when 
they had fed him in their house and filled his oil tube and given him a lump of 
sugar and a nine-cubit length of cloth, they said, "Now you are leaving, venerable 
sir." He gave his blessing and set out for Rohana. 

40. His preceptor had completed the Pavarana ceremony and was on his way 
back. They met at the same place as before. He did the duties to the elder at the 
foot of a tree. The elder asked him, "How was it, my dear, did you see the good 
woman lay devotee?" He replied, "Yes, venerable sir," and he told him all that had 
happened. He then anointed the elder's feet with the oil, made him a drink with 
the sugar, and presented him with the length of cloth. He then, after paying homage 
to the elder, told him, "Venerable sir, only Rohana suits me," and he departed. The 
elder too arrived back at his monastery, and next day he went into the village of 
Korandaka. 

41. The lay devotee, his sister, had always kept looking down the road, thinking, 
"My brother is now coming with my son." When she saw him coming alone, she 
thought, "My son must be dead; that is why the elder is coming alone," and she 
fell at the elder's feet, lamenting and weeping. Suspecting that it must have been 
out of fewness of wishes that the youth had gone away without announcing himself, 
[93] the elder comforted her and told her all that had happened, and he took the 
length of cloth out of his bag and showed it to her. 



14. It is usual to render the set phrase pamtam khadanlyam bhojanlyam by some such 
phrase as "sumptuous food both hard and soft," which is literal but unfamiliar- 
sounding. 

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42. She was appeased. She prostrated herself in the direction taken by her son, 
and she said: "Surely the Blessed One taught the way of the Rathavimta, the way 
of the Nalaka, the way of the Tuvataka, and the way of the great Noble Ones' 
heritages 15 showing contentment with the four requisites and delight in 
development, making a bhikkhu such as my son a body -witness. So, although for 
three months he ate in the house of the mother who bore him, yet he never said 'I 
am your son, you are my mother!' Oh, admirable man!" Even mother and father 
are no impediment for one such as him, so how much less any other family that 
supports him. 

43. 3. Gain is the four requisites. How are they an impediment? Wherever a 
meritorious bhikkhu goes, people give him a large supply of requisites. With giving 
blessings to them and teaching them the Dhamma he gets no chance to do the 
ascetic's duties. From sunrise till the first watch of the night he never breaks his 
association with people. Again, even at dawn, alms-food eaters fond of opulence 
come and say, "Venerable sir, such and such a man lay follower, woman lay follower, 
friend, friend's daughter, wants to see you," and being ready to go, he replies, 
"Take the bowl and robe, friend." So he is always on the alert. Thus these requisites 
are an impediment for him. He should leave his group and wander by himself 
where he is not known. This is the way his impediment is severed. 

44. 4 Class is a class (group) of students of suttas or students of Abhidhamma. If 
with the group's instruction and questioning he gets no opportunity for the ascetic's 
duties, then that group is an impediment for him. He should sever that impediment 
in this way: if those bhikkhus have already acquired the main part and little still 
remains, he should finish that off and then go to the forest. If they have only acquired 
little and much still remains, [94] he should, without travelling more than a league, 
approach another instructor of a class within the radius of a league and say, "Help 
those venerable ones with instruction, etc." If he does not find anyone in this way, 
he should take leave of the class, saying. "I have a task to see to, friends; go where 
it suits you," and he should do his own work. 

45. 5. Building (kamma) is new building work (nava-kamma). Since one engaged 
in this must know about what [material] has and has not been got by carpenters, 
etc., and must see about what has and has not been done, it is always an impediment. 
It should be severed in this way. If little remains it should be completed. If much 
remains, it should be handed over to the Community or to bhikkhus who are 
entrusted with the Community's affairs, if it is a new building for the Community; 
or if it is for himself, it should be handed over to those whom he entrusts with his 
own affairs, but if these are not available, he should relinquish it to the Community 
and depart. 

15. "The way of the Rathavimta (Rathavintta-patipada)": this is a reference to certain 
suttas that were adopted by bhikkhus as a "way" (patipada) or guide to practice. The 
suttas mentioned here are Rathavimta (M 1 145), Nalaka (Sn, p. 131), Tuvataka (Sn 179), 
Noble One's Heritages (ariyavamsa — A II 27). Others are mentioned at M-a I 92; III 6; 
S-a III 291. The Ariyavamsa Sutta itself has a long commentary on practice, and it is 
mentioned in the Commentaries as a popular subject for preaching (see e.g. commentary 
to AN III 42). 

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46. 6. Travel is going on a journey. If someone is expected to give the going forth 
somewhere else, or if some requisite is obtainable there and he cannot rest content 
without getting it [that will be an impediment; for] even if he goes into the forest 
to do the ascetic's duties, he will find it hard to get rid of thoughts about the journey. 
So one in this position should apply himself to the ascetic's duties after he has 
done the journey and transacted the business. 

47. 7 Kin in the case of the monastery means teacher, preceptor, co-resident, pupil, 
those with the same preceptor as oneself, and those with the same teacher as oneself; 
and in the case of the house it means mother, father, brother, and so on. When they 
are sick they are an impediment for him. Therefore that impediment should be 
severed by curing them with nursing. 

48. Herein, when the preceptor is sick he must be cared for as long as life lasts if 
the sickness does not soon depart. Likewise the teacher at the going forth, the 
teacher at the admission, the co-resident, the pupils to whom one has given the 
admission and the going forth, and those who have the same preceptor. But the 
teacher from whom one takes the dependence, the teacher who gives one 
instruction, the pupil to whom one has given the dependence, the pupil to whom 
one is giving instruction, and those who have that same teacher as oneself, should 
be looked after as long as the dependence or the instruction has not been terminated. 
If one is able to do so, one should look after them even beyond that [period]. 

49. Mother and father should be treated like the preceptor; if they live within the 
kingdom and look to their son for help, it should be given. [95] Also if they have no 
medicine, he should give them his own. If he has none, he should go in search of it 
as alms and give that. But in the case of brothers or sisters, one should only give 
them what is theirs. If they have none, then one should give one's own temporarily 
and later get it back, but one should not complain if one does not get it back. It is 
not allowed either to make medicine for or to give it to a sister's husband who is 
not related by blood; but one can give it to one's sister saying, "Give it to your 
husband." The same applies to one's brother's wife. But it is allowed to make it for 
their children since they are blood relatives. 

50. 8. Affliction is any kind of illness. It is an impediment when it is actually 
afflicting; therefore it should be severed by treatment with medicine. But if it is not 
cured after taking medicine for a few days, then the ascetic's duties should be 
done after apostrophizing one's person in this way: "I am not your slave, or your 
hireling. I have come to suffering through maintaining you through the 
beginningless round of rebirths." 

51. 9. Books means responsibility for the scriptures. That is an impediment only 
for one who is constantly busy with recitations, etc., but not for others. Here are 
relevant stories. The Elder Revata, it seems, the Majjhima reciter, went to the Elder 
Revata, the dweller in Malaya (the Hill Country), and asked him for a meditation 
subject. The elder asked him, "How are you in the scriptures, friend?" — "I am 
studying the Majjhima [Nikaya], venerable sir." — "The Majjhima is a hard 
responsibility, friend. When a man is still learning the First Fifty by heart, he is 
faced with the Middle Fifty; and when he is still learning that by heart, he is faced 



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with the Last Fifty. How can you take up a meditation subject?" — "Venerable sir, 
when I have taken a meditation subject from you, I shall not look at the scriptures 
again." He took the meditation subject, and doing no recitation for nineteen years, 
he reached Arahantship in the twentieth year. He told bhikkhus who came for 
recitation: "I have not looked at the scriptures for twenty years, friends, [96] yet I 
am familiar with them. You may begin." And from beginning to end he had no 
hesitation even over a single syllable. 

52. The Elder Maha-Naga, too, who lived at Karuliyagiri (Karaliyagiri) put aside 
the scriptures for eighteen years, and then he recited the Dhatukatha to the 
bhikkhus. When they checked this with the town-dwelling elders [of Anuradha- 
pura], not a single question was found out of its order. 

53. In the Great Monastery too the Elder Tipitaka-Cula-Abhaya had the golden 
drum struck, saying: "I shall expound the three Pitakas in the circle of [experts in] 
the Five Collections of discourses," and this was before he had learnt the 
commentaries. The Community of Bhikkhus said, '"Which teachers' teaching is 
it? Unless you give only the teaching of our own teachers we shall not let you 
speak." Also his preceptor asked him when he went to wait on him, "Did you have 
the drum beaten, friend?" — "Yes, venerable sir." — "For what reason?" — "I shall 
expound the scriptures, venerable sir." — "Friend Abhaya, how do the teachers 
explain this passage?" — "They explain it in this way, venerable sir." The elder 
dissented, saying "Hum." Again three times, each time in a different way, he said, 
"They explain it in this way, venerable sir." The elder always dissented, saying, 
"Hum." Then he said, "Friend, your first explanation was the way of the teachers. 
But it is because you have not actually learnt it from the teachers' lips that you are 
unable to maintain that the teachers say such and such. Go and learn it from our 
own teachers." — "Where shall I go, venerable sir?" — "There is an elder named Maha 
Dhammarakkhita living in the Tuladharapabbata Monastery in the Rohana country 
beyond the [Mahaveli] River. He knows all the scriptures. Go to him." Saying, 
"Good, venerable sir," he paid homage to the elder. He went with five hundred 
bhikkhus to the Elder Maha-Dhammarakkhita, and when he had paid homage to 
him, he sat down. The elder asked, "Why have you come?" — "To hear the Dhamma, 
venerable sir." — "Friend Abhaya, they ask me about the Digha and the Majjhima 
from time to time, but I have not looked at the others for thirty years. Still you may 
repeat them in my presence by night, and I shall explain them to you by day." He 
said, "Good, venerable sir," and he acted accordingly. 

54. The inhabitants of the village had a large pavilion built at the door of his 
dwelling, and they came daily to hear the Dhamma. Explaining by day what had 
been repeated by night, [97] the Elder [Dhammarakkhita] eventually completed 
the instruction. Then he sat down on a mat on the ground before the Elder Abhaya 
and said, "Friend, explain a meditation subject to me." — "What are you saying, 
venerable sir, have I not heard it all from you? What can I explain to you that you 
do not already know?" The senior elder said, "This path is different for one who 
has actually travelled by." 

55. The Elder Abhaya was then, it seems, a stream-enterer. When the Elder Abhaya 
had given his teacher a meditation subject, he returned to Anuradhapura. Later, 

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while he was expounding the Dhamma in the Brazen Palace, he heard that the 
elder had attained Nibbana. On hearing this, he said, "Bring me [my] robe, friends." 
Then he put on the robe and said, "The Arahant path befits our teacher, friends. 
Our teacher was a true thoroughbred. He sat down on a mat before his own 
Dhamma pupil and said, 'Explain a meditation subject to me.' The Arahant path 
befits our teacher, friends." 

For such as these, books are no impediment. 

56. 10. Supernormal powers are the supernormal powers of the ordinary man. 
They are hard to maintain, like a prone infant or like young corn, and the 
slightest thing breaks them. But they are an impediment for insight, not for 
concentration, since they are obtainable through concentration. So the 
supernormal powers are an impediment that should be severed by one who 
seeks insight; the others are impediments to be severed by one who seeks 
concentration. 

This, in the first place, is the detailed explanation of the impediments. 

57. Approach the good friend, the giver of a meditation subject (§28): meditation subjects 
are of two kinds, that is, generally useful meditation subjects and special meditation 
subjects. Herein, loving-kindness towards the Community of Bhikkhus, etc., and 
also mindfulness of death are what are called generally useful meditation subjects. 
Some say perception of foulness, too. 

58. When a bhikkhu takes up a meditation subject, he should first develop 
loving-kindness towards the Community of Bhikkhus within the boundary 16 
limiting it at first [to "all bhikkhus in this monastery"], in this way: "May they 
be happy and free from affliction." Then he should develop it towards all deities 
within the boundary. Then towards all the principal people in the village that 
is his alms resort; then to [all human beings there and to] all living beings 
dependent on the human beings. With loving-kindness towards the Community 
of Bhikkhus he produces kindliness in his co-residents; then they are easy for 
him to live with. With loving-kindness towards the deities within the boundary 
he is protected by kindly deities with lawful protection. [98] With loving- 
kindness towards the principal people in the village that is his alms resort his 
requisites are protected by well-disposed principal people with lawful 
protection. With loving-kindness to all human beings there he goes about 
without incurring their dislike since they trust him. With loving-kindness to 
all living beings he can wander unhindered everywhere. 

With mindfulness of death, thinking, "I have got to die," he gives up improper 
search (see S II 194; M-a 1 115), and with a growing sense of urgency he comes to 
live without attachment. When his mind is familiar with the perception of foulness, 
then even divine objects do not tempt his mind to greed. 



16. Sima — "boundary": loosely used in this sense, it corresponds vaguely to what is meant 
by "parish." In the strict sense it is the actual area (usually a "chapter house") agreed 
according to the rules laid down in the Vinaya and marked by boundary stones, within 
which the Community (sangha) carries out its formal acts. 

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59. So these are called "generally useful" and they are "called meditation subjects" 
since they are needed 17 generally and desirable owing to their great helpfulness 
and since they are subjects for the meditation work intended. 

60. What is called a "special meditation subject" is that one from among the forty 
meditation subjects that is suitable to a man's own temperament. It is "special" 
(parihariya) because he must carry it (pariharitabbatta) constantly about with him, 
and because it is the proximate cause for each higher stage of development. 

So it is the one who gives this twofold meditation subject that is called the giver 
of a meditation subject. 

61. The good friend is one who possesses such special qualities as these: 

He is revered and dearly loved, 

And one who speaks and suffers speech; 

The speech he utters is profound, 

He does not urge without a reason (A IV 32) and so on. 

He is wholly solicitous of welfare and partial to progress. 

62. Because of the words beginning, "Ananda, it is owing to my being a good 
friend to them that living beings subject to birth are freed from birth" (S I 88), it is 
only the Fully Enlightened One who possesses all the aspects of the good friend. 
Since that is so, while he is available only a meditation subject taken in the Blessed 
One's presence is well taken. 

But after his final attainment of Nibbana, it is proper to take it from anyone of 
the eighty great disciples still living. When they are no more available, one who 
wants to take a particular meditation subject should take it from someone with 
cankers destroyed, who has, by means of that particular meditation subject, 
produced the fourfold and fivefold jhana, and has reached the destruction of cankers 
by augmenting insight that had that jhana as its proximate cause. 

63. But how then, does someone with cankers destroyed declare himself thus: "I am 
one whose cankers are destroyed?" Why not? He declares himself when he knows 
that his instructions will be carried out. Did not the Elder Assagutta [99] spread out 
his leather mat in the air and sitting cross-legged on it explain a meditation subject to 
a bhikkhu who was starting his meditation subject, because he knew that that bhikkhu 
was one who would carry out his instructions for the meditation subject? 

64. So if someone with cankers destroyed is available, that is good. If not, then 
one should take it from a non-returner, a once-returner, a stream-enterer, an 
ordinary man who has obtained jhana, one who knows three Pitakas, one who 
knows two Pitakas, one who knows one Pitaka, in descending order [according as 
available]. If not even one who knows one Pitaka is available, then it should be 
taken from one who is familiar with one Collection together with its commentary 
and one who is himself conscientious. For a teacher such as this, who knows the 
texts, guards the heritage, and protects the tradition, will follow the teachers' 
opinion rather than his own. Hence the Ancient Elders said three times, "One who 
is conscientious will guard it." 

17. Atthayitabba — "needed": not in PED, not in CPD. 

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65. Now, those beginning with one whose cankers are destroyed, mentioned above, 
will describe only the path they have themselves reached. But with a learned man, 
his instructions and his answers to questions are purified by his having approached 
such and such teachers, and so he will explain a meditation subject showing a 
broad track, like a big elephant going through a stretch of jungle, and he will select 
suttas and reasons from here and there, adding [explanations of] what is suitable 
and unsuitable. So a meditation subject should be taken by approaching the good 
friend such as this, the giver of a meditation subject, and by doing all the duties to 
him. 

66. If he is available in the same monastery, it is good. If not, one should go to 
where he lives. 

When [a bhikkhu] goes to him, he should not do so with feet washed and 
anointed, wearing sandals, with an umbrella, surrounded by pupils, and bringing 
oil tube, honey, molasses, etc.; he should do so fulfilling the duties of a bhikkhu 
setting out on a journey, carrying his bowl and robes himself, doing all the duties 
in each monastery on the way, with few belongings, and living in the greatest 
effacement. When entering that monastery, he should do so [expecting nothing, 
and even provided] with a tooth-stick that he has had made allowable on the way 
[according to the rules]. And he should not enter some other room, thinking, "I 
shall go to the teacher after resting awhile and after washing and anointing my 
feet, and so on." 

67. Why? If there are bhikkhus there who are hostile to the teacher, they might 
ask him the reason for his coming and speak dispraise of the teacher, saying, "You 
are done for if you go to him"; [100] they might make him regret his coming and 
turn him back. So he should ask for the teacher's dwelling and go straight there. 

68. If the teacher is junior, he should not consent to the teacher's receiving his 
bowl and robe, and so on. If the teacher is senior, then he should go and pay homage 
to him and remain standing. When told, "Put down the bowl and robe, friend," he 
may put them down. When told, "Have some water to drink," he can drink if he 
wants to. When told, "You may wash your feet," he should not do so at once, for if 
the water has been brought by the teacher himself, it would be improper. But when 
told "Wash, friend, it was not brought by me, it was brought by others," then he 
can wash his feet, sitting in a screened place out of sight of the teacher, or in the 
open to one side of the dwelling. 

69. If the teacher brings an oil tube, he should get up and take it carefully with 
both hands. If he did not take it, it might make the teacher wonder, "Does this 
bhikkhu resent sharing so soon?" but having taken it, he should not anoint his feet 
at once. For if it were oil for anointing the teacher's limbs, it would not be proper. 
So he should first anoint his head, then his shoulders, etc.; but when told, "This is 
meant for all the limbs, friend, anoint your feet," he should put a little on his head 
and then anoint his feet. Then he should give it back, saying when the teacher 
takes it, "May I return this oil tube, venerable sir?" 

70. He should not say, "Explain a meditation subject to me, venerable sir" on the 
very day he arrives. But starting from the next day, he can, if the teacher has a 

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habitual attendant, ask his permission to do the duties. If he does not allow it 
when asked, they can be done when the opportunity offers. When he does them, 
three tooth-sticks should be brought, a small, a medium and a big one, and two 
kinds of mouth-washing water and bathing water, that is, hot and cold, should be 
set out. Whichever of these the teacher uses for three days should then be brought 
regularly. If the teacher uses either kind indiscriminately, he can bring whatever is 
available. 

71 . Why so many words? All should be done as prescribed by the Blessed One in 
the Khandhakas as the right duties in the passage beginning: "Bhikkhus, a pupil 
should perform the duties to the teacher [101] rightly. Herein, this is the right 
performance of duties. He should rise early; removing his sandals and arranging 
his robe on one shoulder, he should give the tooth-sticks and the mouth-washing 
water, and he should prepare the seat. If there is rice gruel, he should wash the 
dish and bring the rice gruel" (Vin I 61). 

72. To please the teacher by perfection in the duties he should pay homage in the 
evening, and he should leave when dismissed with the words, "You may go." When 
the teacher asks him, "Why have you come?" he can explain the reason for his 
coming. If he does not ask but agrees to the duties being done, then after ten days 
or a fortnight have gone by he should make an opportunity by staying back one 
day at the time of his dismissal, and announcing the reason for his coming; or he 
should go at an unaccustomed time, and when asked, "What have you come for?" 
he can announce it. 

73. If the teacher says, "Come in the morning," he should do so. But if his stomach 
burns with a bile affliction at that hour, or if his food does not get digested owing 
to sluggish digestive heat, or if some other ailment afflicts him, he should let it be 
known, and proposing a time that suits himself, he should come at that time. For if 
a meditation subject is expounded at an inconvenient time, one cannot give attention. 

This is the detailed explanation of the words "approach the good friend, the 
giver of a meditation subject." 

74. Now, as to the words, one that suits his temperament (§28): there are six kinds of 
temperament, that is, greedy temperament, hating temperament, deluded 
temperament, faithful temperament, intelligent temperament, and speculative 
temperament. Some would have fourteen, taking these six single ones together 
with the four made up of the three double combinations and one triple combination 
with the greed triad and likewise with the faith triad. But if this classification is 
admitted, there are many more kinds of temperament possible by combining greed, 
etc., with faith, etc.; therefore the kinds of temperament should be understood 
briefly as only six. As to meaning the temperaments are one, that is to say, personal 
nature, idiosyncrasy. According to [102] these there are only six types of persons, 
that is, one of greedy temperament, one of hating temperament, one of deluded 
temperament, one of faithful temperament, one of intelligent temperament, and 
one of speculative temperament. 

75. Herein, one of faithful temperament is parallel to one of greedy temperament 
because faith is strong when profitable [kamma] occurs in one of greedy 

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temperament, owing to its special qualities being near to those of greed. For, in an 
unprofitable way, greed is affectionate and not over-austere, and so, in a profitable 
way, is faith. Greed seeks out sense desires as object, while faith seeks out the 
special qualities of virtue and so on. And greed does not give up what is harmful, 
while faith does not give up what is beneficial. 

76. One of intelligent temperament is parallel to one of hating temperament 
because understanding is strong when profitable [kamma] occurs in one of hating 
temperament, owing to its special qualities being near to those of hate. For, in an 
unprofitable way, hate is disaffected and does not hold to its object, and so, in a 
profitable way, is understanding. Hate seeks out only unreal faults, while 
understanding seeks out only real faults. And hate occurs in the mode of 
condemning living beings, while understanding occurs in the mode of condemning 
formations. 

77. One of speculative temperament is parallel to one of deluded temperament 
because obstructive applied thoughts arise often in one of deluded temperament 
who is striving to arouse unarisen profitable states, owing to their special qualities 
being near to those of delusion. For just as delusion is restless owing to perplexity, 
so are applied thoughts that are due to thinking over various aspects. And just as 
delusion vacillates owing to superficiality, so do applied thoughts that are due to 
facile conjecturing. 

78. Others say that there are three more kinds of temperament with craving, pride, 
and views. Herein craving is simply greed; and pride 18 is associated with that, so 
neither of them exceeds greed. And since views have their source in delusion, the 
temperament of views falls within the deluded temperament. 

79. What is the source of these temperaments? And how is it to be known that 
such a person is of greedy temperament, that such a person is of one of those 
beginning with hating temperament? What suits one of what kind of temperament? 

80. Herein, as some say 19 the first three kinds of temperament to begin with have 
their source in previous habit; and they have their source in elements and humours. 
Apparently one of greedy temperament has formerly had plenty of desirable tasks 
and gratifying work to do, or has reappeared here after dying in a heaven. And one 

18. Mana, usually rendered by "pride," is rendered here both by "pride" and "conceit." 
Etymologically it is derived perhaps from maneti (to honour) or minati (to measure). In 
sense, however, it tends to become associated with mannati, to conceive (false notions, 
see M 1 1), to imagine, to think (as e.g. at Nidd I 80, Vibh 390 and corny.). As one of the 
"defilements" (see M I 36) it is probably best rendered by "pride." In the expression 
asmi-mana (often rendered by "the pride that says 'I am'") it more nearly approaches 
mannana (false imagining, misconception, see M III 246) and is better rendered by the 
"conceit 'I am,'" since the word "conceit" straddles both the meanings of "pride" (i.e. 
haughtiness) and "conception." 

19. "'Some' is said with reference to the Elder Upatissa. For it is put in this way by 
him in the Vimiittimagga. The word 'apparently' indicates dissent from what follows" 
(Vism-mht 103). A similar passage to that referred to appears in Ch. 6 (Taisho ed. p. 410a) 
of the Chinese version of the Vimiittimagga, the only one extant. 

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of hating temperament has formerly had plenty of stabbing and torturing and 
brutal work to do or has reappeared here after dying in one of the hells or the naga 
(serpent) existences. And one [103] of deluded temperament has formerly drunk a 
lot of intoxicants and neglected learning and questioning, or has reappeared here 
after dying in the animal existence. It is in this way that they have their source in 
previous habit, they say. 

81. Then a person is of deluded temperament because two elements are 
prominent, that is to say, the earth element and the water element. He is of hating 
temperament because the other two elements are prominent. But he is of greedy 
temperament because all four are equal. And as regards the humours, one of greedy 
temperament has phlegm in excess and one of deluded temperament has wind in 
excess. Or one of deluded temperament has phlegm in excess and one of greedy 
temperament has wind in excess. So they have their source in the elements and the 
humours, they say. 

82. [Now, it can rightly be objected that] not all of those who have had plenty of 
desirable tasks and gratifying work to do, and who have reappeared here after 
dying in a heaven, are of greedy temperament, or the others respectively of hating 
and deluded temperament; and there is no such law of prominence of elements 
(see XIV43f.) as that asserted; and only the pair, greed and delusion, are given in 
the law of humours, and even that subsequently contradicts itself; and no source 
for even one among those beginning with one of faithful temperament is given. 
Consequently this definition is indecisive. 

83. The following is the exposition according to the opinion of the teachers of the 
commentaries; or this is said in the "explanation of prominence": "The fact that 
these beings have prominence of greed, prominence of hate, prominence of delusion, 
is governed by previous root-cause. 

"For when in one man, at the moment of his accumulating [rebirth-producing] 
kamma, greed is strong and non-greed is weak, non-hate and non-delusion are 
strong and hate and delusion are weak, then his weak non-greed is unable to prevail 
over his greed, but his non-hate and non-delusion being strong are able to prevail 
over his hate and delusion. That is why, on being reborn through rebirth-linking 
given by that kamma, he has greed, is good-natured and unangry and possesses 
understanding with knowledge like a lightning flash. 

84. "When, at the moment of another's accumulating kamma, greed and hate are 
strong and non-greed and non-hate weak, and non-delusion is strong and delusion 
weak, then in the way already stated he has both greed and hate but possesses 
understanding with knowledge like a lightning flash, like the Elder Datta-Abhaya. 

"When, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, greed, non-hate and delusion 
are strong and the others are weak, then in the way already stated he both has 
greed and is dull but is good-tempered 20 and unangry, like the Elder Bahula. 



20. Silaka — "good-tempered" — sukhaslla (good-natured — see §83), which = sakhila 
(kindly— Vism-mht 104). Not in PED. 

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"Likewise when, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, the three, namely, 
greed, hate and delusion are strong and non-greed, etc., are weak, then in the way 
already stated he has both greed and hate and is deluded. [104] 

85. "When, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, non-greed, hate and 
delusion are strong and the others are weak, then in the way already stated he has 
little defilement and is unshakable even on seeing a heavenly object, but he has 
hate and is slow in understanding. 

"When, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, non-greed, non-hate and 
non-delusion are strong and the rest weak, then in the way already stated he has 
no greed and no hate, and is good-tempered but slow in understanding. 

"Likewise when, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, non-greed, hate 
and non-delusion are strong and the rest weak, then in the way already stated he 
both has no greed and possesses understanding but has hate and is irascible. 

"Likewise when, at the moment of his accumulating kamma, the three, that is, 
non-hate, non-greed, and non-delusion, are strong and greed, etc., are weak, then 
in the way already stated he has no greed and no hate and possesses understanding, 
like the Elder Maha-Sahgharakkhita." 

86. One who, as it is said here, "has greed" is one of greedy temperament; one 
who "has hate" and one who "is dull" are respectively of hating temperament and 
deluded temperament. One who "possesses understanding" is one of intelligent 
temperament. One who "has no greed" and one who "has no hate" are of faithful 
temperament because they are naturally trustful. Or just as one who is reborn 
through kamma accompanied by non-delusion is of intelligent temperament, so 
one who is reborn through kamma accompanied by strong faith is of faithful 
temperament, one who is reborn through kamma accompanied by thoughts of 
sense desire is of speculative temperament, and one who is reborn through kamma 
accompanied by mixed greed, etc., is of mixed temperament. So it is the kamma 
productive of rebirth-linking and accompanied by someone among the things 
beginning with greed that should be understood as the source of the temperaments. 

87. But it was asked, and how is it to be known that "This person is of greedy 
temperament?" (§79), and so on. This is explained as follows: 

By the posture, by the action, 
By eating, seeing, and so on, 
By the kind of states occurring, 
May temperament be recognized. 

88. Herein, by the posture: when one of greedy temperament is walking in his 
usual manner, he walks carefully, puts his foot down slowly, puts it down evenly, 
lifts it up evenly, and his step is springy 21 

One of hating temperament walks as though he were digging with the points of his 
feet, puts his foot down quickly, lifts it up quickly and his step is dragged along. 

21. Ukkutika — "springy" is glossed here by asamphutthamajjham ("not touching in the 
middle" — Vism-mht 106). This meaning is not in PED. 

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One of deluded temperament walks with a perplexed gait, puts his foot down hesitantly 
lifts it up hesitantly [105] and his step is pressed down suddenly 

And this is said in the account of the origin of the Magandiya Sutta: 

The step of one of greedy nature will be springy; 
The step of one of hating nature, dragged along; 
Deluded, he will suddenly press down his step; 
And one without defilement has a step like this. 22 

89. The stance of one of greedy temperament is confident and graceful. That of one 
of hating temperament is rigid. That of one of deluded temperament is muddled, 
likewise in sitting. And one of greedy temperament spreads his bed unhurriedly, lies 
down slowly, composing his limbs, and he sleeps in a confident manner. When woken, 
instead of getting up quickly, he gives his answer slowly as though doubtful. One of 
hating temperament spreads his bed hastily anyhow; with his body flung down he 
sleeps with a scowl. When woken, he gets up quickly and answers as though annoyed. 
One of deluded temperament spreads his bed all awry and sleeps mostly face 
downwards with his body sprawling. When woken, he gets up slowly saying, "Hum." 

90. Since those of faithful temperament, etc., are parallel to those of greedy 
temperament, etc., their postures are therefore like those described above. 

This firstly is how the temperaments may be recognized by the posture. 

91. By the action: also in the acts of sweeping, etc., one of greedy temperament 
grasps the broom well, and he sweeps cleanly and evenly without hurrying or 
scattering the sand, as if he were strewing sinduvara flowers. One of hating 
temperament grasps the broom tightly, and he sweeps uncleanly and unevenly 
with a harsh noise, hurriedly throwing up the sand on each side. One of deluded 
temperament grasps the broom loosely, and he sweeps neither cleanly nor evenly, 
mixing the sand up and turning it over. 

92. As with sweeping, so too with any action such as washing and dyeing robes, 
and so on. One of greedy temperament acts skilfully, gently, evenly and carefully. 
One of hating temperament acts tensely, stiffly and unevenly. One of deluded 
temperament acts unskilfully as if muddled, unevenly and indecisively. [106] 

Also one of greedy temperament wears his robe neither too tightly nor too 
loosely, confidently and level all round. One of hating temperament wears it too 
tight and not level all round. One of deluded temperament wears it loosely and in 
a muddled way. 

Those of faithful temperament, etc., should be understood in the same way as 
those just described, since they are parallel. 

This is how the temperaments may be recognized by the actions. 

93. By eating: One of greedy temperament likes eating rich sweet food. When 
eating, he makes a round lump not too big and eats unhurriedly, savouring the 
various tastes. He enjoys getting something good. One of hating temperament likes 
eating rough sour food. When eating he makes a lump that fills his mouth, and he 

22. See Sn-a 544, A-a 436. 

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eats hurriedly without savouring the taste. He is aggrieved when he gets something 
not good. One of deluded temperament has no settled choice. When eating, he 
makes a small un-rounded lump, and as he eats he drops bits into his dish, smearing 
his face, with his mind astray, thinking of this and that. 

Also those of faithful temperament, etc., should be understood in the same way 
as those just described since they are parallel. 

This is how the temperament may be recognized by eating. 

94. And by seeing and so on: when one of greedy temperament sees even a slightly 
pleasing visible object, he looks long as if surprised, he seizes on trivial virtues, 
discounts genuine faults, and when departing, he does so with regret as if unwilling 
to leave. When one of hating temperament sees even a slightly unpleasing visible 
object, he avoids looking long as if he were tired, he picks out trivial faults, discounts 
genuine virtues, and when departing, he does so without regret as if anxious to 
leave. When one of deluded temperament sees any sort of visible object, he copies 
what others do: if he hears others criticizing, he criticizes; if he hears others praising, 
he praises; but actually he feels equanimity in himself — the equanimity of 
unknowing. So too with sounds, and so on. 

And those of faithful temperament, etc., should be understood in the same way 
as those just described since they are parallel. 

This is how the temperaments may be recognized by seeing and so on. 

95. By the kind of states occurring: in one of greedy temperament there is frequent 
occurrence of such states as deceit, fraud, pride, evilness of wishes, greatness of 
wishes, discontent, foppery and personal vanity 23 [107] In one of hating 
temperament there is frequent occurrence of such states as anger, enmity, 
disparaging, domineering, envy and avarice. In one of deluded temperament there 
is frequent occurrence of such states as stiffness, torpor, agitation, worry, uncertainty, 
and holding on tenaciously with refusal to relinquish. 



23. Singa — "foppery" is not in PED in this sense. See Vibh 351 and commentary. 

Capalya (capalla) — "personal vanity": noun from adj. capala. The word "capala" comes 
in an often-repeated passage: "satha mayavino ketubhino uddhata unnala capala mukhara 
..."(MI 32); cf. S I 203; A III 199, etc.) and also M I 470 "uddhato hoti capalo," with two 
lines lower "uddhaccam capalyam. " Capalya also occurs at Vibh 351 (and M II 167). At M- 
a 1 152 (commenting on M 1 32) we find: capala ti pattacwaramandanadina capallena yutta 
("interested in personal vanity consisting in adorning bowl and robe and so on"), and 
at M-a III 185 (commenting on M 1 470): Uddhato hoti capalo ti uddhaccapakatiko c'eva hoti 
clvaramandana pattamandana senasanamandana imassa va putikayassa kelayanamandana ti 
evarn vuttena tarunadarakacapallena samannagato ("'he is distracted — or puffed up — and 
personally vain': he is possessed of the callow youth's personal vanity described as 
adorning the robe, adorning the bowl, adorning the lodging, or prizing and adorning 
this filthy body"). This meaning is confirmed in the commentary to Vibh 251. PED 
does not give this meaning at all but only "fickle," which is unsupported by the 
commentary CPD (acapala) also does not give this meaning. 

As to the other things listed here in the Visuddhimagga text, most will be found at M 
I 36. For "holding on tenaciously," etc., see M I 43. 

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In one of faithful temperament there is frequent occurrence of such states as 
free generosity, desire to see Noble Ones, desire to hear the Good Dhamma, great 
gladness, ingenuousness, honesty, and trust in things that inspire trust. In one of 
intelligent temperament there is frequent occurrence of such states as readiness to 
be spoken to, possession of good friends, knowledge of the right amount in eating, 
mindfulness and full awareness, devotion to wakefulness, a sense of urgency about 
things that should inspire a sense of urgency, and wisely directed endeavour. In 
one of speculative temperament there is frequent occurrence of such states as 
talkativeness, sociability, boredom with devotion to the profitable, failure to finish 
undertakings, smoking by night and flaming by day (see M I 144 — that is to say, 
hatching plans at night and putting them into effect by day), and mental running 
hither and thither (see Ud 37). 

This is how the temperaments may be recognized by the kind of states occurring. 

96 . However, these directions for recognizing the temperaments have not been handed 
down in their entirety in either the texts or the commentaries; they are only expressed 
according to the opinion of the teachers and cannot therefore be treated as authentic. 
For even those of hating temperament can exhibit postures, etc., ascribed to the greedy 
temperament when they try diligently. And postures, etc., never arise with distinct 
characteristics in a person of mixed temperament. Only such directions for recognizing 
temperament as are given in the commentaries should be treated as authentic; for this 
is said: "A teacher who has acquired penetration of minds will know the temperament 
and will explain a meditation subject accordingly; one who has not should question 
the pupil." So it is by penetration of minds or by questioning the person, that it can be 
known whether he is one of greedy temperament or one of those beginning with 
hating temperament. 

97. What suits one of what kind of temperament? (§79). A suitable lodging for one of 
greedy temperament has an unwashed sill and stands level with the ground, and 
it can be either an overhanging [rock with an] unprepared [drip-ledge] (see Ch. II, 
note 15), a grass hut, or a leaf house, etc. It ought to be spattered with dirt, full of 
bats, 24 dilapidated, too high or too low, in bleak surroundings, threatened [by lions, 
tigers, etc.,] with a muddy, uneven path, [108] where even the bed and chair are full 
of bugs. And it should be ugly and unsightly, exciting loathing as soon as looked 
at. Suitable inner and outer garments are those that have torn-off edges with threads 
hanging down all round like a "net cake," 25 harsh to the touch like hemp, soiled, 
heavy and hard to wear. And the right kind of bowl for him is an ugly clay bowl 
disfigured by stoppings and joints, or a heavy and misshapen iron bowl as 
unappetizing as a skull. The right kind of road for him on which to wander for 
alms is disagreeable, with no village near, and uneven. The right kind of village for 
him in which to wander for alms is where people wander about as if oblivious of 
him, where, as he is about to leave without getting alms even from a single family, 
people call him into the sitting hall, saying, "Come, venerable sir," and give him 

24. }atuka—"a bat": not in PED. Also at Ch. XI. §7. 

25. Jalapuvasadisa — "like a net cake": "A cake made like a net" (Vism-mht 108); possibly 
what is now known in Sri Lanka as a "string hopper," or something like it. 

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gruel and rice, but do so as casually as if they were putting a cow in a pen. Suitable 
people to serve him are slaves or workmen who are unsightly ill-favoured, with 
dirty clothes, ill-smelling and disgusting, who serve him his gruel and rice as if 
they were throwing it rudely at him. The right kind of gruel and rice and hard 
food is poor, unsightly, made up of millet, kudusaka, broken rice, etc., stale buttermilk, 
sour gruel, curry of old vegetables, or anything at all that is merely for filling the 
stomach. The right kind of posture for him is either standing or walking. The object 
of his contemplation should be any of the colour kasinas, beginning with the blue, 
whose colour is not pure. This is what suits one of greedy temperament. 

98. A suitable resting place for one of hating temperament is not too high or too 
low, provided with shade and water, with well-proportioned walls, posts and steps, 
with well-prepared frieze work and lattice work, brightened with various kinds of 
painting, with an even, smooth, soft floor, adorned with festoons of flowers and a 
canopy of many-coloured cloth like a Brahma-god's divine palace, with bed and 
chair covered with well-spread clean pretty covers, smelling sweetly of flowers, 
and perfumes and scents set about for homely comfort, which makes one happy 
and glad at the mere sight of it. 

99. The right kind of road to his lodging is free from any sort of danger, traverses 
clean, even ground, and has been properly prepared. [109] And here it is best that 
the lodging's furnishings are not too many in order to avoid hiding-places for 
insects, bugs, snakes and rats: even a single bed and chair only. The right kind of 
inner and outer garments for him are of any superior stuff such as China cloth, 
Somara cloth, silk, fine cotton, fine linen, of either single or double thickness, quite 
light, and well dyed, quite pure in colour to befit an ascetic. The right kind of bowl 
is made of iron, as well shaped as a water bubble, as polished as a gem, spotless, 
and of quite pure colour to befit an ascetic. The right kind of road on which to 
wander for alms is free from dangers, level, agreeable, with the village neither too 
far nor too near. The right kind of village in which to wander for alms is where 
people, thinking, "Now our lord is coming," prepare a seat in a sprinkled, swept 
place, and going out to meet him, take his bowl, lead him to the house, seat him on 
a prepared seat and serve him carefully with their own hands. 

100. Suitable people to serve him are handsome, pleasing, well bathed, well 
anointed, scented 26 with the perfume of incense and the smell of flowers, adorned 
with apparel made of variously-dyed clean pretty cloth, who do their work carefully. 
The right kind of gruel, rice, and hard food has colour, smell and taste, possesses 
nutritive essence, and is inviting, superior in every way, and enough for his wants. 
The right kind of posture for him is lying down or sitting. The object of his 
contemplation should be anyone of the colour kasinas, beginning with the blue, 
whose colour is quite pure. This is what suits one of hating temperament. 

101. The right lodging for one of deluded temperament has a view and is not shut 
in, where the four quarters are visible to him as he sits there. As to the postures, walking 
is right. The right kind of object for his contemplation is not small, that is to say, the 
size of a winnowing basket or the size of a saucer; for his mind becomes more confused 

26. Surabhi — "scented, perfume": not in PED; also at VI.90; X.60 and Vism-mht 445. 

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in a confined space; so the right kind is an amply large kasina. The rest is as stated for 
one of hating temperament. This is what suits one of deluded temperament. 

102. For one of faithful temperament all the directions given for one of hating 
temperament are suitable. As to the object of his contemplation, one of the 
recollections is right as well. 

For one of intelligent temperament there is nothing unsuitable as far as concerns 
the lodging and so on. 

For one of speculative temperament an open lodging with a view, [110] where 
gardens, groves and ponds, pleasant prospects, panoramas of villages, towns and 
countryside, and the blue gleam of mountains, are visible to him as he sits there, is 
not right; for that is a condition for the running hither and thither of applied thought. 
So he should live in a lodging such as a deep cavern screened by woods like the 
Overhanging Rock of the Elephant's Belly (Hatthikucchipabbhara), or Mahinda's 
Cave. Also an ample-sized object of contemplation is not suitable for him; for one 
like that is a condition for the running hither and thither of applied thought. A 
small one is right. The rest is as stated for one of greedy temperament. This is what 
suits one of speculative temperament. 

These are the details, with definition of the kind, source, recognition, and what 
is suitable, as regards the various temperaments handed down here with the words 
"that suits his own temperament" (§60). 

103. However, the meditation subject that is suitable to the temperament has not 
been cleared up in all its aspects yet. This will become clear automatically when 
those in the following list are treated in detail. 

Now, it was said above, "and he should apprehend from among the forty 
meditation subjects one that suits his own temperament" (§60). Here the exposition 
of the meditation subject should be first understood in these ten ways: (1) as to 
enumeration, (2) as to which bring only access and which absorption, (3) at to the 
kinds of jhana, (4) as to surmounting, (5) as to extension and non-extension, (6) as 
to object, (7) as to plane, (8) as to apprehending, (9) as to condition, (10) as to 
suitability to temperament. 

104. 1. Herein, as to enumeration: it was said above, "from among the forty 
meditation subjects" (§28). Herein, the forty meditation subjects are these: 

ten kasinas (totalities), 
ten kinds of foulness, 
ten recollections, 
four divine abidings, 
four immaterial states, 
one perception, 
one defining. 

105. Herein, the ten kasinas are these: earth kasina, water kasina, fire kasina, air 
kasina, blue kasina, yellow kasina, red kasina, white kasina, light kasina, and 
limited-space kasina. 27 

27. "'Kasina' is in the sense of entirety (sakalatthena)" (M-a III 260). See IV119. 

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The ten kinds of foulness are these: the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut- 
up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the worm- 
infested, and a skeleton. 28 

The ten kinds of recollection are these: recollection of the Buddha (the 
Enlightened One), recollection of the Dhamma (the Law), recollection of the Sangha 
(the Community), recollection of virtue, recollection of generosity, recollection of 
deities, recollection (or mindfulness) of death, mindfulness occupied with the body, 
mindfulness of breathing, and recollection of peace. [Ill] 

The four divine abidings are these: loving-kindness, compassion, gladness, and 
equanimity. 

The four immaterial states are these: the base consisting of boundless space, the 
base consisting of boundless consciousness, the base consisting of nothingness, 
and the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. 

The one perception is the perception of repulsiveness in nutriment. 

The one defining is the defining of the four elements. 

This is how the exposition should be understood "as to enumeration." 

106. 2 As to which bring access only and which absorption: the eight recollections — 
excepting mindfulness occupied with the body and mindfulness of breathing — 
the perception of repulsiveness in nutriment, and the defining of the four elements, 
are ten meditation subjects that bring access only. The others bring absorption. 
This is "as to which bring access only and which absorption." 

107. 3. As to the kind ofjhana: among those that bring absorption, the ten kasinas 
together with mindfulness of breathing bring all four jhanas. The ten kinds of 
foulness together with mindfulness occupied with the body bring the first jhana. 



28. Here ten kinds of foulness are given. But in the Suttas only either five or six of this 
set appear to be mentioned, that is, "Perception of a skeleton, perception of the worm- 
infested, perception of the livid, perception of the cut-up, perception of the bloated, 
(see A I 42 and S V 131; A II 17 adds "perception of the festering")" No details are 
given. All ten appear at Dhs 263-64 and Patis I 49. It will be noted that no order of 
progress of decay in the kinds of corpse appears here; also the instructions in Ch. VI 
are for contemplating actual corpses in these states. The primary purpose here is to 
cultivate "repulsiveness." 

Another set of nine progressive stages in the decay of a corpse, mostly different 
from these, is given at M I 58, 89, etc., beginning with a corpse one day old and ending 
with bones turned to dust. From the words "suppose a bhikkhu saw a corpse thrown 
on a charnel ground ... he compares this same body of his with it thus, 'This body too 
is of like nature, awaits a like fate, is not exempt from that'"(M I 58), it can be assumed 
that these nine, which are given in progressive order of decay in order to demonstrate 
the body's impermanence, are not necessarily intended as contemplations of actual 
corpses so much as mental images to be created, the primary purpose being to cultivate 
impermanence. This may be why these nine are not used here (see VIII.43). 

The word asubha (foul, foulness) is used both of the contemplations of corpses as 
here and of the contemplation of the parts of the body (A V 109). 

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The first three divine abidings bring three jhanas. The fourth divine abiding and 
the four immaterial states bring the fourth jhana. This is "as to the kind of jhana." 

108. 4. As to surmounting: there are two kinds of surmounting, that is to say, 
surmounting of factors and surmounting of object. Herein, there is surmounting 
of factors in the case of all meditation subjects that bring three and four jhanas 
because the second jhana, etc., have to be reached in those same objects by 
surmounting the jhana factors of applied thought and sustained thought, and so 
on. Likewise in the case of the fourth divine abiding; for that has to be reached by 
surmounting joy in the same object as that of loving-kindness, and so on. But in 
the case of the four immaterial states there is surmounting of the object; for the 
base consisting of boundless space has to be reached by surmounting one or other 
of the first nine kasinas, and the base consisting of boundless consciousness, etc., 
have respectively to be reached by surmounting space, and so on. With the rest 
there is no surmounting. This is "as to surmounting." 

109. 5. As to extension and non-extension: only the ten kasinas among these forty 
meditation subjects need be extended. For it is within just so much space as one is 
intent upon with the kasina that one can hear sounds with the divine ear element, 
see visible objects with the divine eye, and know the minds of other beings with 
the mind. 

110. Mindfulness occupied with the body and the ten kinds of foulness need not be 
extended. Why? Because they have a definite location and because there is no benefit 
in it. The definiteness of their location will become clear in explaining the method of 
development (VIII.83-138 and VI.40, 41, 79). If the latter are extended, it is only a 
quantity of corpses that is extended [112] and there is no benefit. And this is said in 
answer to the question of Sopaka: "Perception of visible forms is quite clear, Blessed 
One, perception of bones is not clear" (Source untraced 29 ); for here the perception of 
visible forms is called "quite clear" in the sense of extension of the sign, while the 
perception of bones is called "not quite clear" in the sense of its non-extension. 

111. But the words "I was intent upon this whole earth with the perception of a 
skeleton" (Th 18) are said of the manner of appearance to one who has acquired 
that perception. For just as in [the Emperor] Dhammasoka's time the Karavlka bird 
uttered a sweet song when it saw its own reflection in the looking glass walls all 
round and perceived Karavlkas in every direction, 30 so the Elder [Sihgala Pitar] 

29. Also quoted in A-a V 79 on AN 11:9. Cf. Sn 1119. A similar quotation with Sopaka 
is found in Vism-mht 334-35, see note 1 to XI.2. 

30. The full story which occurs at M-a III 382-83 and elsewhere, is this: "It seems that 
when the Karavlka bird has pecked a sweet-flavoured mango wth its beak and savoured 
the dripping juice, and flapping its wings, begins to sing, then quadrupeds caper as if 
mad. Quadrupeds grazing in their pastures drop the grass in their mouths and listen 
to the sound. Beasts of prey hunting small animals pause with one foot raised. Hunted 
animals lose their fear of death and halt in their tracks. Birds flying in the air stay with 
wings outstretched. Fishes in the water keep still, not moving their fins. All listen to 
the sound, so beautiful is the Karavlka's song. Dhammasoka's queen Asandhamitta 
asked the Community: 'Venerable sirs, is there anything that sounds like the Buddha?' — 
'The Karavlka birds does.' — 'Where are those birds, venerable sirs?' — 'In the Himalaya.' 

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thought, when he saw the sign appearing in all directions through his acquisition 
of the perception of a skeleton, that the whole earth was covered with bones. 

112. If that is so, then is what is called "the measurelessness of the object of jhana 
produced on foulness" 31 contradicted? It is not contradicted. For one man 
apprehends the sign in a large bloated corpse or skeleton, another in a small one. 
In this way the jhana of the one has a limited object and of the other a measureless 
object. Or alternatively, "With a measureless object" (Dhs 182-84 in elision) is said 
of it referring to one who extends it, seeing no disadvantage in doing so. But it 
need not be extended because no benefit results. 

113. The rest need not be extended likewise. Why? When a man extends the sign 
of in-breaths and out-breaths, only a quantity of wind is extended, and it has a 
definite location, [the nose-tip]. So it need not be extended because of the 
disadvantage and because of the definiteness of the location. And the divine 
abidings have living beings as their object. When a man extends the sign of these, 
only the quantity of living beings would be extended, and there is no purpose in 
that. So that also need not be extended. 

114. When it is said, "Intent upon one quarter with his heart endued with loving- 
kindness" (D 1 250), etc., that is said for the sake of comprehensive inclusion. For it 
is when a man develops it progressively by including living beings in one direction 
by one house, by two houses, etc., that he is said to be "intent upon one direction," 
[113] not when he extends the sign. And there is no counterpart sign here that he 
might extend. Also the state of having a limited or measureless object can be 
understood here according to the way of inclusion, too. 

115. As regards the immaterial states as object, space need not be extended since 
it is the mere removal of the kasina [materiality]; for that should be brought to 
mind only as the disappearance of the kasina [materiality]; if he extends it, nothing 
further happens. And consciousness need not be extended since it is a state 
consisting in an individual essence, and it is not possible to extend a state consisting 
in an individual essence. The disappearance of consciousness need not be extended 
since it is mere non-existence of consciousness. And the base consisting of neither 

She told the king: 'Sire, I wish to hear a Karavika bird.' The king dispatched a gold 
cage with the order, 'Let a Karavika bird come and sit in this cage.' The cage travelled 
and halted in front of a Karavika. Thinking, 'The cage has come at the king's command; 
it is impossible not to go,' the bird got in. The cage returned and stopped before the 
king. They could not get the Karavika to utter a sound. When the king asked, 'When 
do they utter a sound?' they replied, 'On seeing their kin.' Then the king had it 
surrounded with looking-glasses. Seeing its own reflection and imagining that its 
relatives had come, it flapped its wings and cried out with an exquisite voice as if 
sounding a crystal trumpet. All the people in the city rushed about as if mad. 
Asandhamitta thought: 'If the sound of this creature is so fine, what indeed can the 
sound of the Blessed One have been like since he had reached the glory of omniscient 
knowledge?' and arousing a happiness that she never again relinquished, she became 
established in the fruition of stream-entry." 

31 . See Dhs 55; but it comes under the "... pe ... ," which must be filled in from pp. 37- 
38, §182 and §184. 



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perception nor non-perception as object need not be extended since it too is a state 
consisting in an individual essence. 32 

116. The rest need not be extended because they have no sign. For it is the 
counterpart sign 33 that would be extendable, and the object of the recollection of 
the Buddha, etc., is not a counterpart sign. Consequently there is no need for 
extension there. 

This is "as to extension and non-extension." 

117. 6. As to object: of these forty meditation subjects, twenty-two have counterpart 
signs as object, that is to say, the ten kasinas, the ten kinds of foulness, mindfulness of 
breathing, and mindfulness occupied with the body; the rest do not have counterpart 
signs as object. Then twelve have states consisting in individual essences as object, that 
is to say, eight of the ten recollections — except mindfulness of breathing and mindfulness 
occupied with the body — the perception of repulsiveness in nutriment, the defining 
of the elements, the base consisting of boundless consciousness, and the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception; and twenty-two have [counterpart] signs as 
object, that is to say, the ten kasinas, the ten kinds of foulness, mindfulness of breathing, 
and mindfulness occupied with the body; while the remaining six have "not-so- 
classifiable" 34 objects. Then eight have mobile objects in the early stage though the 
counterpart is stationary, that is to say, the festering, the bleeding, the worm-infested, 
mindfulness of breathing, the water kasina, the fire kasina, the air kasina, and in the 
case of the light kasina the object consisting of a circle of sunlight, etc.; the rest have 
immobile objects. 35 This is "as to object." 

118. 7. As to plane: here the twelve, namely, the ten kinds of foulness, mindfulness 
occupied with the body, and perception of repulsiveness in nutriment, do not occur 
among deities. These twelve and mindfulness of breathing do not occur in the 



32. "It is because only an abstract (parikappaja) object can be extended, not any other 
kind, that he said, 'it is not possible to extend a state consisting in an individual essence'" 
(Vism-mht 110). 

33. The word "nimitta " in its technical sense is consistently rendered here by the word 
"sign," which corresponds very nearly if not exactly to most uses of it. It is sometimes 
rendered by "mark" (which over-emphasizes the concrete), and by "image" (which is 
not always intended). The three kinds, that is, the preliminary- work sign, learning sign 
and counterpart sign, do not appear in the Pitakas. There the use rather suggests 
association of ideas as, for example, at M I 180, M I 119, A I 4, etc., than the more 
definitely visualized "image" in some instances of the "counterpart sign" described in 
the following chapters. 

34. Na-vattabba — "not so-classifiable" is an Abhidhamma shorthand term for 
something that, when considered under one of the triads or dyads of the Abhidhamma 
Matika (Dhs If.), cannot be placed under any one of the three, or two, headings. 

35. '"The festering' is a mobile object because of the oozing of the pus, 'the bleeding' 
because of the trickling of the blood, 'the worm-infested' because of the wriggling of the 
worms. The mobile aspect of the sunshine coming in through a window opening is 
evident, which explains why an object consisting of a circle of sunlight is called mobile" 
(Vism-mht 110). 

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Brahma-world. But none except the four immaterial states occur in the immaterial 
becoming. All occur among human beings. This is "as to plane." [114] 

119. 8. As to apprehending: here the exposition should be understood according 
to the seen, the touched and the heard. Herein, these nineteen, that is to say, nine 
kasinas omitting the air kasina and the ten kinds of foulness, must be apprehended 
by the seen. The meaning is that in the early stage their sign must be apprehended 
by constantly looking with the eye. In the case of mindfulness occupied with the 
body the five parts ending with skin must be apprehended by the seen and the rest 
by the heard, so its object must be apprehended by the seen and the heard. 
Mindfulness of breathing must be apprehended by the touched; the air kasina by 
the seen and the touched; the remaining eighteen by the heard. The divine abiding 
of equanimity and the four immaterial states are not apprehendable by a beginner; 
but the remaining thirty-five are. This is "as to apprehending." 

120. 9. As to condition: of these meditation subjects nine kasinas omitting the space 
kasina are conditions for the immaterial states. The ten kasinas are conditions for 
the kinds of direct-knowledge. Three divine abidings are conditions for the fourth 
divine abiding. Each lower immaterial state is a condition for each higher one. The 
base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception is a condition for the 
attainment of cessation. All are conditions for living in bliss, for insight, and for 
the fortunate kinds of becoming. This is "as to condition." 

121 . 10. As to suitability to temperament: here the exposition should be understood 
according to what is suitable to the temperaments. That is to say: first, the ten 
kinds of foulness and mindfulness occupied with the body are eleven meditation 
subjects suitable for one of greedy temperament. The four divine abidings and 
four colour kasinas are eight suitable for one of hating temperament. Mindfulness 
of breathing is the one [recollection as a] meditation subject suitable for one of 
deluded temperament and for one of speculative temperament. The first six 
recollections are suitable for one of faithful temperament. Mindfulness of death, 
the recollection of peace, the defining of the four elements, and the perception of 
repulsiveness in nutriment, are four suitable for one of intelligent temperament. 
The remaining kasinas and the immaterial states are suitable for all kinds of 
temperament. And anyone of the kasinas should be limited for one of speculative 
temperament and measureless for one of deluded temperament. This is how the 
exposition should be understood here "as to suitability to temperament." 

122. All this has been stated in the form of direct opposition and complete 
suitability. But there is actually no profitable development that does not suppress 
greed, etc., and help faith, and so on. And this is said in the Meghiya Sutta: "[One] 
should, in addition, 36 develop these four things: foulness should be developed for 
the purpose of abandoning greed (lust). Loving-kindness should be developed for 

36. "In addition to the five things" (not quoted) dealt with earlier in the sutta, namely, 
perfection of virtue, good friendship, hearing suitable things, energy, and understanding. 

37. '"Cryptic books': the meditation-subject books dealing with the truths, the 
dependent origination, etc., which are profound and associated with voidness" (Vism- 
mht 111). Cf. M-a II 264, A-a commentary to AN 4:180. 

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the purpose of abandoning ill will. [115] Mindfulness of breathing should be 
developed for the purpose of cutting off applied thought. Perception of 
impermanence should be cultivated for the purpose of eliminating the conceit, 'I 
am'" (A IV 358). Also in the Rahula Sutta, in the passage beginning, "Develop 
loving-kindness, Rahula" (M 1 424), seven meditation subjects are given for a single 
temperament. So instead of insisting on the mere letter, the intention should be 
sought in each instance. 

This is the explanatory exposition of the meditation subject referred to by the 
words he should apprehend... one [meditation subject] (§28). 

123. Now the words and he should apprehend are illustrated as follows. After 
approaching the good friend of the kind described in the explanation of the words 
then approach the good friend, the giver of a meditation subject (§28 and §57-73), the 
meditator should dedicate himself to the Blessed One, the Enlightened One, or to 
a teacher, and he should ask for the meditation subject with a sincere inclination 
[of the heart] and sincere resolution. 

124. Herein, he should dedicate himself to the Blessed One, the Enlightened One, 
in this way: "Blessed One, I relinquish this my person to you." For without having 
thus dedicated himself, when living in a remote abode he might be unable to stand 
fast if a frightening object made its appearance, and he might return to a village 
abode, become associated with laymen, take up improper search and come to ruin. 
But when he has dedicated himself in this way no fear arises in him if a frightening 
object makes its appearance; in fact only joy arises in him as he reflects: "Have you 
not wisely already dedicated yourself to the Enlightened One?" 

125. Suppose a man had a fine piece of Kasi cloth. He would feel grief if it were 
eaten by rats or moths; but if he gave it to a bhikkhu needing robes, he would feel 
only joy if he saw the bhikkhu tearing it up [to make his patched cloak]. And so it 
is with this. 

126. When he dedicates himself to a teacher, he should say: "I relinquish this my 
person to you, venerable sir." For one who has not dedicated his person thus 
becomes unresponsive to correction, hard to speak to, and unamenable to advice, 
or he goes where he likes without asking the teacher. Consequently the teacher 
does not help him with either material things or the Dhamma, and he does not 
train him in the cryptic books. 37 Failing to get these two kinds of help, [116] he 
finds no footing in the Dispensation, and he soon comes down to misconducting 
himself or to the lay state. But if he has dedicated his person, he is not unresponsive 
to correction, does not go about as he likes, is easy to speak to, and lives only in 
dependence on the teacher. He gets the twofold help from the teacher and attains 
growth, increase, and fulfilment in the Dispensation. Like the Elder Cula- 
Pindapatika-Tissa's pupils. 

127. Three bhikkhus came to the elder, it seems. One of them said, "Venerable sir, 
I am ready to fall from a cliff the height of one hundred men, if it is said to be to 
your advantage." The second said, "Venerable sir, I am ready to grind away this 
body from the heels up without remainder on a flat stone, if it is said to be to your 
advantage." The third said, "Venerable sir, I am ready to die by stopping breathing, 

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if it is said to be to your advantage." Observing, "These bhikkhus are certainly 
capable of progress," the elder expounded a meditation subject to them. Following 
his advice, the three attained Arahantship 

This is the benefit in self-dedication. Hence it was said above "dedicating himself 
to the Blessed One, the Enlightened One, or to a teacher." 

128. With a sincere inclination [of the heart] and sincere resolution (§ 123): the 
meditator's inclination should be sincere in the six modes beginning with non- 
greed. For it is one of such sincere inclination who arrives at one of the three kinds 
of enlightenment, according as it is said: "Six kinds of inclination lead to the 
maturing of the enlightenment of the Bodhisattas. With the inclination to non- 
greed, Bodhisattas see the fault in greed. With the inclination to non-hate, 
Bodhisattas see the fault in hate. With the inclination to non-delusion, Bodhisattas 
see the fault in delusion. With the inclination to renunciation, Bodhisattas see the 
fault in house life. With the inclination to seclusion, Bodhisattas see the fault in 
society. With the inclination to relinquishment, Bodhisattas see the fault in all kinds 
of becoming and destiny {Source untraced.)" For stream-enterers, once-returners, 
non-returners, those with cankers destroyed (i.e. Arahants), Paccekabuddhas, and 
Fully Enlightened Ones, whether past, future or present, all arrive at the distinction 
peculiar to each by means of these same six modes. That is why he should have 
sincerity of inclination in these six modes. 

129. He should be whole-heartedly resolved on that. The meaning is [117] that 
he should be resolved upon concentration, respect concentration, incline to 
concentration, be resolved upon Nibbana, respect Nibbana, incline to Nibbana. 

130. When, with sincerity of inclination and whole-hearted resolution in this way, 
he asks for a meditation subject, then a teacher who has acquired the penetration 
of minds can know his temperament by surveying his mental conduct; and a teacher 
who has not can know it by putting such questions to him as: "What is your 
temperament?" or "What states are usually present in you?" or "What do you like 
bringing to mind?" or "What meditation subject does your mind favour?" When 
he knows, he can expound a meditation subject suitable to that temperament. And 
in doing so, he can expound it in three ways: it can be expounded to one who has 
already learnt the meditation subject by having him recite it at one or two sessions; 
it can be expounded to one who lives in the same place each time he comes; and to 
one who wants to learn it and then go elsewhere it can be expounded in such a 
manner that it is neither too brief nor too long. 

131. Herein, when first he is explaining the earth kasina, there are nine aspects 
that he should explain. They are the four faults of the kasina, the making of a 
kasina, the method of development for one who has made it, the two kinds of sign, 
the two kinds of concentration, the seven kinds of suitable and unsuitable, the ten 
kinds of skill in absorption, evenness of energy, and the directions for absorption. 

In the case of the other meditation subjects, each should be expounded in the 
way appropriate to it. All this will be made clear in the directions for development. 
But when the meditation subject is being expounded in this way, the meditator 
must apprehend the sign as he listens. 

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132. Apprehend the sign means that he must connect each aspect thus: "This is the 
preceding clause, this is the subsequent clause, this is its meaning, this is its 
intention, this is the simile." When he listens attentively, apprehending the sign in 
this way, his meditation subject is well apprehended. Then, and because of that, he 
successfully attains distinction, but not otherwise. This clarifies the meaning of 
the words "and he must apprehend." 

133. At this point the clauses approach the good friend, the giver of a meditation 
subject, and he should apprehend from among the forty meditation subjects one 
that suits his own temperament (§28) have been expounded in detail in all their 
aspects. 

The third chapter called "The Description of Taking a 
Meditation Subject" in the Treatise on the Development of 
Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the 
purpose of gladdening good people. 



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The Earth Kasina 
(Pathavl-kasina-niddesa) 

1. [118] Now, it was said earlier: After that he should avoid a monastery 
unfavourable to the development of concentration and go to live in one that is 
favourable (III. 28). In the first place one who finds it convenient to live with the 
teacher in the same monastery can live there while he is making certain of the 
meditation subject. If it is inconvenient there, he can live in another monastery — 
a suitable one — a quarter or a half or even a whole league distant. In that case, 
when he finds he is in doubt about, or has forgotten, some passage in the 
meditation subject, then he should do the duties in the monastery in good time 
and set out afterwards, going for alms on the way and arriving at the teacher's 
dwelling place after his meal. He should make certain about the meditation 
subject that day in the teacher's presence. Next day, after paying homage to the 
teacher, he should go for alms on his way back and so he can return to his own 
dwelling place without fatigue. But one who finds no convenient place within 
even a league should clarify all difficulties about the meditation subject and 
make quite sure it has been properly attended to. Then he can even go far away 
and, avoiding a monastery unfavourable to development of concentration, live in 
one that is favourable. 

[The Eighteen Faults of a Monastery] 

2. Herein, one that is unfavourable has anyone of eighteen faults. These are: (1) 
largeness, (2) newness, (3) dilapidatedness, (4) a nearby road, (5) a pond, (6) 
[edible] leaves, (7) flowers, (8) fruits, (9) famousness, (10) a nearby city, (11) nearby 
timber trees, (12) nearby arable fields, (13) presence of incompatible persons, (14) 
a nearby port of entry, (15) nearness to the border countries, (16) nearness to the 
frontier of a kingdom, (17) unsuitability (18) lack of good friends. [119] One with 
any of these faults is not favourable. He should not live there. Why? 

3. 1. Firstly, people with varying aims collect in a large monastery. They conflict 
with each other and so neglect the duties. The Enlightenment-tree terrace, etc., 
remain unswept, the water for drinking and washing is not set out. So if he 
thinks, "I shall go to the alms-resort village for alms" and takes his bowl and 
robe and sets out, perhaps he sees that the duties have not been done or that a 
drinking-water pot is empty, and so the duty has to be done by him unexpectedly. 
Drinking water must be maintained. By not doing it he would commit a 



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wrongdoing in the breach of a duty. But if he does it, he loses time. He arrives too 
late at the village and gets nothing because the alms giving is finished. Also, 
when he goes into retreat, he is distracted by the loud noises of novices and 
young bhikkhus, and by acts of the Community [being carried out] . However, he 
can live in a large monastery where all the duties are done and where there are 
none of the other disturbances. 

4. 2. In a new monastery there is much new building activity. People criticize 
someone who takes no part in it. But he can live in such a monastery where the 
bhikkhus say, "Let the venerable one do the ascetic's duties as much as he likes. 
We shall see to the building work." 

5. 3. In a dilapidated monastery there is much that needs repair. People criticize 
someone who does not see about the repairing of at least his own lodging. 
When he sees to the repairs, his meditation subject suffers. 

6. 4. In a monastery with a nearby road, by a main street, visitors keep arriving 
night and day. He has to give up his own lodging to those who come late, and he 
has to go and live at the root of a tree or on top of a rock. And next day it is the 
same. So there is no opportunity [to practice] his meditation subject. But he can 
live in one where there is no such disturbance by visitors. 

7. 5. A fond is a rock pool. Numbers of people come there for drinking water. 
Pupils of city-dwelling elders supported by the royal family come to do dyeing 
work. When they ask for vessels, wood, tubs, etc., [120] they must be shown 
where these things are. So he is kept all the time on the alert. 

8. 6. If he goes with his meditation subject to sit by day where there are many 
sorts of edible leaves, then women vegetable-gatherers, singing as they pick leaves 
nearby, endanger his meditation subject by disturbing it with sounds of the 
opposite sex. 

7. And where there are many sorts of flowering shrubs in bloom there is the same 
danger too. 

9. 8. Where there are many sorts of fruits such as mangoes, rose-apples and 
jak-fruits, people who want fruits come and ask for them, and they get angry if 
he does not give them any, or they take them by force. When walking in the 
monastery in the evening he sees them and asks, "Why do you do so, lay 
followers?" they abuse him as they please and even try to evict him. 

10. 9. When he lives in a monastery that is famous and renowned in the world, 
like Dakkhinagiri 1 Hatthikucchi, Cetiyagiri or Cittalapabbata, there are always 
people coming who want to pay homage to him, supposing that he is an Arahant, 
which inconveniences him. But if it suits him, he can live there at night and go 
elsewhere by day. 

11. 10. In one with a nearby city objects of the opposite sex come into focus. 
Women-pot carriers go by bumping into him with their jars and giving no room 



1. "They say it is the Dakkhinagiri in the Magadha country" (Vism-mht 116). There 
is mention of a Dakkhinagiri-vihara at M-a II 293 and elsewhere. 



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to pass. Also important people spread out carpets in the middle of the monastery 
and sit down. 

12. 11. One with nearby timber trees where there are timber trees and osiers 
useful for making framework is inconvenient because of the wood-gatherers 
there, like the gatherers of branches and fruits already mentioned. If there are 
trees in a monastery people come and cut them down to build houses with. 
When he has come out of his meditation room in the evening and is walking up 
and down in the monastery if he sees them and asks, "Why do you do so, lay 
followers?" they abuse him as they please and even try to evict him. 

13. 12. People make use of one with nearby arable fields, quite surrounded by 
fields. They make a threshing floor in the middle of the monastery itself. They 
thresh corn there, dry it in the forecourts, 2 and cause great inconvenience. And 
where there is extensive property belonging to the Community, the monastery 
attendants impound cattle belonging to families and deny the water supply [to 
their crops]. [121] Then people bring an ear of paddy and show it to the 
Community saying "Look at your monastery attendants' work." For one reason 
or another he has to go to the portals of the king or the king's ministers. This 
[matter of property belonging to the Community] is included by [a monastery 
that is] near arable fields. 

14. 13. Presence of incompatible persons: where there are bhikkhus living who 
are incompatible and mutually hostile, when they clash and it is protested, 
"Venerable sirs, do not do so," they exclaim, "We no longer count now that this 
refuse-rag wearer has come." 

15. 14. One with a nearby water port of entry or land port of entry 3 is made 
inconvenient by people constantly arriving respectively by ship or by caravan 
and crowding round, asking for space or for drinking water or salt. 

16. 15. In the case of one near the border countries, people have no trust in the 
Buddha, etc., there. 

16. In one near the frontier of a kingdom there is fear of kings. For perhaps one 
king attacks that place, thinking, "It does not submit to my rule," and the other 
does likewise, thinking, "It does not submit to my rule." A bhikkhu lives there 
when it is conquered by one king and when it is conquered by the other. Then 
they suspect him of spying, and they bring about his undoing. 

17. 17. Unsuitability is that due to the risk of encountering visible data, etc., of 
the opposite sex as objects or to haunting by non-human beings. Here is a story. 
An elder lived in a forest, it seems. Then an ogress stood in the door of his leaf 
hut and sang. The elder came out and stood in the door. She went to the end of 
the walk and sang. The elder went to the end of the walk. She stood in a chasm 
a hundred fathoms deep and sang. The elder recoiled. Then she suddenly 



2. Read pamukhesu sosayanti. Pamukha not thus in PED. 

3. "A 'water port of entry' is a port of entry on the sea or on an estuary. A 'land port of 
entry' is one on the edge of a forest and acts as the gateway on the road of approach 
to great cities" (Vism-mht 116). 



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grabbed him saying, "Venerable sir, it is not just one or two of the likes of you I 
have eaten." 

18. 18. Lack of good friends: where it is not possible to find a good friend as a 
teacher or the equivalent of a teacher or a preceptor or the equivalent of a preceptor, 
the lack of good friends there is a serious fault. 

One that has any of those eighteen faults should be understood as 
unfavourable. And this is said in the commentaries: 

A large abode, a new abode, 
One tumbling down, one near a road, 
One with a pond, or leaves, or flowers, 
Or fruits, or one that people seek; [122] 

In cities, among timber, fields, 
Where people quarrel, in a port, 
In border lands, on frontiers, 
Unsuitableness, and no good friend — 

These are the eighteen instances 
A wise man needs to recognize 
And give them full as wide a berth 
As any footpad-hunted road. 

[The Five Factors of the Resting Place] 

19. One that has the five factors beginning with "not too far from and not too 
near to" the alms resort is called favourable. For this is said by the Blessed One: 
"And how has a lodging five factors, bhikkhus? Here, bhikkhus, (1) a lodging is 
not too far, not too near, and has a path for going and coming. (2) It is little 
frequented by day with little sound and few voices by night. (3) There is little 
contact with gadflies, flies, wind, burning [sun] and creeping things. (4) One 
who lives in that lodging easily obtains robes, alms food, lodging, and the 
requisite of medicine as cure for the sick. (5) In that lodging there are elder 
bhikkhus living who are learned, versed in the scriptures, observers of the 
Dhamma, observers of the Vinaya, observers of the Codes, and when from time 
to time one asks them questions, 'How is this, venerable sir? What is the meaning 
of this?' then those venerable ones reveal the unrevealed, explain the unexplained, 
and remove doubt about the many things that raise doubts. This, bhikkhus, is 
how a lodging has five factors"(A V 15). 

These are the details for the clause, "After that he should avoid a monastery 
unfavourable to the development of concentration and go to live in one that is 
favourable" (111.28). 

[The Lesser Impediments] 

20. Then he should sever the lesser impediments (III. 28): one living in such a 
favourable monastery should sever any minor impediments that he may still 
have, that is to say, long head hair, nails, and body hair should be cut, mending 
and patching of old robes should be done, or those that are soiled should be 



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dyed. If there is a stain on the bowl, the bowl should be baked. The bed, chair, 
etc., should be cleaned up. These are the details for the clause, "Then he should 
sever the lesser impediments." 

[Detailed Instructions for Development] 

21. Now, with the clause, And not overlook any of the directions for development 
(III. 28), the time has come for the detailed exposition of all meditation subjects, 
starting with the earth kasina. 

[The Earth Kasina] 

[123] When a bhikkhu has thus severed the lesser impediments, then, on his 
return from his alms round after his meal and after he has got rid of drowsiness 
due to the meal, he should sit down comfortably in a secluded place and 
apprehend the sign in earth that is either made up or not made up. 

22. For this is said: 4 "One who is learning the earth kasina apprehends the 
sign in earth that is either made up or not made up; that is bounded, not 
unbounded; limited, not unlimited; with a periphery, not without a periphery; 
circumscribed, not uncircumscribed; either the size of a bushel (suppa) or the 
size of a saucer (sarava). He sees to it that that sign is well apprehended, well 
attended to, well defined. Having done that, and seeing its advantages and 
perceiving it as a treasure, building up respect for it, making it dear to him, he 
anchors his mind to that object, thinking, 'Surely in this way I shall be freed from 
aging and death.' Secluded from sense desires ... he enters upon and dwells in 
the first jhana ..." 

4. "Said in the Old Commentary. 'One who is learning the earth kasina': one who is 
apprehending, grasping, an earth kasina as a 'learning sign'. The meaning is, one who 
is producing an earth kasina that has become the sign of learning; and here 'arousing' 
should be regarded as the establishing of the sign in that way. 'In earth': in an earth 
disk of the kind about to be described. 'Apprehends the sign': he apprehends in that, 
with knowledge connected with meditative development, the sign of earth of the kind 
about to be described, as one does with the eye the sign of the face in a looking-glass. 
'Made up': prepared in the manner about to be described. 'Not made up': in a disk of 
earth consisting of an ordinary threshing-floor disk, and so on. 'Bounded': only in one 
that has bounds. As regard the words 'the size of a bushel', etc., it would be desirable 
that a bushel and a saucer were of equal size, but some say that 'the size of a saucer' is 
a span and four fingers, and the 'the size of a bushel' is larger than that. 'He sees to it that 
that sign is well apprehended': that meditator makes that disk of earth a well-apprehended 
sign. When, after apprehending the sign in it by opening the eyes, and looking and 
then closing them again, it appears to him as he adverts to it just as it did at the 
moment of looking with open eyes, then he has made it well apprehended. Having 
thoroughly established his mindfulness there, observing it again and again with his 
mind not straying outside, he sees that it is 'well attended to' . When it is well attended 
to thus by adverting and attending again and again by producing much repetition and 
development instigated by that, he sees that it is 'well defined ' . 'To that object': to that 
object called earth kasina, which has appeared rightly owing to its having been well 
apprehended. 'He anchors his mind': by bringing his own mind to access jhana he 
anchors it, keeps it from other objects" (Vism-mht 119). 

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23. Herein, when in a previous becoming a man has gone forth into 
homelessness in the Dispensation or [outside it] with the rishis' going forth and 
has already produced the jhana tetrad or pentad on the earth kasina, and so has 
such merit and the support [of past practice of jhana] as well, then the sign 
arises in him on earth that is not made up, that is to say, on a ploughed area or on 
a threshing floor, as in the Elder Mallaka's case. 

It seems that while that venerable one was looking at a ploughed area the sign 
arose in him the size of that area. He extended it and attained the jhana pentad. 
Then by establishing insight with the jhana as the basis for it, he reached 
Arahantship. 

[Making an Earth Kasina] 

24. But when a man has had no such previous practice, he should make a 
kasina, guarding against the four faults of a kasina and not overlooking any of 
the directions for the meditation subject learnt from the teacher. Now, the four 
faults of the earth kasina are due to the intrusion of blue, yellow, red or white. So 
instead of using clay of such colours, he should make the kasina of clay like that 
in the stream of the Ganga, 5 which is the colour of the dawn. [124] And he 
should make it not in the middle of the monastery in a place where novices, etc., 
are about but on the confines of the monastery in a screened place, either under 
an overhanging rock or in a leaf hut. He can make it either portable or as a 
fixture. 

25. Of these, a portable one should be made by tying rags of leather or matting 
onto four sticks and smearing thereon a disk of the size already mentioned, 
using clay picked clean of grass, roots, gravel, and sand, and well kneaded. At 
the time of the preliminary work it should be laid on the ground and looked at. 

A fixture should be made by knocking stakes into the ground in the form of a 
lotus calyx, lacing them over with creepers. If the clay is insufficient, then other 
clay should be put underneath and a disk a span and four fingers across made 
on top of that with the quite pure dawn-coloured clay. For it was with reference 
only to measurement that it was said above either the size of a bushel or the size of a 
saucer (§22). But that is bounded, not unbounded was said to show its delimitedness. 

26. So, having thus made it delimited and of the size prescribed, he should 
scrape it down with a stone trowel — a wooden trowel turns it a bad colour, so 
that should not be employed — and make it as even as the surface of a drum. 
Then he should sweep the place out and have a bath. On his return he should 
seat himself on a well-covered chair with legs a span and four fingers high, 
prepared in a place that is two and a half cubits [that is, two and a half times 
elbow to finger-tip] from the kasina disk. For the kasina does not appear plainly 
to him if he sits further off than that; and if he sits nearer than that, faults in the 



5. "Ganga (= 'river') is the name for the Ganges in India and for the Mahavaeligariga, 
Sri Lanka's principal river. However, in the Island of Sri Lanka there is a river, it seems, 
called the Ravanaganga. The clay in the places where the banks are cut away by its 
stream is the colour of dawn" (Vism-mht 119). 



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kasina appear. If he sits higher up, he has to look at it with his neck bent; and if 
he sits lower down, his knees ache. 

[Starting Contemplation] 

27. So, after seating himself in the way stated, he should review the dangers in 
sense desires in the way beginning, "Sense desires give little enjoyment" (M I 
91) and arouse longing for the escape from sense desires, for the renunciation 
that is the means to the surmounting of all suffering. He should next arouse joy 
of happiness by recollecting the special qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, 
and the Sangha; then awe by thinking, "Now, this is the way of renunciation 
entered upon by all Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas and noble disciples"; and then 
eagerness by thinking, "In this way I shall surely come to know the taste of the 
bliss of seclusion." [125] After that he should open his eyes moderately, apprehend 
the sign, and so proceed to develop it. 6 

28. If he opens his eyes too wide, they get fatigued and the disk becomes too 
obvious, which prevents the sign becoming apparent to him. If he opens them 
too little, the disk is not obvious enough, and his mind becomes drowsy, which 
also prevents the sign becoming apparent to him. So he should develop it by 
apprehending the sign (nimitta), keeping his eyes open moderately, as if he were 
seeing the reflection of his face (mukha-nimitta) on the surface of a looking- 
glass. 7 

29. The colour should not be reviewed. The characteristic should not be given 
attention. 8 But rather, while not ignoring the colour, attention should be given 

6. "'Apprehend the sign': apprehend with the mind the sign apprehended by the eye 
in the earth kasina. 'And develop it': the apprehending of the sign as it occurs should be 
continued intensively and constantly practiced" (Vism-mht 120). 

7. "Just as one who sees his reflection (mukha-nimitta — lit. "face-sign") on the surface 
of a looking-glass does not open his eyes too widely or too little (in order to get the 
effect), nor does he review the colour of the looking-glass or give attention to its 
characteristic, but rather looks with moderately opened eyes and sees only the sign of 
his face, so too this meditator looks with moderately opened eyes at the earth kasina 
and is occupied only with the sign" (Vism-mht 121). 

8. "The dawn colour that is there in the kasina should not be thought about, though 
it cannot be denied that it is apprehended by eye-consciousness. That is why instead 
of saying here, 'should not be looked at/ he says that it should not be apprehended by 
reviewing. Also the earth element's characteristic of hardness, which is there, should 
not be given attention because the apprehension has to be done through the channel 
of seeing. And after saying, 'while not ignoring the colour' he said, 'relegating the 
colour to the position of a property of the physical support/ showing that here the 
concern is not with the colour, which is the channel, but rather that this colour should 
be treated as an accessory of the physical support; the meaning is that the kasina 
(disk) should be given attention with awareness of both the accompanying earth- 
aspect and its ancillary colour-aspect, but taking the earth-aspect with its ancillary 
concomitant colour as both supported equally by that physical support [the disk]. 'On 
the concept as the mental datum since that is what is outstanding': the term of ordinary 
usage 'earth' (pathavi) as applied to earth with its accessories, since the prominence of 

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Path of Purification Part 2: Concentration (Samadhi) 

by setting the mind on the [name] concept as the most outstanding mental 
datum, relegating the colour to the position of a property of its physical support. 
That [conceptual state] can be called by anyone he likes among the names for 
earth (pathavl) such as "earth" (pathavi), "the Great One" (mahl), "the Friendly 
One" (medim), "ground" (bhumi), "the Provider of Wealth" (vasudha), "the Bearer 
of Wealth" (vasudhara), etc., whichever suits his manner of perception. Still "earth" 
is also a name that is obvious, so it can be developed with the obvious one by 
saying "earth, earth." It should be adverted to now with eyes open, now with 
eyes shut. And he should go on developing it in this way a hundred times, a 
thousand times, and even more than that, until the learning sign arises. 

30. When, while he is developing it in this way, it comes into focus 9 as he 
adverts with his eyes shut exactly as it does with his eyes open, then the learning 
sign is said to have been produced. After its production he should no longer sit 
in that place; 10 he should return to his own quarters and go on developing it 
sitting there. But in order to avoid the delay of foot washing, a pair of single- 
soled sandals and a walking stick are desirable. Then if the new concentration 
vanishes through some unsuitable encounter, he can put his sandals on, take 
his walking stick, and go back to the place to re-apprehend the sign there. When 
he returns he should seat himself comfortably and develop it by reiterated reaction 
to it and by striking at it with thought and applied thought. 

[The Counterpart Sign] 

31. As he does so, the hindrances eventually become suppressed, the 
defilements subside, the mind becomes concentrated with access concentration, 
and the counterpart sign arises. 

The difference between the earlier learning sign and the counterpart sign is 
this. In the learning sign any fault in the kasina is apparent. But the counterpart 
sign [126] appears as if breaking out from the learning sign, and a hundred 
times, a thousand times more purified, like a looking-glass disk drawn from its 
case, like a mother-of-pearl dish well washed, like the moon's disk coming out 
from behind a cloud, like cranes against a thunder cloud. But it has neither 
colour nor shape; for if it had, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross, susceptible 
of comprehension [by insight — (see XX. 2f.)] and stamped with the three 
characteristics. 11 But it is not like that. For it is born only of perception in one 
who has obtained concentration, being a mere mode of appearance. 12 But as 



its individual effect is due to outstandingness of the earth element: 'setting the mind' 
on that mental datum consisting of a [name-] concept (pannatti-dhamma), the kasina 
should be given attention as 'earth, earth.' — If the mind is to be set on a mere concept 
by means of a term of common usage, ought earth to be given attention by means of 
different names? — It can be. What is wrong? It is to show that that is done he said, 
'MahT, medinl,' and so on" (Vism-mht 122). 

9. '"Comes into focus': becomes the resort of mind-door impulsion" (Vism-mht 122). 

10. "Why should he not? If, after the learning sign was produced, he went on 
developing it by looking at the disk of the earth, there would be no arising of the 
counterpart sign" (Vism-mht 122). 



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soon as it arises the hindrances are quite suppressed, the defilements subside, 
and the mind becomes concentrated in access concentration. 

[The Two Kinds of Concentration] 

32. Now, concentration is of two kinds, that is to say, access concentration and 
absorption concentration: the mind becomes concentrated in two ways, that is, 
on the plane of access and on the plane of obtainment. Herein, the mind becomes 
concentrated on the plane of access by the abandonment of the hindrances, and 
on the plane of obtainment by the manifestation of the jhana factors. 

33. The difference between the two kinds of concentration is this. The factors 
are not strong in access. It is because they are not strong that when access has 
arisen, the mind now makes the sign its object and now re-enters the life- 
continuum, 13 just as when a young child is lifted up and stood on its feet, it 

11. "Stamped with the three characteristics of the formed beginning with rise (see A 
1 152), or marked with the three characteristics beginning with impermanence" (Vism- 
mht 122). 

12. "If 'it is not like that' — is not possessed of colour, etc. — then how is it the object 
of jhana? It is in order to answer that question that the sentence beginning, 'For it is ... ' 
is given. 'Born of the perception': produced by the perception during development, 
simply born from the perception during development. Since there is no arising from 
anywhere of what has no individual essence, he therefore said, 'Being the mere mode 
of appearance'" (Vism-mht 122). See Ch. VIII, n. 11. 

13. Bhavanga (life-continuum, lit. "constituent of becoming") and javana (impulsion) 
are first mentioned in this work at 1.57 (see n. 16); this is the second mention. The 
"cognitive series" (citta-vithi) so extensively used here is unknown as such in the 
Pitakas. Perhaps the seed from which it sprang may exist in, say, such passages as: 
"Due to eye and to visible data eye-consciousness arises. The coincidence of the three 
is contact. With contact as condition there is feeling. What he feels he perceives. What 
he perceives he thinks about4. What he thinks about he diversifies [by means of 
craving, pride and false view] . . . Due to mind and to mental data ..." (M 1111). And : "Is 
the eye permanent or impermanent . . . Are visible objects permanent or impermanent? 
... Is the mind permanent or impermanent? Are mental data ... Is mind-consciousness 
... Is mind-contact ... Is any feeling, any perception, any formation, any consciousness, 
that arises with mind-contact as condition permanent or impermanent?" (M III 279). 
And: "These five faculties [of eye, etc.] each with its separate objective field and no one 
of them experiencing as its objective field the province of any other, have mind as their 
refuge, and mind experiences their provinces as its objective field" (M I 295). This 
treatment of consciousness implies, as it were, more than even a "double thickness" 
of consciousness. An already-formed nucleus of the cognitive series, based on such 
Sutta Pitakas material, appears in the Abhidhamma Pitakas. The following two 
quotations show how the commentary (bracketed italics) expands the Abhidhamma 
Pitakas treatment. 

(i) "Herein, what is eye-consciousness element? Due to eye and to visible data (as 
support condition, and to functional mind element (= 5-door adverting), as disappearance 
condition, and to the remaining three immaterial aggregates as conascence condition) there 
arises consciousness . . . which is eye-consciousness element. [Similarly with the other 
four sense elements.] Herein, what is mind element? Eye-consciousness having arisen 

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repeatedly falls down on the ground. But the factors are strong in absorption. It 
is because they are strong that when absorption concentration has arisen, the 
mind, having once interrupted the flow of the life-continuum, carries on with a 
stream of profitable impulsion for a whole night and for a whole day, just as a 
healthy man, after rising from his seat, could stand for a whole day. 

[Guarding the Sign] 

34. The arousing of the counterpart sign, which arises together with access 
concentration, is very difficult. Therefore if he is able to arrive at absorption 
in that same session by extending the sign, it is good. If not, then he must 
guard the sign diligently as if it were the foetus of a Wheel-turning Monarch 
(World-ruler). 



and ceased, next to that there arises consciousness . . . which is appropriate (profitable 
or unprofitable) mind element (in the mode of receiving). [Similarly with the other 
four sense elements.] Or else it is the first reaction to any mental datum (to be taken 
as functional mind element in the mode of mind-door adverting). Herein, what is 
mind-consciousness element? Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, next to 
that there arises mind element. (Resultant) mind element having arisen and ceased, 
also (next to that there arises resultant mind-consciousness element in the mode of 
investigating; and that having arisen and ceased, next to that there arises functional 
mind-consciousness element in the mode of determining; and that having arisen and 
ceased) next to that there arises consciousness ... which is appropriate mind- 
consciousness element (in the mode of impulsion). [Similarly with the other four 
sense elements.] Due to (life-continuum) mind and to mental data there arises 
consciousness ... which is appropriate (impulsion) mind-consciousness element 
(following on the above-mentioned mind-door adverting)" (Vibh 87-90 and Vibh-a 
81f.). 

(ii) "Eye-consciousness and its associated states are a condition, as proximity 
condition, for (resultant) mind element and for its associated states. Mind element and 
its associated states are a condition, as proximity condition, for (root-causeless resultant) 
mind-consciousness element (in the mode of investigating) and for its associated states. 
(Next to that, the mind-consciousness elements severally in the modes of determining, 
impulsion, registration, and life- continuum should be mentioned, though they are not, since 
the teaching is abbreviated.) [Similarly for the other four senses and mind-consciousness 
element]. Preceding profitable (impulsion) states are a condition, as proximity condition, 
for subsequent indeterminate (registration, life-continuum) states [etc.]" (Patth II, and 
Corny, 33-34). 

The form that the two kinds (5-door and mind-door) of the cognitive series take is 
shown in Table V The following are some Pitakas references for the individual modes: 
bhavanga (life-continuum): Patth I 159, 160, 169, 324; avajjana (adverting) Patth I 159, 
160, 169, 324; sampaticchana (receiving), santlrana (investigating), votthapana 
(determining), and tadarammana (registration) appear only in the Commentaries. Javana 
(impulsion): Patis II 73, 76. The following references may also be noted here: anuloma 
(conformity), Patth 1 325. Cuti-citta (death consciousness), Patth 1 324. Patisandhi (rebirth- 
linking), Vism-mht 1, 320, etc.; Patis II 72, etc. 



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So guard the sign, nor count the cost, 
And what is gained will not be lost; 
Who fails to have this guard maintained 
Will lose each time what he has gained. [127] 

35. Herein, the way of guarding it is this: 

(1) Abode, (2) resort, (3) and speech, (4) and person, 
(5) The food, (6) the climate, (7) and the posture — 
Eschew these seven different kinds 

Whenever found unsuitable. 
But cultivate the suitable; 
For one perchance so doing finds 
He need not wait too long until 
Absorption shall his wish fulfil. 

36. 1. Herein, an abode is unsuitable if, while he lives in it, the unarisen sign 
does not arise in him or is lost when it arises, and where unestablished 
mindfulness fails to become established and the unconcentrated mind fails to 
become concentrated. That is suitable in which the sign arises and becomes 
confirmed, in which mindfulness becomes established and the mind becomes 
concentrated, as in the Elder Padhaniya-Tissa, resident at Nagapabbata. So if a 
monastery has many abodes he can try them one by one, living in each for three 
days, and stay on where his mind becomes unified. For it was due to suitability 
of abode that five hundred bhikkhus reached Arahantship while still dwelling 
in the Lesser Naga Cave (Cula-naga-lena) in Tambapanni Island (Sri Lanka) after 
apprehending their meditation subject there. There is no counting the stream- 
enterers who have reached Arahantship there after reaching the noble plane 
elsewhere; so too in the monastery of Cittalapabbata, and others. 

37. 2. An alms-resorf village lying to the north or south of the lodging, not too 
far, within one kosa and a half, and where alms food is easily obtained, is suitable. 
The opposite kind is unsuitable. 14 

38. 3. Speech: that included in the thirty-two kinds of aimless talk is unsuitable; 
for it leads to the disappearance of the sign. But talk based on the ten examples 
of talk is suitable, though even that should be discussed with moderation. 15 

39. 4. Person: one not given to aimless talk, who has the special qualities of 
virtue, etc., by acquaintanceship with whom the unconcentrated mind becomes 
concentrated, or the concentrated mind becomes more so, is suitable. One who is 
much concerned with his body 16 who is addicted to aimless talk, is unsuitable; 
for he only creates disturbances, like muddy water added to clear water. And it 



14. North or south to avoid facing the rising sun in coming or going. Kosa is not in 
PED; "one and a half kosa = 3,000 bows" (Vism-mht 123). 

15. Twenty-six kinds of "aimless" (lit. "animal") talk are given in the Suttas (e.g. M II 
1; III 113), which the commentary increases to thirty-two (M-a III 233). The ten instances 
of talk are those given in the Suttas (e.g. M 1 145; III 113). See Ch. I, n.12. 

16. "One who is occupied with exercising and caring for the body" (Vism-mht 124). 



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was owing to one such as this that the attainments of the young bhikkhu who 
lived at Kotapabbata vanished, not to mention the sign. [128] 

40. 5. Food: Sweet food suits one, sour food another. 

6. Climate: a cool climate suits one, a warm one another. So when he finds that 
by using certain food or by living in a certain climate he is comfortable, or his 
unconcentrated mind becomes concentrated, or his concentrated mind becomes 
more so, then that food or that climate is suitable. Any other food or climate is 
unsuitable. 

41. 7. Postures: walking suits one; standing or sitting or lying down suits 
another. So he should try them, like the abode, for three days each, and that 
posture is suitable in which his unconcentrated mind becomes concentrated or 
his concentrated mind becomes more so. Any other should be understood as 
unsuitable. 

So he should avoid the seven unsuitable kinds and cultivate the suitable. For 
when he practices in this way, assiduously cultivating the sign, then, "he need 
not wait too long until absorption shall his wish fulfil." 

[The Ten Kinds of Skill in Absorption] 

42. However, if this does not happen while he is practicing in this way, then he 
should have recourse to the ten kinds of skill in absorption. Here is the method. 
Skill in absorption needs [to be dealt with in] ten aspects: (1) making the basis 
clean, (2) maintaining balanced faculties, (3) skill in the sign, (4) he exerts the 
mind on an occasion when it should be exerted, (5) he restrains the mind on an 
occasion when it should be restrained, (6) he encourages the mind on an 
occasion when it should be encouraged, (7) he looks on at the mind with 
equanimity when it should be looked on at with equanimity, (8) avoidance of 
unconcentrated persons, (9) cultivation of concentrated persons, (10) resoluteness 
upon that (concentration). 

43. 1. Herein, making the basis clean is cleansing the internal and the external 
basis. For when his head hair, nails and body hair are long, or when the body is 
soaked with sweat, then the internal basis is unclean and unpurified. But when 
an old dirty smelly robe is worn or when the lodging is dirty, then the external 
basis is unclean and unpurified. [129] When the internal and external bases are 
unclean, then the knowledge in the consciousness and consciousness- 
concomitants that arise is unpurified, like the light of a lamp's flame that arises 
with an unpurified lamp-bowl, wick and oil as its support; formations do not 
become evident to one who tries to comprehend them with unpurified knowledge, 
and when he devotes himself to his meditation subject, it does not come to 
growth, increase and fulfilment. 

44. But when the internal and external bases are clean, then the knowledge in 
the consciousness and consciousness-concomitants that arise is clean and 
purified, like the light of a lamp's flame that arises with a purified lamp bowl, 
wick and oil as its support; formations become evident to one who tries to 
comprehend them with purified knowledge, and as he devotes himself to his 
meditation subject, it comes to growth, increase and fulfilment. 

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45. 2. Maintaining balanced faculties is equalizing the [five] faculties of faith and 
the rest. For if his faith faculty is strong and the others weak, then the energy 
faculty cannot perform its function of exerting, the mindfulness faculty its 
function of establishing, the concentration faculty its function of not distracting, 
and the understanding faculty its function of seeing. So in that case the faith 
faculty should be modified either by reviewing the individual essences of the 
states [concerned, that is, the objects of attention] or by not giving [them] attention 
in the way in which the faith faculty became too strong. And this is illustrated 
by the story of the Elder Vakkali (S III 119). 

46. Then if the energy faculty is too strong, the faith faculty cannot perform its 
function of resolving, nor can the rest of the faculties perform their several 
functions. So in that case the energy faculty should be modified by developing 
tranquillity, and so on. And this should be illustrated by the story of the Elder 
Sona (Vin 1 179-85; A III 374-76). So too with the rest; for it should be understood 
that when anyone of them is too strong the others cannot perform their several 
functions. 

47. However, what is particularly recommended is balancing faith with 
understanding, and concentration with energy. For one strong in faith and 
weak in understanding has confidence uncritically and groundlessly One 
strong in understanding and weak in faith errs on the side of cunning and is as 
hard to cure as one sick of a disease caused by medicine. With the balancing of 
the two a man has confidence only when there are grounds for it. 

Then idleness overpowers one strong in concentration and weak in energy, since 
concentration favours idleness. [130] Agitation overpowers one strong in energy 
and weak in concentration, since energy favours agitation. But concentration 
coupled with energy cannot lapse into idleness, and energy coupled with 
concentration cannot lapse into agitation. So these two should be balanced; for 
absorption comes with the balancing of the two. 

48. Again, [concentration and faith should be balanced]. One working on 
concentration needs strong faith, since it is with such faith and confidence that 
he reaches absorption. Then there is [balancing of] concentration and 
understanding. One working on concentration needs strong unification, since 
that is how he reaches absorption; and one working on insight needs strong 
understanding, since that is how he reaches penetration of characteristics; but 
with the balancing of the two he reaches absorption as well. 

49. Strong mindfulness, however, is needed in all instances; for mindfulness 
protects the mind from lapsing into agitation through faith, energy and 
understanding, which favour agitation, and from lapsing into idleness through 
concentration, which favours idleness. So it is as desirable in all instances as a 
seasoning of salt in all sauces, as a prime minister in all the king's business. 
Hence it is said [in the commentaries (D-a 788, M-a I 292, etc)]: "And mindfulness 
has been called universal by the Blessed One. For what reason? Because the 
mind has mindfulness as its refuge, and mindfulness is manifested as protection, 
and there is no exertion and restraint of the mind without mindfulness." 



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50. 3. Skill in the sign is skill in producing the as yet unproduced sign of 
unification of mind through the earth kasina, etc.; and it is skill in developing 
[the sign] when produced, and skill in protecting [the sign] when obtained by 
development. The last is what is intended here. 

51. 4. How does he exert the mind on an occasion when it should he exerted'! When 
his mind is slack with over-laxness of energy etc., then, instead of developing 
the three enlightenment factors beginning with tranquillity, he should develop 
those beginning with investigation-of-states. For this is said by the Blessed One: 
"Bhikkhus, suppose a man wanted to make a small fire burn up, and he put wet 
grass on it, put wet cow -dung on it, put wet sticks on it, sprinkled it with water, 
and scattered dust on it, would that man be able to make the small fire burn up?" 
[131] — "No, venerable sir." — "So too, bhikkhus, when the mind is slack, that is 
not the time to develop the tranquillity enlightenment factor, the concentration 
enlightenment factor or the equanimity enlightenment factor. Why is that? 
Because a slack mind cannot well be roused by those states. When the mind is 
slack, that is the time to develop the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor, 
the energy enlightenment factor and the happiness enlightenment factor. Why 
is that? Because a slack mind can well be roused by those states. 

"Bhikkhus, suppose a man wanted to make a small fire burn up, and he put 
dry grass on it, put dry cow-dung on it, put dry sticks on it, blew on it with his 
mouth, and did not scatter dust on it, would that man be able to make that small 
fire burn up?" — "Yes, venerable sir" (S V 112). 

52. And here the development of the investigation-of-states enlightenment 
factor, etc., should be understood as the nutriment for each one respectively, for 
this is said: "Bhikkhus, there are profitable and unprofitable states, reprehensible 
and blameless states, inferior and superior states, dark and bright states the 
counterpart of each other. Wise attention much practiced therein is the nutriment 
for the arising of the unarisen investigation-of-states enlightenment factor, or 
leads to the growth, fulfilment, development and perfection of the arisen 
investigation-of-states enlightenment factor." Likewise: "Bhikkhus there is the 
element of initiative, the element of launching, and the element of persistence. 
Wise attention much practiced therein is the nutriment for the arising of the 
unarisen energy enlightenment factor, or leads to the growth, fulfilment, 
development and perfection of the arisen energy enlightenment factors." 
Likewise: "Bhikkhus, there are states productive of the happiness enlightenment 
factor. Wise attention much practiced therein is the nutriment for the arising of 
the unarisen happiness enlightenment factor, or leads to the growth, fulfilment, 
development and perfection of the arisen happiness enlightenment factor" (S V 
104). [132] 

53. Herein, wise attention given to the -profitable, etc., is attention occurring in 
penetration of individual essences and of [the three] general characteristics. 
Wise attention given to the element of initiative, etc., is attention occurring in the 
arousing of the element of initiative, and so on. Herein, initial energy is called 
the element of initiative. The element of launching is stronger than that because it 
launches out from idleness. The element of persistence is still stronger than that 



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because it goes on persisting in successive later stages. States productive of the 
happiness enlightenment factor is a name for happiness itself; and attention that 
arouses that is wise attention. 

54. There are, besides, seven things that lead to the arising of the investigation- 
of-states enlightenment factor: (i) asking questions, (ii) making the basis clean, 
(iii) balancing the faculties, (iv) avoidance of persons without understanding, 
(v) cultivation of persons with understanding, (vi) reviewing the field for the 
exercise of profound knowledge, (vii) resoluteness upon that [investigation of 
states]. 

55. Eleven things lead to the arising of the energy enlightenment factor: (i) 
reviewing the tearfulness of the states of loss such as the hell realms, etc., (ii) 
seeing benefit in obtaining the mundane and supramundane distinctions 
dependent on energy, (iii) reviewing the course of the journey [to be travelled] 
thus: "The path taken by the Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and the great disciples 
has to be taken by me, and it cannot be taken by an idler," (iv) being a credit to 
the alms food by producing great fruit for the givers, (v) reviewing the greatness 
of the Master thus: "My Master praises the energetic, and this unsurpassable 
Dispensation that is so helpful to us is honoured in the practice, not otherwise," 
(vi) reviewing the greatness of the heritage thus: "It is the great heritage called 
the Good Dhamma that is to be acquired by me, and it cannot be acquired by an 
idler," (vii) removing stiffness and torpor by attention to perception of light, 
change of postures, frequenting the open air, etc., (viii) avoidance of idle persons, 
(ix) cultivation of energetic persons, (x) reviewing the right endeavours, (xi) 
resoluteness upon that [energy]. 

56. Eleven things lead to the arising of the happiness enlightenment factor: 
the recollections (i) of the Buddha, (ii) of the Dhamma, (iii) of the Sangha, (iv) of 
virtue, (v) of generosity, and (vi) of deities, (vii) the recollection of peace, [133] 
(viii) avoidance of rough persons, (ix) cultivation of refined persons, (x) reviewing 
encouraging discourses, (xi) resoluteness upon that [happiness]. 

So by arousing these things in these ways he develops the investigation-of- 
states enlightenment factor, and the others. This is how he exerts the mind on an 
occasion when it should be exerted. 

57. 5. How does he restrain the mind on an occasion when it should be restrained? 
When his mind is agitated through over-energeticness, etc., then, instead of 
developing the three enlightenment factors beginning with investigation-of- 
states, he should develop those beginning with tranquillity; for this is said by 
the Blessed One: "Bhikkhus, suppose a man wanted to extinguish a great mass 
of fire, and he put dry grass on it ... and did not scatter dust on it, would that 
man be able to extinguish that great mass of fire?" — "No, venerable sir." — "So 
too, bhikkhus, when the mind is agitated, that is not the time to develop the 
investigation-of-states enlightenment factor, the energy enlightenment factor or 
the happiness enlightenment factor. Why is that? Because an agitated mind 
cannot well be quieted by those states. When the mind is agitated, that is the time 
to develop the tranquillity enlightenment factor, the concentration enlightenment 



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factor and the equanimity enlightenment factor. Why is that? Because an agitated 
mind can well be quieted by those states." 

"Bhikkhus, suppose a man wanted to extinguish a great mass of fire, 
and he put wet grass on it ... and scattered dust on it, would that man be 
able to extinguish that great mass of fire?" — "Yes, venerable sir" (S V 114). 

58. And here the development of the tranquillity enlightenment factor, etc., 
should be understood as the nutriment for each one respectively, for this is said: 
"Bhikkhus, there is bodily tranquillity and mental tranquillity. [134] Wise 
attention much practiced therein is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen 
tranquillity enlightenment factor, or leads to the growth, fulfilment, development 
and perfection of the arisen tranquillity enlightenment factor." Likewise: 
"Bhikkhus, there is the sign of serenity, the sign of non-diversion. Wise attention, 
much practiced, therein is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen 
concentration enlightenment factor, or it leads to the growth, fulfilment, 
development and perfection of the arisen concentration enlightenment factor." 
Likewise: "Bhikkhus, there are states productive of the equanimity enlightenment 
factor. Wise attention, much practiced, therein is the nutriment for the arising of 
the unarisen equanimity enlightenment factor, or it leads to the growth, fulfilment, 
development and perfection of the arisen equanimity enlightenment factor" (S 
V 104). 

59. Herein wise attention given to the three instances is attention occurring in 
arousing tranquillity, etc., by observing the way in which they arose in him 
earlier. The sign of serenity is a term for serenity itself, and non-diversion is a term 
for that too in the sense of non-distraction. 

60. There are, besides, seven things that lead to the arising of the tranquillity 
enlightenment factor: (i) using superior food, (ii) living in a good climate, (iii) 
maintaining a pleasant posture, (iv) keeping to the middle, (v) avoidance of 
violent persons, (vi) cultivation of persons tranquil in body, (vii) resoluteness 
upon that [tranquillity]. 

61. Eleven things lead to the arising of the concentration enlightenment factor: 
(i) making the basis clean, (ii) skill in the sign, (iii) balancing the faculties, (iv) 
restraining the mind on occasion, (v) exerting the mind on occasion, (vi) 
encouraging the listless mind by means of faith and a sense of urgency, (vii) 
looking on with equanimity at what is occurring rightly, (viii) avoidance of 
unconcentrated persons, (ix) cultivation of concentrated persons, (x) reviewing 
of the jhanas and liberations, (xi) resoluteness upon that [concentration]. 

62. Five things lead to the arising of the equanimity enlightenment factor: (i) 
maintenance of neutrality towards living beings; (ii) maintenance of neutrality 
towards formations (inanimate things); (iii) avoidance of persons who show 
favouritism towards beings and formations; (iv) cultivation of persons who 
maintain neutrality towards beings and formations; (v) resoluteness upon that 
[equanimity]. [135] 

So by arousing these things in these ways he develops the tranquillity 
enlightenment factor, as well as the others. This is how he restrains the mind on 
an occasion when it should be restrained. 

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63. 6. How does he encourage the mind on an occasion when it should be encouraged'! 
When his mind is listless owing to sluggishness in the exercise of understanding 
or to failure to attain the bliss of peace, then he should stimulate it by reviewing 
the eight grounds for a sense of urgency. These are the four, namely, birth, aging, 
sickness, and death, with the suffering of the states of loss as the fifth, and also 
the suffering in the past rooted in the round [of rebirths], the suffering in the 
future rooted in the round [of rebirths], and the suffering in the present rooted in 
the search for nutriment. And he creates confidence by recollecting the special 
qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is how he encourages 
the mind on an occasion when it should be encouraged. 

64. 7. How does he look on at the mind with equanimity on an occasion when it 
should be looked on at with equanimity'! When he is practicing in this way and his 
mind follows the road of serenity, occurs evenly on the object, and is unidle, 
unagitated and not listless, then he is not interested to exert or restrain or 
encourage it; he is like a charioteer when the horses are progressing evenly. This 
is how he looks on at the mind with equanimity on an occasion when it should 
be looked on at with equanimity. 

65. 8. Avoidance of unconcentrated persons is keeping far away from persons who 
have never trodden the way of renunciation, who are busy with many affairs, 
and whose hearts are distracted. 

9. Cultivation of concentrated persons is approaching periodically persons who 
have trodden the way of renunciation and obtained concentration. 

10. Resoluteness upon that is the state of being resolute upon concentration; the 
meaning is, giving concentration importance, tending, leaning and inclining to 
concentration. 

This is how the tenfold skill in concentration should be undertaken. 

66. Any man who acquires this sign, 
This tenfold skill will need to heed 
In order for absorption to gain 
Thus achieving his bolder goal. 
But if in spite of his efforts 

No result comes that might requite 
His work, still a wise wight persists, 
Never this task relinquishing, [136] 
Since a tiro, if he gives up, 
Thinking not to continue in 
The task, never gains distinction 
Here no matter how small at all. 

A man wise in temperament 17 
Notices how his mind inclines: 
Energy and serenity 
Always he couples each to each. 

17. Buddha — "possessed of wit": not in PED; see M-a I 39. 

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Now, his mind, seeing that it holds back, 

He prods, now the restraining rein 

Tightening, seeing it pull too hard; 

Guiding with even pace the race. 

Well-controlled bees get the pollen; 

Well-balanced efforts meet to treat 

Leaves, thread, and ships, and oil-tubes too, 

Gain thus, not otherwise, the prize. 

Let him set aside this lax 

Also this agitated state, 

Steering here his mind at the sign 

As the bee and the rest suggest. 

[The Five Similes] 

67. Here is the explanation of the meaning. 

When a too clever bee learns that a flower on a tree is blooming, it sets out 
hurriedly, overshoots the mark, turns back, and arrives when the pollen is finished; 
and another, not clever enough bee, who sets out with too slow a speed, arrives 
when the pollen is finished too; but a clever bee sets out with balanced speed, 
arrives with ease at the cluster of flowers, takes as much pollen as it pleases and 
enjoys the honey-dew. 

68. Again, when a surgeon's pupils are being trained in the use of the scalpel 
on a lotus leaf in a dish of water, one who is too clever applies the scalpel 
hurriedly and either cuts the lotus leaf in two or pushes it under the water, and 
another who is not clever enough does not even dare to touch it with the scalpel 
for fear of cutting it in two or pushing it under; but one who is clever shows the 
scalpel stroke on it by means of a balanced effort, and being good at his craft he 
is rewarded on such occasions. 

69. Again when the king announces, "Anyone who can draw out a spider's 
thread four fathoms long shall receive four thousand," one man who is too 
clever breaks the spider's thread here and there by pulling it hurriedly, and 
another who is not clever enough does not dare to touch it with his hand for fear 
of breaking it, but a clever man pulls it out starting from the end with a balanced 
effort, winds it on a stick, and so wins the prize. 

70. Again, a too clever [137] skipper hoists full sails in a high wind and sends his 
ship adrift, and another, not clever enough skipper, lowers his sails in a light wind 
and remains where he is, but a clever skipper hoists full sails in a light wind, takes 
in half his sails in a high wind, and so arrives safely at his desired destination. 

71. Again, when a teacher says, "Anyone who fills the oil- tube without spilling 
any oil will win a prize," one who is too clever fills it hurriedly out of greed for 
the prize, and he spills the oil, and another who is not clever enough does not 
dare to pour the oil at all for fear of spilling it, but one who is clever fills it with 
a balanced effort and wins the prize. 

72. Just as in these five similes, so too when the sign arises, one bhikkhu forces 
his energy, thinking "I shall soon reach absorption." Then his mind lapses into 



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agitation because of his mind's over-exerted energy and he is prevented from 
reaching absorption. Another who sees the defect in over-exertion slacks off his 
energy, thinking, "What is absorption to me now?" Then his mind lapses into 
idleness because of his mind's too lax energy and he too is prevented from 
reaching absorption. Yet another who frees his mind from idleness even when it 
is only slightly idle and from agitation when only slightly agitated, confronting the 
sign with balanced effort, reaches absorption. One should be like the last-named. 

73. It was with reference to this meaning that it was said above: 

"Well-controlled bees get the pollen; 

Well-balanced efforts meet to treat 

Leaves, thread, and ships, and oil-tubes too, 

Gain thus, not otherwise, the prize. 

Let him set aside then this lax 

Also this agitated state, 

Steering here his mind at the sign 

As the bee and the rest suggest". 

[Absorption in the Cognitive Series] 

74. So, while he is guiding his mind in this way, confronting the sign, [then 
knowing]: "Now absorption will succeed," there arises in him mind-door 
adverting with that same earth kasina as its object, interrupting the [occurrence 
of consciousness as] life-continuum, and evoked by the constant repeating of 
"earth, earth." After that, either four or five impulsions impel on that same object, 
the last one of which is an impulsion of the fine-material sphere. The rest are of 
the sense sphere, but they have stronger applied thought, sustained thought, 
happiness, bliss, and unification of mind than the normal ones. They are called 
"preliminary work" [consciousnesses] because they are the preliminary work 
for absorption; [138] and they are also called "access" [consciousnesses] because 
of their nearness to absorption because they happen in its neighbourhood, just 
as the words "village access" and "city access" are used for a place near to a 
village, etc.; and they are also called "conformity" [consciousnesses] because 
they conform to those that precede the "preliminary work" [consciousnesses] 
and to the absorption that follows. And the last of these is also called "change- 
of-lineage" because it transcends the limited [sense-sphere] lineage and brings 
into being the exalted [fine-material-sphere] lineage. 18 



18. "It guards the line {gam tayati), thus it is lineage {gotta). When it occurs limitedly, 
it guards the naming (abhidhana) and the recognition {buddhi) of the naming as restricted 
to a definite scope (ekamsa-visayata). For just as recognition does not take place without 
a meaning {attha) for its objective support (arammana), so naming {abhidhana) does not 
take place without what is named {abhidheyya) . So it (the gotta) is said to protect and 
keep these. But the limited should be regarded as the materiality peculiar to sense- 
sphere states, which are the resort of craving for sense desires, and destitute of the 
exalted (fine-material and immaterial) or the unsurpassed (supramundane). The exalted 
lineage is explainable in the same way" (Vism-mht 134). 



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75. But omitting repetitions, 19 then either the first is the "preliminary work," 
the second "access," the third "conformity," and the fourth, "change-of-lineage," 
or else the first is "access," the second "conformity," and the third "change-of- 
lineage." Then either the fourth [in the latter case] or the fifth [in the former case] 
is the absorption consciousness. For it is only either the fourth or the fifth that 
fixes in absorption. And that is according as there is swift or sluggish direct- 
knowledge, (cf. XXI. 117) Beyond that, impulsion lapses and the life-continuum 20 
takes over. 

76. But the Abhidhamma scholar, the Elder Godatta, quoted this text: "Preceding 
profitable states are a condition, as repetition condition, for succeeding profitable 
states" (Patth I 5). Adding, "It is owing to the repetition condition that each 
succeeding state is strong, so there is absorption also in the sixth and seventh." 

77. That is rejected by the commentaries with the remark that it is merely that 
elder's opinion, adding that, "It is only either in the fourth or the fifth 21 that there 
is absorption. Beyond that, impulsion lapses. It is said to do so because of 
nearness of the life-continuum." And that has been stated in this way after 
consideration, so it cannot be rejected. For just as a man who is running towards 
a precipice and wants to stop cannot do so when he has his foot on the edge but 
falls over it, so there can be no fixing in absorption in the sixth or the seventh 
because of the nearness to the life-continuum. That is why it should be understood 
that there is absorption only in the fourth or the fifth. 



19. See XVII.189 and note. 

20. "The intention is that it is as if the sixth and seventh impulsions had lapsed since 
impulsion beyond the fifth is exhausted. The elder's opinion was that just as the first 
impulsion, which lacks the quality of repetition, does not arouse change-of-lineage 
because of its weakness, while the second or the third, which have the quality of 
repetition, can do so because they are strong on that account, so too the sixth and 
seventh fix in absorption owing to their strength due to their quality of repetition. 
But it is unsupported by a sutta or by any teacher's statement in conformity with 
a sutta. And the text quoted is not a reason because strength due to the quality of 
repetition is not a principle without exceptions (anekantikatta); for the first volition, 
which is not a repetition, has result experienceable here and now, while the second 
to the sixth, which are repetitions, have result experienceable in future becomings" 
(Vism-mht 135). 

21. "'Either in the fourth or the fifth,' etc., is said for the purpose of concluding [the 
discussion] with a paragraph showing the correctness of the meaning already stated. — 
Herein, if the sixth and seventh impulsions are said to have lapsed because impulsion 
is exhausted, how does seventh-impulsion volition come to have result experienceable 
in the next rebirth and to be of immediate effect on rebirth? — This is not owing to 
strength got through a repetition condition. — What then? — It is owing to the difference 
in the function's position (kiriyavattha). For the function [of impulsion] has three 
positions, that is, initial, medial and final. Herein, experienceability of result in the next 
rebirth and immediateness of effect on rebirth are due to the last volition's final 
position, not to its strength ... So the fact that the sixth and seventh lapse because 
impulsion is used up cannot be objected to" (Vism-mht 135). See Table V 

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78. But that absorption is only of a single conscious moment. For there are 
seven instances in which the normal extent 22 [of the cognitive series] does not 
apply. They are in the cases of the first absorption, the mundane kinds of direct- 
knowledge, the four paths, fruition next after the path, life-continuum jhana in 
the fine-material and immaterial kinds of becoming, the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception as condition for cessation [of perception and 
feeling], and the fruition attainment in one emerging from cessation. Here the 
fruition next after the path does not exceed three [consciousnesses in number]; 
[139] the [consciousnesses] of the base consisting of neither perception nor non- 
perception as condition for cessation do not exceed two [in number]; there is no 
measure of the [number of consciousnesses in the] life-continuum in the fine- 
material and immaterial [kinds of becoming]. In the remaining instances [the 
number of consciousnesses is] one only. So absorption is of a single 
consciousness moment. After that, it lapses into the life-continuum. Then the 
life-continuum is interrupted by adverting for the purpose of reviewing the 
jhana, next to which comes the reviewing of the jhana. 

[The First Jhana] 

79. At this point, "Quite secluded from sense desires, secluded from 
unprofitable things he enters upon and dwells in the first jhana, which is 
accompanied by applied and sustained thought with happiness and bliss born 
of seclusion" (Vibh 245), and so he has attained the first jhana, which abandons 
five factors, possesses five factors, is good in three ways, possesses ten 
characteristics, and is of the earth kasina. 

80. Herein, quite secluded from sense desires means having secluded himself 
from, having become without, having gone away from, sense desires. Now, this 
word quite (eva) should be understood to have the meaning of absoluteness. 
Precisely because it has the meaning of absoluteness it shows how, on the actual 
occasion of entering upon and dwelling in the first jhana, sense desires as well 
as being non-existent then are the first jhana's contrary opposite, and it also 
shows that the arrival takes place only (eva) through the letting go of sense 
desires. How? 

81. When absoluteness is introduced thus, "quite secluded from sense desires," 
what is expressed is this: sense desires are certainly incompatible with this 
jhana; when they exist, it does not occur, just as when there is darkness, there is 
no lamplight; and it is only by letting go of them that it is reached, just as the 
further bank is reached only by letting go of the near bank. That is why 
absoluteness is introduced. 

82. Here it might be asked: But why is this [word "quite"] mentioned only in 
the first phrase and not in the second? How is this, might he enter upon and 

22. "'The normal extent does not apply' here 'in the seven instances' because of the 
immeasurability of the conscious moment in some, and the extreme brevity of the 
moment in others; for 'extent' is inapplicable here in the sense of complete cognitive 
series, which is why 'in fruition next to the path,' etc., is said" (Vism mht 136). 



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dwell in the first jhana even when not secluded from unprofitable things? — It 
should not be regarded in that way. It is mentioned in the first phrase as the 
escape from them; for this jhana is the escape from sense desires since it surmounts 
the sense-desire element and since it is incompatible with greed for sense desires, 
according as it is said: "The escape from sense desires is this, that is to say, 
renunciation" (D III 275). But in the second phrase [140] the word eva should be 
adduced and taken as said, as in the passage, "Bhikkhus, only (eva) here is there 
an ascetic, here a second ascetic" (M I 63). For it is impossible to enter upon and 
dwell in jhana unsecluded also from unprofitable things, in other words, the 
hindrances other than that [sense desire]. So this word must be read in both 
phrases thus: "Quite secluded from sense desires, quite secluded from 
unprofitable things." And although the word "secluded" as a general term 
includes all kinds of seclusion, that is to say, seclusion by substitution of 
opposites, etc., and bodily seclusion, etc., 23 still only the three, namely, bodily 
seclusion, mental seclusion, and seclusion by suppression (suspension) should 
be regarded here. 

83. But this term "sense desires" should be regarded as including all kinds, 
that is to say, sense desires as object as given in the Niddesa in the passage 
beginning, "What are sense desires as object? They are agreeable visible objects 
..." (Nidd I 1), and the sense desires as defilement given there too and in the 
Vibhahga thus: "Zeal as sense desire (kama), greed as sense desire, zeal and 
greed as sense desire, thinking as sense desire, greed as sense desire, thinking 
and greed as sense desire" 24 (Nidd I 2; Vibh 256). That being so, the words "quite 
secluded from sense desires" properly mean "quite secluded from sense desires 
as object," and express bodily seclusion, while the words "secluded from 
unprofitable things" properly mean "secluded from sense desires as defilement 
or from all unprofitable things," and express mental seclusion. And in this case 
giving up of pleasure in sense desires is indicated by the first since it only 
expresses seclusion from sense desires as object, while acquisition of pleasure 

23. The five (see e.g. Patis II 220; M-a I 85) are suppression (by concentration), 
substitution of opposites (by insight), cutting off (by the path), tranquillization (by 
fruition), and escape (as Nibbana); cf. five kinds of deliverance (e.g. M-a IV 168). The 
three (see e.g. Nidd I 26; M-a II 143) are bodily seclusion (retreat), mental seclusion 
(jhana), and seclusion from the substance or circumstances of becoming (Nibbana). 

24. Here sahkappa ("thinking") has the meaning of "hankering." Chanda, kama and 
raga and their combinations need sorting out. Chanda (zeal, desire) is much used, 
neutral in colour, good or bad according to context and glossed by "desire to act"; 
technically also one of the four roads to power and four predominances. Kama (sense 
desire, sensuality) loosely represents enjoyment of the five sense pleasures (e.g. 
sense-desire sphere). More narrowly it refers to sexual enjoyment (third of the Five 
Precepts). Distinguished as subjective desire (defilement) and objective things that 
arouse it (Nidd I 1; cf. Ch. XIV, n.36). The figure "five cords of sense desire" signifies 
simply these desires with the five sense objects that attract them. Raga (greed) is the 
general term for desire in its bad sense and identical with lobha, which latter, however, 
appears technically as one of the three root-causes of unprofitable action. Raga is 
renderable also by "lust" in its general sense. Kamacchanda (lust): a technical term for 

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in renunciation is indicated by the second since it expresses seclusion from 
sense desire as defilement. 

84. And with sense desires as object and sense desires as defilement expressed 
in this way, it should also be recognized that the abandoning of the objective 
basis for defilement is indicated by the first of these two phrases and the 
abandoning of the [subjective] defilement by the second; also that the giving up 
of the cause of cupidity is indicated by the first and [the giving up of the cause] 
of stupidity by the second; also that the purification of one's occupation is 
indicated by the first and the educating of one's inclination by the second. 

This, firstly, is the method here when the words from sense desires are treated as 
referring to sense desires as object. 

85. But if they are treated as referring to sense desires as defilement, then it is 
simply just zeal for sense desires (kamacchanda) in the various forms of zeal 
(chanda), greed (raga), etc., that is intended as "sense desires" (kama) (§83, 2nd 
quotation). [141] And although that [lust] is also included by [the word] 
"unprofitable," it is nevertheless stated separately in the Vibhanga in the way 
beginning, "Herein, what are sense desires? Zeal as sense desire ..." (Vibh 256) 
because of its incompatibility with jhana. Or, alternatively, it is mentioned in the 
first phrase because it is sense desire as defilement and in the second phrase 
because it is included in the "unprofitable." And because this [lust] has various 
forms, therefore "from sense desires" is said instead of "from sense desire." 

86. And although there may be unprofitableness in other states as well, 
nevertheless only the hindrances are mentioned subsequently in the Vibhanga 
thus, "Herein, what states are unprofitable? Lust ..." (Vibh 256), etc., in order to 
show their opposition to, and incompatibility with, the jhana factors. For the 
hindrances are the contrary opposites of the jhana factors: what is meant is that 
the jhana factors are incompatible with them, eliminate them, abolish them. And 
it is said accordingly in the Petaka (Petakopadesa): "Concentration is incompatible 
with lust, happiness with ill will, applied thought with stiffness and torpor, 
bliss with agitation and worry, and sustained thought with uncertainty" (not in 
Petakopadesa). 

87. So in this case it should be understood that seclusion by suppression 
(suspension) of lust is indicated by the phrase quite secluded from sense desires, 
and seclusion by suppression (suspension) of [all] five hindrances by the phrase 
secluded from unprofitable things. But omitting repetitions, that of lust is 
indicated by the first and that of the remaining hindrances by the second. 
Similarly with the three unprofitable roots, that of greed, which has the five 
cords of sense desire (M I 85) as its province, is indicated by the first, and that of 
hate and delusion, which have as their respective provinces the various grounds 
for annoyance (A IV 408; V 150), etc., by the second. Or with the states consisting 
of the floods, etc., that of the flood of sense desires, of the bond of sense desires, of 
the canker of sense desires, of sense-desire clinging, of the bodily tie of 

the first of the five hindrances. Chanda-raga (zeal and greed) and kama-raga (greed for 
sense desires) have no technical use. 

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covetousness, and of the fetter of greed for sense desires, is indicated by the first, 
and that of the remaining floods, bonds, cankers, clingings, ties, and fetters, is 
indicated by the second. Again, that of craving and of what is associated with 
craving is indicated by the first, and that of ignorance and of what is associated 
with ignorance is indicated by the second. Furthermore, that of the eight thought- 
arisings associated with greed (XIV90) is indicated by the first, and that of the 
remaining kinds of unprofitable thought-arisings is indicated by the second. 

This, in the first place, is the explanation of the meaning of the words "quite 
secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable things." 

88. So far the factors abandoned by the jhana have been shown. And now, in 
order to show the factors associated with it, which is accompanied by applied and 
sustained thought is said. [142] Herein, applied thinking (vitakkana) is applied 
thought (vitakka); hitting upon, is what is meant. 25 It has the characteristic of 
directing the mind on to an object (mounting the mind on its object). Its function 
is to strike at and thresh — for the meditator is said, in virtue of it, to have the 
object struck at by applied thought, threshed by applied thought. It is manifested 
as the leading of the mind onto an object. Sustained thinking (vicarana) is sustained 
thought (vicara); continued sustainment (anusancarana), is what is meant. It has 
the characteristic of continued pressure on (occupation with) the object. Its 
function is to keep conascent [mental] states [occupied] with that. It is manifested 
as keeping consciousness anchored [on that object]. 

89. And, though sometimes not separate, applied thought is the first impact of 
the mind in the sense that it is both gross and inceptive, like the striking of a bell. 
Sustained thought is the act of keeping the mind anchored, in the sense that it is 
subtle with the individual essence of continued pressure, like the ringing of the 
bell. Applied thought intervenes, being the interference of consciousness at the 
time of first arousing [thought], like a bird's spreading out its wings when 
about to soar into the air, and like a bee's diving towards a lotus when it is 
minded to follow up the scent of it. The behaviour of sustained thought is quiet, 
being the near non-interference of consciousness, like the bird's planing with 
outspread wings after soaring into the air, and like the bee's buzzing above the 
lotus after it has dived towards it. 

90. In the commentary to the Book of Twos 26 this is said: "Applied thought 
occurs as a state of directing the mind onto an object, like the movement of a 
large bird taking off into the air by engaging the air with both wings and 
forcing them downwards. For it causes absorption by being unified. Sustained 
thought occurs with the individual essence of continued pressure, like the bird's 
movement when it is using (activating) its wings for the purpose of keeping 

25. Uhana — "hitting upon": possibly connected with uhanati (to disturb — see M I 
243; II 193). Obviously connected here with the meaning of ahananapariyahanana 
("striking and threshing") in the next line. For the similes that follow here, see Pet 142. 

26. Of the Ariguttara Nikaya? [The original could not be traced anywhere in the 
Tipitaka, Atthakatha, and other texts contained in the digitalised Chattha Sarigayana 
edition of the Vipassana Research Institute. Dhs-a 114 quotes the same passage, but 
gives the source as atthakathayam, "in the commentary." BPS ed.] 

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hold on the air. For it keeps pressing the object 27 ". That fits in with the latter's 
occurrence as anchoring. This difference of theirs becomes evident in the first 
and second jhanas [in the fivefold reckoning]. 

91. Furthermore, applied thought is like the hand that grips firmly and sustained 
thought is like the hand that rubs, when one grips a tarnished metal dish firmly 
with one hand and rubs it with powder and oil and a woollen pad with the 
other hand. Likewise, when a potter has spun his wheel with a stroke on the 
stick and is making a dish [143], his supporting hand is like applied thought and 
his hand that moves back and forth is like sustained thought. Likewise, when one 
is drawing a circle, the pin that stays fixed down in the centre is like applied 
thought, which directs onto the object, and the pin that revolves round it is like 
sustained thought, which continuously presses. 

92. So this jhana occurs together with this applied thought and this sustained 
thought and it is called, "accompanied by applied and sustained thought" as a 
tree is called "accompanied by flowers and fruits." But in the Vibhariga the 
teaching is given in terms of a person 28 in the way beginning, "He is possessed, 
fully possessed, of this applied thought and this sustained thought" (Vibh 
257). The meaning should be regarded in the same way there too. 

93. Born of seclusion: here secludedness (vivitti) is seclusion (viveka); the meaning 
is, disappearance of hindrances. Or alternatively, it is secluded (vivitta), thus it is 
seclusion; the meaning is, the collection of states associated with the jhana is 
secluded from hindrances. "Born of seclusion" is born of or in that kind of 
seclusion. 

94. Happiness and bliss: it refreshes (plnayati), thus it is happiness (plti). It has 
the characteristic of endearing (sampiyayana). Its function is to refresh the body 
and the mind; or its function is to pervade (thrill with rapture). It is manifested 
as elation. But it is of five kinds as minor happiness, momentary happiness, 
showering happiness, uplifting happiness, and pervading (rapturous) 
happiness. 

Herein, minor happiness is only able to raise the hairs on the body. Momentary 
happiness is like flashes of lightning at different moments. Showering happiness 
breaks over the body again and again like waves on the sea shore. 

95. Uplifting happiness can be powerful enough to levitate the body and 
make it spring up into the air. For this was what happened to the Elder 
Maha-Tissa, resident at Punnavallika. He went to the shrine terrace on the 
evening of the full-moon day. Seeing the moonlight, he faced in the direction 
of the Great Shrine [at Anuradhapura], thinking, "At this very hour the four 

27. These two sentences, "So hi ekaggo hutva appeti" and "So hi arammanam anuma])ati," 
are not in Be and Ae. 

28. Puggaladhitthana — "in terms of a person"; a technical commentarial term for one 
of the ways of presenting a subject. They are dhamma-desana (discourse about 
principles), and puggala-desana (discourse about persons), both of which may be treated 
either as dhammadhitthana (in terms of principles) or puggaladhitthana (in terms of 
persons). See M-a I 24. 

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assemblies 29 are worshipping at the Great Shrine!" By means of objects 
formerly seen [there] he aroused uplifting happiness with the Enlightened 
One as object, and he rose into the air like a painted ball bounced off a 
plastered floor and alighted on the terrace of the Great Shrine. 

96. And this was what happened to the daughter of a clan in the village of 
Vattakalaka near the Girikandaka Monastery when she sprang up into the air 
owing to strong uplifting happiness with the Enlightened One as object. As her 
parents were about to go to the monastery in the evening, it seems, in order to 
hear the Dhamma [144], they told her: "My dear, you are expecting a child; you 
cannot go out at an unsuitable time. We shall hear the Dhamma and gain merit 
for you." So they went out. And though she wanted to go too, she could not well 
object to what they said. She stepped out of the house onto a balcony and stood 
looking at the Akasacetiya Shrine at Girikandaka lit by the moon. She saw the 
offering of lamps at the shrine, and the four communities as they circumambulated 
it to the right after making their offerings of flowers and perfumes; and she 
heard the sound of the massed recital by the Community of Bhikkhus. Then she 
thought: "How lucky they are to be able to go to the monastery and wander round 
such a shrine terrace and listen to such sweet preaching of Dhamma!" Seeing the 
shrine as a mound of pearls and arousing uplifting happiness, she sprang up into 
the air, and before her parents arrived she came down from the air into the shrine 
terrace, where she paid homage and stood listening to the Dhamma. 

97. When her parents arrived, they asked her, "What road did you come by?" 
She said, "I came through the air, not by the road," and when they told her, "My 
dear, those whose cankers are destroyed come through the air. But how did you 
come?" she replied: "As I was standing looking at the shrine in the moonlight a 
strong sense of happiness arose in me with the Enlightened One as its object. 
Then I knew no more whether I was standing or sitting, but only that I was 
springing up into the air with the sign that I had grasped, and I came to rest on 
this shrine terrace." 

So uplifting happiness can be powerful enough to levitate the body, make it 
spring up into the air. 

98. But when pervading (rapturous) happiness arises, the whole body is 
completely pervaded, like a filled bladder, like a rock cavern invaded by a huge 
inundation. 

99. Now, this fivefold happiness, when conceived and matured, perfects the twofold 
tranquillity, that is, bodily and mental tranquillity When tranquillity is conceived 
and matured, it perfects the twofold bliss, that is, bodily and mental bliss. When bliss 
is conceived and matured, it perfects the threefold concentration, that is, 
momentary concentration, access concentration, and absorption concentration. 

Of these, what is intended in this context by happiness is pervading happiness, 
which is the root of absorption and comes by growth into association with 
absorption. [145] 

29. The four assemblies (parisa) are the bhikkhus, bhikkhunls, laymen followers and 
laywomen followers. 

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100. But as to the other word: pleasing (sukhana) is bliss (sukha). Or alternatively: 
it thoroughly (SUtthu) devours (KHAdati), consumes (KHAnati), 30 bodily and 
mental affliction, thus it is bliss (sukha). It has gratifying as its characteristic. Its 
function is to intensify associated states. It is manifested as aid. 

And wherever the two are associated, happiness is the contentedness at 
getting a desirable object, and bliss is the actual experiencing of it when got. 
Where there is happiness there is bliss (pleasure); but where there is bliss there 
is not necessarily happiness. Happiness is included in the formations aggregate; 
bliss is included in the feeling aggregate. If a man, exhausted 31 in a desert, saw 
or heard about a pond on the edge of a wood, he would have happiness; if he 
went into the wood's shade and used the water, he would have bliss. And it 
should be understood that this is said because they are obvious on such 
occasions. 

101. Accordingly, (a) this happiness and this bliss are of this jhana, or in this 
jhana; so in this way this jhana is qualified by the words with happiness and bliss 
[and also born of seclusion]. Or alternatively: (b) the words happiness and bliss 
(pitisukham) can be taken as "the happiness and the bliss" independently, like 
"the Dhamma and the Discipline" (dhammavinaya), and so then it can be taken 
as seclusion-born happiness-and-bliss of this jhana, or in this jhana; so in this 
way it is the happiness and bliss [rather than the jhana] that are born of seclusion. 
For just as the words "born of seclusion" can [as at (a)] be taken as qualifying the 
word "jhana," so too they can be taken here [as at (b)] as qualifying the expression 
"happiness and bliss," and then that [total expression] is predicated of this 
[jhana]. So it is also correct to call "happiness-and-bliss born-of-seclusion" a 
single expression. In the Vibhanga it is stated in the way beginning, "This bliss 
accompanied by this happiness" (Vibh 257). The meaning should be regarded 
in the same way there too. 

102. First jhana: this will be explained below (§119). 

Enters upon (upasampajja): arrives at; reaches, is what is meant; or else, taking 
it as "makes enter" (upasampadayitva), then producing, is what is meant. In the 
Vibhanga this is said: "'Enters upon': the gaining, the regaining, the reaching, 
the arrival at, the touching, the realizing of, the entering upon (upasampada, the 
first jhana" (Vibh 257), the meaning of which should be regarded in the same 
way. 

103. And dwells in (viharati): by becoming possessed of jhana of the kind 
described above through dwelling in a posture favourable to that [jhana], he 
produces a posture, a procedure, a keeping, an enduring, a lasting, a behaviour, 
a dwelling, of the person. For this is said in the Vibhanga: "'Dwells in': poses, 

30. For this word play see also XVII.48. Khanati is only given in normal meaning of 
"to dig" in PED. There seems to be some confusion of meaning with khayati (to 
destroy) here, perhaps suggested by khadati (to eat). This suggests a rendering here 
and in Ch. XVII of "to consume" which makes sense. Glossed by avadariyati, to break 
or dig: not in PED. See CPD "avadarana. " 

31. Kantara-khinna — "exhausted in a desert"; khinna is not in PED. 

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proceeds, keeps, endures, lasts, behaves, dwells; [146] hence 'dwells' is said" 
(Vibh 252). 

104. Now, it was also said above which abandons five factors, possesses five factors 
(§79; cf. M I 294). Herein, the abandoning of the five factors should be understood 
as the abandoning of these five hindrances, namely, lust, ill will, stiffness and 
torpor, agitation and worry, and uncertainty; for no jhana arises until these have 
been abandoned, and so they are called the factors of abandoning. For although 
other unprofitable things too are abandoned at the moment of jhana, still only 
these are specifically obstructive to jhana. 

105. The mind affected through lust by greed for varied objective fields does 
not become concentrated on an object consisting in unity, or being overwhelmed 
by lust, it does not enter on the way to abandoning the sense-desire element. 
When pestered by ill will towards an object, it does not occur uninterruptedly. 
When overcome by stiffness and torpor, it is unwieldy. When seized by agitation 
and worry, it is unquiet and buzzes about. When stricken by uncertainty, it fails 
to mount the way to accomplish the attainment of jhana. So it is these only that 
are called factors of abandoning because they are specifically obstructive to 
jhana. 

106. But applied thought directs the mind onto the object; sustained thought 
keeps it anchored there. Happiness produced by the success of the effort refreshes 
the mind whose effort has succeeded through not being distracted by those 
hindrances; and bliss intensifies it for the same reason. Then unification aided 
by this directing onto, this anchoring, this refreshing and this intensifying, 
evenly and rightly centres (III. 3) the mind with its remaining associated states 
on the object consisting in unity. Consequently, possession of five factors should 
be understood as the arising of these five, namely, applied thought, sustained 
thought, happiness, bliss and unification of mind. 

107. For it is when these are arisen that jhana is said to be arisen, which is why 
they are called the five factors of possession. Therefore it should not be assumed 
that the jhana is something other which possesses them. But just as "The army 
with the four factors" (Vin IV 104) and "Music with the five factors" (M-a II 300) 
and "The path with the eight factors (eightfold path)" are stated simply in terms 
of their factors, so this too [147] should be understood as stated simply in terms 
of its factors, when it is said to "have five factors" or "possess five factors." 

108. And while these five factors are present also at the moment of access and 
are stronger in access than in normal consciousness, they are still stronger here 
than in access and acquire the characteristic of the fine-material sphere. For 
applied thought arises here directing the mind on to the object in an extremely 
lucid manner, and sustained thought does so pressing the object very hard, and 
the happiness and bliss pervade the entire body. Hence it is said: "And there is 
nothing of his whole body not permeated by the happiness and bliss born of 
seclusion" (D I 73). And unification too arises in the complete contact with the 
object that the surface of a box's lid has with the surface of its base. This is how 
they differ from the others. 



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109. Although unification of mind is not actually listed among these factors 
in the [summary] version [beginning] "which is accompanied by applied and 
sustained thought" (Vibh 245), nevertheless it is mentioned [later] in the 
Vibhanga as follows: "'Jhana': it is applied thought, sustained thought, 
happiness, bliss, unification" (Vibh 257), and so it is a factor too; for the intention 
with which the Blessed One gave the summary is the same as that with which he 
gave the exposition that follows it. 

110. Is good in three ways, possesses ten characteristics (§79): the goodness in three 
ways is in the beginning, middle, and end. The possession of the ten characteristics 
should be understood as the characteristics of the beginning, middle, and end, 
too. Here is the text: 

111. "Of the first jhana, purification of the way is the beginning, intensification 
of equanimity is the middle, and satisfaction is the end. 

"'Of the first jhana, purification of the way is the beginning': how many 
characteristics has the beginning? The beginning has three characteristics: the 
mind is purified of obstructions to that [jhana]; because it is purified the mind 
makes way for the central [state of equilibrium, which is the] sign of serenity; 
because it has made way the mind enters into that state. And it is since the mind 
becomes purified of obstructions and, through being purified, makes way for the 
central [state of equilibrium, which is the] sign of serenity and, having made way, 
enters into that state, that the purification of the way is the beginning of the first 
jhana. These are the three characteristics of the beginning. Hence it is said: 'The first 
jhana is good in the beginning which possesses three characteristics.' [148] 

112. '"Of the first jhana intensification of equanimity is the middle': how many 
characteristics has the middle? The middle has three characteristics. He [now] 
looks on with equanimity at the mind that is purified; he looks on with equanimity 
at it as having made way for serenity; he looks on with equanimity at the 
appearance of unity 32 And in that he [now] looks on with equanimity at the 
mind that is purified and looks on with equanimity at it as having made way for 
serenity and looks on with equanimity at the appearance of unity, that 
intensification of equanimity is the middle of the first jhana. These are the three 
characteristics of the middle. Hence it is said: 'The first jhana is good in the 
middle which possesses three characteristics.' 

113. "'Of the first jhana satisfaction is the end': how many characteristics has 
the end? The end has four characteristics. The satisfaction in the sense that there 
was non-excess of any of the states arisen therein, and the satisfaction in the 
sense that the faculties had a single function, and the satisfaction in the sense 



32. Four unities (ekatta) are given in the preceding paragraph of the same Patisambhida 
ref.: "The unity consisting in the appearance of relinquishment in the act of giving, which 
is found in those resolved upon generosity (giving up); the unity consisting in the 
appearance of the sign of serenity which is found in those who devote themselves to the 
higher consciousness; the unity consisting in the appearance of the characteristic of fall, 
which is found in those with insight; the unity consisting in the appearance of cessation, 
which is found in noble persons" (Patis I 167). The second is meant here. 



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that the appropriate energy was effective, and the satisfaction in the sense of 
repetition, are the satisfaction in the end of the first jhana. These are the four 
characteristics of the end. Hence it is said: 'The first jhana is good in the end 
which possesses four characteristics'" (Patis I 167-68). 

114. Herein, purification of the way is access together with its concomitants. 
Intensification of equanimity is absorption. Satisfaction is reviewing. So some 
comment. 33 But it is said in the text, "The mind arrived at unity enters into 
purification of the way, is intensified in equanimity, and is satisfied by knowledge" 
(Patis I 167), and therefore it is from the standpoint within actual absorption 
that purification of the way firstly should be understood as the approach, with 
intensification of equanimity as the function of equanimity consisting in specific 
neutrality, and satisfaction as the manifestation of clarifying knowledge's function 
in accomplishing non-excess of states. How? 

115. Firstly, in a cycle [of consciousness] in which absorption arises the mind 
becomes purified from the group of defilements called hindrances that are an 
obstruction to jhana. Being devoid of obstruction because it has been purified, it 
makes way for the central [state of equilibrium, which is the] sign of serenity. 
Now, it is the absorption concentration itself occurring evenly that is called 
the sign of serenity . But the consciousness immediately before that [149] reaches 
that state by way of change in a single continuity (cf. XXII. 1-6), and so it is 
said that it makes way for the central [state of equilibrium, which is the] sign of 
serenity. And it is said that it enters into that state by approaching it through 
having made way for it. That is why in the first place purification of the way, 
while referring to aspects existing in the preceding consciousness, should 
nevertheless be understood as the approach at the moment of the first jhana's 
actual arising. 

116. Secondly, when he has more interest in purifying, since there is no need to 
re-purify what has already been purified thus, it is said that he looks on with 
equanimity at the mind that is purified. And when he has no more interest in 
concentrating again what has already made way for serenity by arriving at the 
state of serenity, it is said that he looks on with equanimity at it as having made way 
for serenity. And when he has no more interest in again causing appearance of 
unity in what has already appeared as unity through abandonment of its 
association with defilement in making way for serenity, it is said that he looks on 
with equanimity at the appearance of unity. That is why intensification of equanimity 
should be understood as the function of equanimity that consists in specific 
neutrality. 

117. And lastly, when equanimity was thus intensified, the states called 
concentration and understanding produced there, occurred coupled together 
without either one exceeding the other. And also the [five] faculties beginning 
with faith occurred with the single function (taste) of deliverance owing to 
deliverance from the various defilements. And also the energy appropriate to 
that, which was favourable to their state of non-excess and single function, was 

33. "The inmates of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura" (Vism-mht 144). 

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effective. And also its repetition occurs at that moment. 34 Now, all these [four] 
aspects are only produced because it is after seeing with knowledge the various 
dangers in defilement and advantages in cleansing that satisfiedness, 
purifiedness and clarifiedness ensue accordingly. That is the reason why it was 
said that satisfaction should be understood as the manifestation of clarifying 
knowledge's function in accomplishing non-excess, etc., of states (§114). 

118. Herein, satisfaction as a function of knowledge is called "the end" since 
the knowledge is evident as due to onlooking equanimity, according as it is 
said: "He looks on with complete equanimity at the mind thus exerted; then the 
understanding faculty is outstanding as understanding due to equanimity. 
Owing to equanimity the mind is liberated from the many sorts of defilements; 
then the understanding faculty is outstanding as understanding due to 
liberation. Because of being liberated these states come to have a single function; 
then [the understanding faculty is outstanding as understanding due to] 
development in the sense of the single function" 35 (Patis II 25). 

119. Now, as to the words and so he has attained the first jhana ... of the earth kasina 
(§79): Here it is first because it starts a numerical series; [150] also it is first 
because it arises first. It is called jhana because of lighting (upanijjhana) the 
object and because of burning up (jhapana) opposition (Patis I 49). The disk of 
earth is called earth kasina (pathavlkasina — lit. "earth universal") in the sense of 
entirety 36 and the sign acquired with that as its support and also the jhana 
acquired in the earth-kasina sign are so called too. So that jhana should be 
understood as of the earth kasina in this sense, with reference to which it was said 
above "and so he has attained to the first jhana ... of the earth kasina." 

120. When it has been attained in this way, the mode of its attainment must be 
discerned by the meditator as if he were a hair-splitter or a cook. For when a very 
skilful archer, who is working to split a hair, actually splits the hair on one 
occasion, he discerns the modes of the position of his feet, the bow, the bowstring, 
and the arrow thus: "I split the hair as I stood thus, with the bow thus, the 
bowstring thus, the arrow thus." From then on he recaptures those same modes 
and repeats the splitting of the hair without fail. So too the meditator must 
discern such modes as that of suitable food, etc., thus: "I attained this after 
eating this food, attending on such a person, in such a lodging, in this posture 
at this time." In this way, when that [absorption] is lost, he will be able to recapture 
those modes and renew the absorption, or while familiarizing himself with it he 
will be able to repeat that absorption again and again. 

121. And just as when a skilled cook is serving his employer, he notices 
whatever he chooses to eat and from then on brings only that sort and so obtains 

34. '"Its': of that jhana consciousness. 'At that moment': at the moment of dissolution; 
for when the moment of arising is past, repetition occurs starting with the moment of 
presence" (Vism-mht 145). A curious argument; see §182. 

35. The quotation is incomplete and the end should read, "... ekarasatthena 
bhavanavasena pannavasena pannindriyam adhimattam hoti." 

36. "In the sense of the jhana's entire object. It is not made its partial object" (Vism-mht 147). 



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a reward, so too this meditator discerns such modes as that of the food, etc., at the 
time of the attaining, and he recaptures them and re-obtains absorption each 
time it is lost. So he must discern the modes as a hair-splitter or a cook does. 

122. And this has been said by the Blessed One: "Bhikkhus, suppose a wise, 
clever, skilful cook set various kinds of sauces before a king or a king's minister, 
such as sour, bitter, sharp, [151] sweet, peppery and unpeppery salty and unsalty 
sauces; then the wise, clever, skilful cook learned his master's sign thus 'today 
this sauce pleased my master' or 'he held out his hand for this one' or 'he took 
a lot of this one' or 'he praised this one' or 'today the sour kind pleased my 
master' or 'he held out his hand for the sour kind' or 'he took a lot of the sour 
kind' or 'he praised the sour kind' ... or 'he praised the unsalty kind'; then the 
wise, clever, skilful cook is rewarded with clothing and wages and presents. 
Why is that? Because that wise, clever, skilful cook learned his master's sign in 
this way. So too, bhikkhus, here a wise, clever, skilful bhikkhu dwells 
contemplating the body as a body . . . He dwells contemplating feelings as feelings 
... consciousness as consciousness ... mental objects as mental objects, ardent, 
fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. 
As he dwells contemplating mental objects as mental objects, his mind becomes 
concentrated, his defilements are abandoned. He learns the sign of that. Then 
that wise, clever, skilful bhikkhu is rewarded with a happy abiding here and 
now, he is rewarded with mindfulness and full awareness. Why is that? Because 
that wise, clever, skilful bhikkhu learned his consciousness's sign" (S V 151-52). 

123. And when he recaptures those modes by apprehending the sign, he just 
succeeds in reaching absorption, but not in making it last. It lasts when it is 
absolutely purified from states that obstruct concentration. 

124. When a bhikkhu enters upon a jhana without [first] completely 
suppressing lust by reviewing the dangers in sense desires, etc., and without 
[first] completely tranquillizing bodily irritability 37 by tranquillizing the body, 
and without [first] completely removing stiffness and torpor by bringing to 
mind the elements of initiative, etc., (§55), and without [first] completely 
abolishing agitation and worry by bringing to mind the sign of serenity, etc., 
[152] and without [first] completely purifying his mind of other states that 
obstruct concentration, then that bhikkhu soon comes out of that jhana again, 
like a bee that has gone into an unpurified hive, like a king who has gone into an 
unclean park. 

125. But when he enters upon a jhana after [first] completely purifying his 
mind of states that obstruct concentration, then he remains in the attainment 
even for a whole day, like a bee that has gone into a completely purified hive, like 
a king who has gone into a perfectly clean park. Hence the Ancients said: 

37. Kaya-dutthitlla — "bodily irritability": explained here as "bodily disturbance 
(daratha), excitement of the body (kaya-saraddhata)" by Vism-mht (p.148); here it 
represents the hindrance of ill will; cf. M III 151, 159, where commented on as kayalasiya — 
"bodily inertia" (M-a IV 202, 208). PED, only gives meaning of "wicked, lewd" for 
dutthulla, for which meaning see e.g. A I 88, Vin-a 528; cf. IX.69. 



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"So let him dispel any sensual lust, and resentment, 
Agitation as well, and then torpor, and doubt as the fifth; 
There let him find joy with a heart that is glad in seclusion, 
Like a king in a garden where all and each corner is clean." 

126. So if he wants to remain long in the jhana, he must enter upon it after 
[first] purifying his mind from obstructive states. 

[Extension of the Sign] 

In order to perfect the development of consciousness he should besides extend 
the counterpart sign according as acquired. Now, there are two planes for 
extension, namely, access and absorption; for it is possible to extend it on reaching 
access and on reaching absorption. But the extending should be done 
consistently in one [or the other], which is why it was said "he should besides 
extend the counterpart sign according as acquired." 

127. The way to extend it is this. The meditator should not extend the sign as a 
clay bowl or a cake or boiled rice or a creeper or a piece of cloth is extended. He 
should first delimit with his mind successive sizes for the sign, according as 
acquired, that is to say, one finger, two fingers, three fingers, four fingers, and 
then extend it by the amount delimited, just as a ploughman delimits with the 
plough the area to be ploughed and then ploughs within the area delimited, or 
just as bhikkhus fixing a boundary first observe the marks and then fix it. He 
should not, in fact, extend it without having delimited [the amount it is to be 
extended by]. After that has been done, he can further extend it, doing so by 
delimiting successive boundaries of, say, a span, a ratana (=2 spans), the veranda, 
the surrounding space, 38 the monastery, and the boundaries of the village, the 
town, the district, the kingdom and the ocean, [153] making the extreme limit 
the world-sphere or even beyond. 

128. Just as young swans first starting to use their wings soar a little distance 
at a time, and by gradually increasing it eventually reach the presence of the 
moon and sun, so too when a bhikkhu extends the sign by successive 
delimitations in the way described, he can extend it up to the limit of the world- 
sphere or even beyond. 

129. Then that sign [appears] to him like an ox hide stretched out with a 
hundred pegs 39 over the earth's ridges and hollows, river ravines, tracts of scrub 
and thorns, and rocky inequalities (see M III 105) in any area to which it has 
been extended. 



38. For pamukha — "veranda" see n. 2 above. Parivena — "surrounding space": this 
meaning, not given in PED, is brought out clearly in XI. 7. 

39. Samabbhahata — "stretch flat": not in this sense in PED. This word replaces the 
word suvihata used at M III 105 where this clause is borrowed from. At XI. 92, the same 
word (apparently in another sense) is glossed by pellana = "pushing" (not in PED) at 
Vism-mht 362. M-a IV 153 glosses suvihata with "pasaretva sutthu vihata" which 
suggests "stretched" rather than "beaten"; harati rather than hanati. 



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When a beginner has reached the first jhana in this sign, he should enter 
upon it often without reviewing it much. For the first jhana factors occur crudely 
and weakly in one who reviews it much. Then because of that they do not become 
conditions for higher endeavour. While he is endeavouring for the unfamiliar 
[higher jhana] he falls away from the first jhana and fails to reach the second. 

130. Hence the Blessed One said: "Bhikkhus, suppose there were a foolish 
stupid mountain cow, with no knowledge of fields and no skill in walking 
on craggy mountains, who thought: 'What if I walked in a direction I never 
walked in before, ate grass I never ate before, drank water I never drank before?' 
and without placing her forefoot properly she lifted up her hind foot; then 
she would not walk in the direction she never walked in before or eat the 
grass she never ate before or drink the water she never drank before, and also 
she would not get back safely to the place where she had thought, 'What if I 
walked in a direction I never walked in before ... drank water I never drank 
before?' Why is that? Because that mountain cow was foolish and stupid 
with no knowledge of fields and no skill in walking on craggy mountains. 
So too, bhikkhus, here is a certain foolish stupid bhikkhu with no knowledge 
of fields and no skill, quite secluded from sense desires, secluded from 
unprofitable things, in entering upon and dwelling in the first jhana, which 
is accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought with happiness 
and bliss born of seclusion; he does not repeat, develop or cultivate that sign 
or properly establish it. He thinks: 'What if with the subsiding of applied 
and sustained thought I entered upon and dwelt in the second jhana, which 
is ... with happiness and bliss born of concentration?' [154] He is unable 
with the subsiding of applied and sustained thought to enter upon and 
dwell in the second jhana, which is ... with happiness and bliss born of 
concentration. Then he thinks: 'What if, quite secluded from sense desires, 
secluded from unprofitable things, I entered upon and dwelt in the first jhana, 
which is ... with happiness and bliss born of seclusion?' He is unable, quite 
secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable things, to enter upon 
and dwell in the first jhana which is ... with happiness and bliss born of 
seclusion. This bhikkhu is called one who has slipped between the two, who 
has fallen between the two, just like the foolish stupid mountain cow with no 
knowledge of fields and no skill in walking on craggy mountains ..." (A IV 
418-19). 

131. Therefore he should acquire mastery in the five ways first of all with 
respect to the first jhana. Herein, these are the five kinds of mastery: mastery in 
adverting, mastery in attaining, mastery in resolving (steadying the duration), 
mastery in emerging, and mastery in reviewing. "He adverts to the first jhana 
where, when, and for as long as, he wishes; he has no difficulty in adverting; 
thus it is mastery in adverting. He attains the first jhana where ... he has no 
difficulty in attaining; thus it is mastery in attaining" (Patis I 100), and all the 
rest should be quoted in detail (XXIII.27). 

132. The explanation of the meaning here is this. When he emerges from the 
first jhana and first of all adverts to the applied thought, then, next to the 



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adverting that arose interrupting the life-continuum, either four or five impulsions 
impel with that applied thought as their object. Then there are two life-continuum 
[consciousnesses]. Then there is adverting with the sustained thought as its 
object and followed by impulsions in the way just stated. When he is able to 
prolong his conscious process uninterruptedly in this way with the five jhana 
factors, then his mastery of adverting is successful. But this mastery is found at 
its acme of perfection in the Blessed One's Twin Marvel (Patis I 125), or for 
others on the aforesaid occasions. There is no quicker mastery in adverting than 
that. 

133. The venerable Maha-Moggallana's ability to enter upon jhana quickly, as 
in the taming of the royal naga-serpent Nandopananda (XII.106f.), is called 
mastery in attaining. 

134. Ability to remain in jhana for a moment consisting in exactly a finger- 
snap or exactly ten finger-snaps is called mastery in resolving (steadying the 
duration). 

Ability to emerge quickly in the same way is called mastery in emerging. 

135. The story of the Elder Buddharakkhita may be told in order to illustrate 
both these last. [155] Eight years after his admission to the Community that elder 
was sitting in the midst of thirty thousand bhikkhus possessed of supernormal 
powers who had gathered to attend upon the sickness of the Elder Maha- 
Rohanagutta at Therambatthala. He saw a royal supanna (bird) swooping down 
from the sky intending to seize an attendant royal naga-serpent as he was 
getting rice-gruel accepted for the elder. The Elder Buddharakkhita created a 
rock meanwhile, and seizing the royal naga by the arm, he pushed him inside it. 
The royal supanna gave the rock a blow and made off. The senior elder remarked: 
"Friends, if Rakkhita had not been there, we should all have been put to shame." 40 

136. Mastery in reviewing is described in the same way as mastery in adverting; 
for the reviewing impulsions are in fact those next to the adverting mentioned 
there (§132). 

137. When he has once acquired mastery in these five ways, then on emerging 
from the now familiar first jhana he can regard the flaws in it in this way: "This 
attainment is threatened by the nearness of the hindrances, and its factors are 
weakened by the grossness of the applied and sustained thought." He can 
bring the second jhana to mind as quieter and so end his attachment to the first 
jhana and set about doing what is needed for attaining the second. 

138. When he has emerged from the first jhana, applied and sustained thought 
appear gross to him as he reviews the jhana factors with mindfulness and full 
awareness, while happiness and bliss and unification of mind appear peaceful. 
Then, as he brings that same sign to mind as "earth, earth" again and again 



40. What the story is trying to illustrate is the rapidity with which the elder entered 
the jhana, controlled its duration, and emerged, which is the necessary preliminary to 
the working of a marvel (the creation of a rock in this case; XII.57). The last remark 
seems to indicate that all the others would have been too slow (see Vism-mht 150). 



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with the purpose of abandoning the gross factors and obtaining the peaceful 
factors, [knowing] "now the second jhana will arise," there arises in him 
mind-door adverting with that same earth kasina as its object, interrupting the 
life-continuum. After that, either four or five impulsions impel on that same 
object, the last one of which is an impulsion of the fine-material sphere belonging 
to the second jhana. The rest are of the sense sphere of the kinds already stated (§74). 

[The Second Jhana] 

139. And at this point, "With the stilling of applied and sustained thought he 
enters upon and dwells in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and 
singleness of mind without applied thought, without sustained thought, with 
happiness and bliss born of concentration" (Vibh 245), and so he has attained 
the second jhana, which abandons two factors, possesses three factors, is good 
in three ways, possesses ten characteristics and is of the earth kasina. [156] 

140. Herein, with the stilling of applied and sustained thought: with the stilling, 
with the surmounting, of these two, namely, applied thought and sustained 
thought; with their non-manifestation at the moment of the second jhana, is 
what is meant. Herein, although none of the states belonging to the first jhana 
exist in the second jhana — for the contact, etc. (see M III 25), in the first jhana are 
one and here they are another — it should be understood all the same that the 
phrase "with the stilling of applied and sustained thought" is expressed in this 
way in order to indicate that the attaining of the other jhanas, beginning with 
that of the second from the first, is effected by the surmounting of the gross 
factor in each case. 

141. Internal: here one's own internal 41 is intended; but that much is actually 
stated in the Vibhahga too with the words "internally in oneself" (Vibh 258). 
And since one's own internal is intended, the meaning here is this: born in 
oneself, generated in one's own continuity. 

142. Confidence: it is faith that is called confidence. The jhana "has confidence" 
because it is associated with confidence as a cloth "has blue colour" because it 
is associated with blue colour. Or alternatively, that jhana is stated to "have 
confidence" because it makes the mind confident with the confidence possessed 
by it and by stilling the disturbance created by applied and sustained thought. 
And with this conception of the meaning the word construction must be taken 
as "confidence of mind." But with the first-mentioned conception of the meaning 
the words "of mind" must be construed with "singleness 42 ". 

143. Here is the construction of the meaning in that case. Unique (eka) it comes 
up (udeti), thus it is single (ekodi); the meaning is, it comes up as the superlative, 
the best, because it is not overtopped by applied and sustained thought, for the 
best is called "unique" in the world. Or it is permissible to say that when deprived 



41. See XIV192 and note. 

42. In the Pali, sampasadanam cetaso ekodibhavam: cetaso ("of mind") comes between 
sampasadanam ("confidence") and ekodibhavam ("singleness") and so can be construed 
with either. 



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of applied and sustained thought it is unique, without companion. Or 
alternatively: it evokes (udayati) associated states, thus it is an evoker (udi); the 
meaning is, it arouses. And that is unique (eka) in the sense of best, and it is an 
evoker (udi), thus it is a unique evoker (ekodi = single). This is a term for 
concentration. Then, since the second jhana gives existingness to (bhaveti), 
augments, this single [thing], it "gives singleness" (ekodibhava) . But as this 
single [thing] is a mind's, not a being's or a soul's, so singleness of mind is said. 

144. It might be asked: But does not this faith exist in the first jhana too, and 
also this concentration with the name of the "single [thing]?" Then why is only 
this second jhana said to have confidence and singleness of mind? — It may be 
replied as follows: It is because that first jhana [157] is not fully confident owing 
to the disturbance created by applied and sustained thought, like water ruffled 
by ripples and wavelets. That is why, although faith does exist in it, it is not 
called "confidence." And there too concentration is not fully evident because of 
the lack of full confidence. That is why it is not called "singleness" there. But in 
this second jhana faith is strong, having got a footing in the absence of the 
impediments of applied and sustained thought; and concentration is also 
evident through having strong faith as its companion. That may be understood 
as the reason why only this jhana is described in this way. 

145. But that much is actually stated in the Vibhanga too with the words: 
"'Confidence' is faith, having faith, trust, full confidence. 'Singleness of mind' 
is steadiness of consciousness ... right concentration" (Vibh 258). And this 
commentary on the meaning should not be so understood as to conflict with the 
meaning stated in that way, but on the contrary so as to agree and concur with it. 

146. Without applied thought, without sustained thought: since it has been 
abandoned by development, there is no applied thought in this, or of this, [jhana], 
thus it is without applied thought. The same explanation applies to sustained 
thought. Also it is said in the Vibhanga: "So this applied thought and this 
sustained thought are quieted, quietened, stilled, set at rest, set quite at rest, 
done away with, quite done away with, 43 dried up, quite dried up, made an end 
of; hence it is said: without applied thought, without sustained thought" 
(Vibh 258). 

Here it may be asked: Has not this meaning already been established by the 
words "with the stilling of applied and sustained thought?" So why is it said 
again "without applied thought, without sustained thoughts?" — It may be 
replied: Yes, that meaning has already been established. But this does not indicate 
that meaning. Did we not say earlier: "The phrase 'with the stilling of applied 
and sustained thought' is expressed in this way in order to indicate that the act 
of attaining the other jhanas, beginning with that of the second from the first, is 
effected by the surmounting of the gross factor in each case?" (§140). 

147. Besides, this confidence comes about with the act of stilling, not the 
darkness of defilement, but the applied and sustained thought. And the 

43. Appita — "done away with": Appita ti vinasam gamita ("Appita" means "made to go to 
annihilation") (Vism-mht 153). This meaning, though not in PED, is given in CPD. 

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Path of Purification Part 2: Concentration (Samadhi) 

singleness comes about, not as in access jhana with the abandoning of the 
hindrances, nor as in the first jhana with the manifestation of the factors, but 
with the act of stilling the applied and sustained thought. So that [first] clause 
indicates the cause of the confidence and singleness. In the same way this jhana 
is without applied thought and without sustained thought, not as in the third 
and fourth jhanas or as in eye-consciousness, etc., with just absence, but with 
the actual act of stilling the applied and sustained thought. So that [first clause] 
also indicates the cause of the state without applied and sustained thought; it 
does not indicate the bare absence of applied and sustained thought. [158] The 
bare absence of applied and sustained thought is indicated by this [second] 
clause, namely, "without applied thought, without sustained thought." 
Consequently it needs to be stated notwithstanding that the first has already 
been stated. 

148. Born of concentration: born of the first-jhana concentration, or born of 
associated concentration, is the meaning. Herein, although the first was born of 
associated concentration too, still it is only this concentration that is quite worthy 
to be called "concentration" because of its complete confidence and extreme 
immobility due to absence of disturbance by applied and sustained thought. So 
only this [jhana] is called "born of concentration," and that is in order to 
recommend it. 

With happiness and bliss is as already explained. Second: second in numerical 
series. Also second because entered upon second. 

149. Then it was also said above which abandons two factors, possesses three 
factors (§139). Herein, the abandoning of two factors should be understood 
as the abandoning of applied thought and sustained thought. But while the 
hindrances are abandoned at the moment of the access of the first jhana, in 
the case of this jhana the applied thought and sustained thought are not 
abandoned at the moment of its access. It is only at the moment of actual 
absorption that the jhana arises without them. Hence they are called its 
factors of abandoning. 

150. Its possession of three factors should be understood as the arising of the 
three, that is, happiness, bliss, and unification of mind. So when it is said in the 
Vibhahga, "'Jhana': confidence, happiness, bliss, unification of mind" (Vibh 
258), this is said figuratively in order to show that jhana with its equipment. But, 
excepting the confidence, this jhana has literally three factors qua factors that 
have attained to the characteristic of lighting (see §119), according as it is said: 
"What is jhana of three factors on that occasion? It is happiness, bliss, unification 
of mind" (Vibh 263). 

The rest is as in the case of the first jhana. 

151. Once this has been obtained in this way, and he has mastery in the five 
ways already described, then on emerging from the now familiar second jhana 
he can regard the flaws in it thus: "This attainment is threatened by the nearness 
of applied and sustained thought; 'Whatever there is in it of happiness, of mental 
excitement, proclaims its grossness' (D I 37), and its factors are weakened by the 
grossness of the happiness so expressed." He can bring the third jhana to mind 

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as quieter and so end his attachment to the second jhana and set about doing 
what is needed for attaining the third. 

152. When he has emerged from the second jhana [159] happiness appears 
gross to him as he reviews the jhana factors with mindfulness and full awareness, 
while bliss and unification appear peaceful. Then as he brings that same sign to 
mind as "earth, earth" again and again with the purpose of abandoning the 
gross factor and obtaining the peaceful factors, [knowing] "now the third jhana 
will arise," there arises in him mind-door adverting with that same earth kasina 
as its object, interrupting the life-continuum. After that, either four or five 
impulsions impel on that same object, the last one of which is an impulsion of 
the fine-material sphere belonging to the third jhana. The rest are of the kinds 
already stated (§74). 

[The Third Jhana] 

153. And at this point, "With the fading away of happiness as well he dwells 
in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, he feels bliss with his body; he 
enters upon and dwells in the third jhana, on account of which the Noble Ones 
announce: 'He dwells in bliss who has equanimity and is mindful' (Vibh 245), 
and so he has attained the third jhana, which abandons one factor, possesses 
two factors, is good in three ways, possesses ten characteristics, and is of the 
earth kasina. 

154 Herein, with the fading away of happiness as well {pitiya ca virago): fading 
away is distaste for, or surmounting of, happiness of the kind already described. 
But the words "as well" {ca) between the two [words pitiya and virago] have the 
meaning of a conjunction; 44 they conjoin [to them] either the word "stilling" or 
the expression "the stilling of applied and sustained thought" [in the description 
of the second jhana]. Herein, when taken as conjoining "stilling" the 
construction to be understood is "with the fading away and, what is more, with 
the stilling, of happiness." With this construction "fading away" has the 
meaning of distaste; so the meaning can be regarded as "with distaste for, and 
with the stilling of, happiness." But when taken as conjoining the words "stilling 
of applied and sustained thought," then the construction to be understood is 
"with the fading of happiness and, further, with the stilling of applied and 
sustained thought." With this construction "fading away" has the meaning of 
surmounting; so this meaning can be regarded as "with the surmounting of 
happiness and with the stilling of applied and sustained thought." 

155. Of course, applied and sustained thought have already been stilled in the 
second jhana, too. However, this is said in order to show the path to this third 
jhana and in order to recommend it. For when "with the stilling of applied and 
sustained thought" is said, it is declared that the path to this jhana is necessarily 
by the stilling of applied and sustained thought. And just as, although mistaken 
view of individuality, etc., are not abandoned in the attaining of the third noble 
path [but in the first], yet when it is recommended by describing their 

44. Sampindana — "conjunction": gram, term for the word ca (and). This meaning not 
given in PED. Cf. M-a 1 40. 

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abandonment thus, "With the abandoning of the five lower fetters" (A I 232), 
[160] then it awakens eagerness in those trying to attain that third noble path — 
so too, when the stilling of applied and sustained thought is mentioned, though 
they are not actually stilled here [but in the second], this is a recommendation. 
Hence the meaning expressed is this: "With the surmounting of happiness and 
with the stilling of applied and sustained thought." 

156. He dwells in equanimity: it watches [things] as they arise (UPApattito 
IKKHATI), thus it is equanimity (upekkha — or onlooking); it sees fairly, sees without 
partiality (a-pakkha-patita), is the meaning. A possessor of the third jhana is said 
to "dwell in equanimity" since he possesses equanimity that is clear, abundant 
and sound. 

Equanimity is of ten kinds; six-factored equanimity, equanimity as a divine 
abiding, equanimity as an enlightenment factor, equanimity of energy, 
equanimity about formations, equanimity as a feeling, equanimity about insight, 
equanimity as specific neutrality, equanimity of jhana and equanimity of 
purification. 

157. Herein, six factored equanimity is a name for the equanimity in one whose 
cankers are destroyed. It is the mode of non-abandonment of the natural state of 
purity when desirable or undesirable objects of the six kinds come into focus in 
the six doors described thus: "Here a bhikkhu whose cankers are destroyed is 
neither glad nor sad on seeing a visible object with the eye: he dwells in 
equanimity, mindful and fully aware" (A III 279). 

158. Equanimity as a divine abiding is a name for equanimity consisting in the 
mode of neutrality towards beings described thus: "He dwells intent upon one 
quarter with his heart endued with equanimity" (D I 251). 

159. Equanimity as an enlightenment factor is a name for equanimity consisting 
in the mode of neutrality in conascent states described thus: "He develops the 
equanimity enlightenment factor depending on relinquishment" (M I 11). 

160. Equanimity of energy is a name for the equanimity otherwise known as 
neither over-strenuous nor over-lax energy described thus: "From time to time he 
brings to mind the sign of equanimity" (A I 257). 

161. Equanimity about formations is a name for equanimity consisting in 
neutrality about apprehending reflexion and composure regarding the 
hindrances, etc., described thus: "How many kinds of equanimity about 
formations arise through concentration? How many kinds of equanimity about 
formations arise through insight? Eight kinds of equanimity about formations 
arise through concentration. Ten kinds of equanimity about formations arise 
through insight" 45 (Patis I 64). [161] 



45. The "eight kinds" are those connected with the eight jhanas, the "ten kinds" 
those connected with the four paths, the four fruitions, the void liberation, and the 
signless liberation. 



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162. Equanimity as a feeling is a name for the equanimity known as neither- 
pain-nor-pleasure described thus: "On the occasion on which a sense-sphere 
profitable consciousness has arisen accompanied by equanimity" (Dhs §156). 

163. Equanimity about insight is a name for equanimity consisting in neutrality 
about investigation described thus: "What exists, what has become, that he 
abandons, and he obtains equanimity" (M II 264-65, A IV 70f). 

164. Equanimity as specific neutrality is a name for equanimity consisting in the 
equal efficiency of conascent states; it is contained among the "or-whatever 
states" beginning with zeal (XIV133; Dhs-a 132). 

165. Equanimity of jhana is a name for equanimity producing impartiality 
towards even the highest bliss described thus: "He dwells in equanimity" 
(Vibh 245). 

166. Purifying equanimity is a name for equanimity purified of all opposition, 
and so consisting in uninterestedness in stilling opposition described thus: 
"The fourth jhana, which ... has mindfulness purified by equanimity" (Vibh 245). 

167. Herein, six-factored equanimity, equanimity as a divine abiding, 
equanimity as an enlightenment factor, equanimity as specific neutrality, 
equanimity of jhana and purifying equanimity are one in meaning, that is, 
equanimity as specific neutrality. Their difference, however, is one of position, 46 
like the difference in a single being as a boy, a youth, an adult, a general, a king, 
and so on. Therefore of these it should be understood that equanimity as an 
enlightenment factor, etc., are not found where there is six-factored equanimity; 
or that six-factored equanimity, etc., are not found where there is equanimity as 
an enlightenment factor. 

And just as these have one meaning, so also equanimity about formations 
and equanimity about insight have one meaning too; for they are simply 
understanding classed in these two ways according to function. 

168. Just as, when a man has seen a snake go into his house in the evening and 
has hunted for it with a forked stick, and then when he has seen it lying in the 
grain store and has looked to discover whether it is actually a snake or not, and 
then by seeing three marks 47 has no more doubt, and so there is neutrality in him 
about further investigating whether or not it is a snake, [162] so too, when a man 
has begun insight, and he sees with insight knowledge the three characteristics, 
then there is neutrality in him about further investigating the impermanence, 
etc., of formations, and that neutrality is called equanimity about insight. 

169. But just as, when the man has caught hold of the snake securely with the 
forked stick and thinks, "How shall I get rid of the snake without hurting it or 
getting bitten by it?" then as he is seeking only the way to get rid of it, there is 
neutrality in him about the catching hold of it, so too, when a man, through 
seeking the three characteristics, sees the three kinds of becoming as if burning, 



46. Avattha — "position, occasion." Not in PED; see CPD. 

47. Sovatthika-ttaya — "three marks;" cf. XXI. 49. 



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then there is neutrality in him about catching hold of formations, and that 
neutrality is called equanimity about formations. 

170. So when equanimity about insight is established, equanimity about 
formations is established too. But it is divided into two in this way according to 
function, in other words, according to neutrality about investigating and about 
catching hold. 

Equanimity of energy and equanimity as feeling are different both from each 
other and from the rest. 

171. So, of these kinds of equanimity, it is equanimity of jhana that is intended 
here. That has the characteristic of neutrality. Its function is to be unconcerned. 
It is manifested as uninterestedness. Its proximate cause is the fading away of 
happiness. 

Here it may be said: Is this not simply equanimity as specific neutrality in the 
meaning? And that exists in the first and second jhanas as well; so this clause, 
"He dwells in equanimity," ought to be stated of those also. Why is it not? — [It 
may be replied:] Because its function is unevident there since it is overshadowed 
by applied thought and the rest. But it appears here with a quite evident function, 
with head erect, as it were, because it is not overshadowed by applied thought 
and sustained thought and happiness. That is why it is stated here. 

The commentary on the meaning of the clause "He dwells in equanimity" is 
thus completed in all its aspects. 

172. Now, as to mindful and fully aware: here, he remembers (sarati), thus he is 
mindful (sata). He has full awareness (sampajanati), thus he is fully aware 
(sampajana). This is mindfulness and full awareness stated as personal attributes. 
Herein, mindfulness has the characteristic of remembering. Its function is not to 
forget. It is manifested as guarding. Full awareness has the characteristic of 
non-confusion. Its function is to investigate (judge). It is manifested as scrutiny. 

173. Herein, although this mindfulness and this full awareness exist in the 
earlier jhanas as well — for one who is forgetful and not fully aware does not 
attain even access, let alone absorption — yet, because of the [comparative] 
grossness of those jhanas, the mind's going is easy [there], like that of a man on 
[level] ground, and so the functions of mindfulness and full awareness are not 
evident in them. [163] But it is only stated here because the subtlety of this jhana, 
which is due to the abandoning of the gross factors, requires that the mind's 
going always includes the functions of mindfulness and full awareness, like 
that of a man on a razor's edge. 

174. What is more, just as a calf that follows a cow returns to the cow when 
taken away from her if not prevented, so too, when this third jhana is led away 
from happiness, it would return to happiness if not prevented by mindfulness 
and full awareness, and would rejoin happiness. And besides, beings are greedy 
for bliss, and this kind of bliss is exceedingly sweet since there is none greater. 
But here there is non-greed for the bliss owing to the influence of the mindfulness 
and full awareness, not for any other reason. And so it should also be understood 
that it is stated only here in order to emphasize this meaning too. 



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175. Now, as to the clause he feels bliss with his body: here, although in one 
actually possessed of the third jhana there is no concern about feeling bliss, 
nevertheless he would feel the bliss associated with his mental body, and after 
emerging from the jhana he would also feel bliss since his material body would 
have been affected by the exceedingly superior matter originated by that bliss 
associated with the mental body 48 It is in order to point to this meaning that the 
words "he feels bliss with his body" are said. 

176. Now, as to the clause, that ... on account of which the Noble Ones announce: 
He dwells in bliss who has equanimity and is mindful: here it is the jhana, on 
account of which as cause, on account of which as reason, the Noble Ones, that 
is to say, the Enlightened Ones, etc., "announce, teach, declare, establish, reveal, 
expound, explain, clarify" (Vibh 259) that person who possesses the third 
jhana — they praise, is what is intended. Why? Because "he dwells in bliss who 
has equanimity and is mindful. He enters upon and dwells in that third jhana" 
(tarn ... tatiyam jhanarn upasampajja viharati) is how the construction should be 
understood here. But why do they praise him thus? Because he is worthy of 
praise. 

177. For this man is worthy of praise since he has equanimity towards the 
third jhana though it possesses exceedingly sweet bliss and has reached the 
perfection of bliss, and he is not drawn towards it by a liking for the bliss, and he 
is mindful with the mindfulness established in order to prevent the arising of 
happiness, and he feels with his mental body the undefiled bliss beloved of 
Noble Ones, cultivated by Noble Ones. Because he is worthy of praise in this way, 
it should be understood, Noble Ones praise him with the words, "He dwells in 
bliss who has equanimity and is mindful," thus declaring the special qualities 
that are worthy of praise. 

[164] Third: it is the third in the numerical series; and it is third because it is 
entered upon third. 

178. Then it was said, which abandons one factor, possesses two factors (§153): 
here the abandoning of the one factor should be understood as the abandoning 
of happiness. But that is abandoned only at the moment of absorption, as applied 
thought and sustained thought are at that of the second jhana; hence it is called 
its factor of abandoning. 

179. The possession of the two factors should be understood as the arising of 
the two, namely, bliss and unification. So when it is said in the Vibhariga, "'Jhana': 
equanimity, mindfulness, full awareness, bliss, unification of mind" (Vibh 260), 
this is said figuratively in order to show that jhana with its equipment. But, 
excepting the equanimity and mindfulness and full awareness, this jhana has 
literally only two factors qua factors that have attained to the characteristic of 
lighting (see §119), according as it is said, "What is the jhana of two factors on 
that occasion? It is bliss and unification of mind" (Vibh 264). 

The rest is as in the case of the first jhana. 

48. For consciousness-originated materiality see XX.30 ff. 

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180. Once this has been obtained in this way, and once he has mastery in the 
five ways already described, then on emerging from the now familiar third 
jhana, he can regard the flaws in it thus: "This attainment is threatened by the 
nearness of happiness; 'Whatever there is in it of mental concern about bliss 
proclaims its grossness' (D I 37; see Ch. IX, n. 20), and its factors are weakened 
by the grossness of the bliss so expressed." He can bring the fourth jhana to 
mind as quieter and so end his attachment to the third jhana and set about 
doing what is needed for attaining the fourth. 

181. When he has emerged from the third jhana, the bliss, in other words, the 
mental joy, appears gross to him as he reviews the jhana factors with mindfulness 
and full awareness, while the equanimity as feeling and the unification of mind 
appear peaceful. Then, as he brings that same sign to mind as "earth, earth" 
again and again with the purpose of abandoning the gross factor and obtaining 
the peaceful factors, [knowing] "now the fourth jhana will arise," there arises in 
him mind-door adverting with that same earth kasina as its object, interrupting 
the life-continuum. After that either four or five impulsions impel on that same 
object, [165] the last one of which is an impulsion of the fine-material sphere 
belonging to the fourth jhana. The rest are of the kinds already stated (§74). 

182. But there is this difference: blissful (pleasant) feeling is not a condition, 
as repetition condition, for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, and [the 
preliminary work] must be aroused in the case of the fourth jhana with neither- 
painful-nor-pleasant feeling; consequently these [consciousnesses of the 
preliminary work] are associated with neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, and 
here happiness vanishes simply owing to their association with equanimity. 

[The Fourth Jhana] 

183. And at this point, "With the abandoning of pleasure and pain and with 
the previous disappearance of joy and grief he enters upon and dwells in the 
fourth jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness 
due to equanimity" (Vibh 245), and so he has attained the fourth jhana, which 
abandons one factor, possesses two factors, is good in three ways, possesses ten 
characteristics, and is of the earth kasina. 

184. Herein, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain: with the abandoning of 
bodily pleasure and bodily pain. With the previous: which took place before, not 
in the moment of the fourth jhana. Disappearance of joy and grief: with the previous 
disappearance of the two, that is, mental bliss (pleasure) and mental pain; with 
the abandoning, is what is meant. 

185. But when does the abandoning of these take place? At the moment of 
access of the four jhanas. For [mental] joy is only abandoned at the moment of 
the fourth-jhana access, while [bodily] pain, [mental] grief, and [bodily] bliss 
(pleasure) are abandoned respectively at the moments of access of the first, second, 
and third jhanas. So although the order in which they are abandoned is not 
actually mentioned, nevertheless the abandoning of the pleasure, pain, joy, and 
grief, is stated here according to the order in which the faculties are summarized 
in the Indriya Vibhahga (Vibh 122). 



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186. But if these are only abandoned at the moments of access of the several 
jhanas, why is their cessation said to. take place in the jhana itself in the following 
passage: "And where does the arisen pain faculty cease without remainder? 
Here, bhikkhus, quite secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable 
things, a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in the first jhana, which is . . . born of 
seclusion. It is here that the arisen pain faculty ceases without remainder ... 
Where does the arisen grief faculty [cease without remainder? ... in the second 
jhana] ... Where does the arisen pleasure faculty [cease without remainder? ... 
in the third jhana] . . . Where does the arisen joy faculty cease without remainder? 
[166] Here, bhikkhus, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain [and with the 
previous disappearance of joy and grief] a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells in 
the fourth jhana, which ... has mindfulness purified by equanimity. It is here 
that the arisen joy faculty ceases without remainder" (S V 213-15). 

It is said in that way there referring to reinforced cessation. For in the first 
jhana, etc., it is their reinforced cessation, not just their cessation, that takes 
place. At the moment of access it is just their cessation, not their reinforced 
cessation, that takes place. 

187. For accordingly, during the first jhana access, which has multiple 
adverting, there could be rearising of the [bodily] pain faculty 49 due to contact 
with gadflies, flies, etc. or the discomfort of an uneven seat, though that pain 
faculty had already ceased, but not so during absorption. Or else, though it has 
ceased during access, it has not absolutely ceased there since it is not quite 
beaten out by opposition. But during absorption the whole body is showered 
with bliss owing to pervasion by happiness. And the pain faculty has absolutely 
ceased in one whose body is showered with bliss, since it is beaten out then by 
opposition. 

49. "They say that with the words, 'There could be the arising of the pain faculty,' it 
is shown that since grief arises even in obtainers of jhana, it is demonstrated thereby 
that hate can exist without being a hindrance just as greed can; for grief does not arise 
without hate. Nor, they say, is there any conflict with the Patthana text to be fancied 
here, since what is shown there is only grief that occurs making lost jhana its object 
because the grief that occurs making its object a jhana that has not been lost is not 
relevant there. And they say that it cannot be maintained that grief does not arise at all 
in those who have obtained jhana since it did arise in Asita who had the eight attainments 
(Sn 691), and he was not one who had lost jhana. So they say. That is wrong because 
there is no hate without the nature of a hindrance. If there were, it would arise in fine- 
material and immaterial beings, and it does not. Accordingly when in such passages 
as, 'In the immaterial state, due to the hindrance of lust there is the hindrance of 
stiffness and torpor . . . the hindrance of agitation, the hindrance of ignorance' (Patth II 
291), ill will and worry are not mentioned as hindrances, that does not imply that they 
are not hindrances even by supposing that it was because lust, etc., were not actually 
hindrances and were called hindrances there figuratively because of resemblance to 
hindrances. And it is no reason to argue, 'it is because it arose in Asita,' since there is 
falling away from jhana with the arising of grief. The way to regard that is that when 
the jhana is lost for some trivial reason such men reinstate it without difficulty" 
(Vism-mht 158-59). 

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188. And during the second-jhana access too, which has multiple advertings, 
there could be rearising of the [mental] grief faculty, although it had already 
ceased there, because it arises when there is bodily weariness and mental 
vexation, which have applied thought and sustained thought as their condition, 
but it does not arise when applied and sustained thought are absent. When it 
arises, it does so in the presence of applied and sustained thought, and they are 
not abandoned in the second-jhana access; but this is not so in the second jhana 
itself because its conditions are abandoned there. 

189. Likewise in the third-jhana access there could be rearising of the 
abandoned [bodily] pleasure faculty in one whose body was pervaded by the 
superior materiality originated by the [consciousness associated with the] 
happiness. But not so in the third jhana itself. For in the third jhana the happiness 
that is a condition for the [bodily] bliss (pleasure) has ceased entirely. Likewise 
in the fourth-jhana access there could be re-arising of the abandoned [mental] 
joy faculty because of its nearness and because it has not been properly 
surmounted owing to the absence of equanimity brought to absorption strength. 
But not so in the fourth jhana itself. And that is why in each case (§186) the 
words "without remainder" are included thus: "It is here that the arisen pain 
faculty ceases without remainder." 

190. Here it may be asked: Then if these kinds of feeling are abandoned in the 
access in this way, why are they brought in here? It is done so that they can be 
readily grasped. For the neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling described here by 
the words "which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure" is subtle, hard to recognize 
and not readily grasped. So just as, when a cattle-herd 50 wants to catch a refractory 
ox that cannot be caught at all by approaching it, he collects all the cattle into 
one pen [167] and lets them out one by one, and then [he says] "That is it; catch 
it," and so it gets caught as well, so too the Blessed One has collected all these 
[five kinds of feeling] together so that they can be grasped readily; for when they 
are shown collected together in this way, then what is not [bodily] pleasure 
(bliss) or [bodily] pain or [mental] joy or [mental] grief can still be grasped in 
this way: "This is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling." 

191. Besides, this may be understood as said in order to show the condition for 
the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance. For the abandoning of 
[bodily] pain, etc., are conditions for that, according as it is said: "There are four 
conditions, friend, for the attainment of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind- 
deliverance. Here, friend, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain and with 
the previous disappearance of joy and grief a bhikkhu enters upon and dwells 
in the fourth jhana . . . equanimity These are the four conditions for the attainment 
of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance" (M I 296). 

192. Or alternatively, just as, although mistaken view of individuality, etc., 
have already been abandoned in the earlier paths, they are nevertheless 
mentioned as abandoned in the description of the third path for the purpose 
of recommending it (cf. §155), so too these kinds of feeling can be understood 

50. Gopa — "cowherd (or guardian)": not in PED. 

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as mentioned here for the purpose of recommending this jhana. Or 
alternatively, they can be understood as mentioned for the purpose of showing 
that greed and hate are very far away owing to the removal of their conditions; 
for of these, pleasure (bliss) is a condition for joy, and joy for greed; pain is a 
condition for grief and grief for hate. So with the removal of pleasure (bliss), 
etc., greed and hate are very far away since they are removed along with their 
conditions. 

193. Which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure: no pain owing to absence of pain; no 
pleasure owing to absence of pleasure (bliss). By this he indicates the third kind 
of feeling that is in opposition both to pain and to pleasure, not the mere absence 
of pain and pleasure. This third kind of feeling named neither-pain-nor-pleasure 
is also called "equanimity." It has the characteristic of experiencing what is 
contrary to both the desirable and the undesirable. Its function is neutral. Its 
manifestation is unevident. Its proximate cause should be understood as the 
cessation of pleasure (bliss). 

194. And has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity: has purity of mindfulness 
brought about by equanimity. For the mindfulness in this jhana is quite purified, 
and its purification is effected by equanimity, not by anything else. That is why 
it is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. Also it is said in the 
Vibhariga: "This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified, by equanimity; hence 
it is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity" (Vibh 261). [168] And 
the equanimity due to which there comes to be this purity of mindfulness should 
be understood as specific neutrality in meaning. And not only mindfulness is 
purified by it here, but also all associated states. However, the teaching is given 
under the heading of mindfulness. 

195. Herein, this equanimity exists in the three lower jhanas too; but just as, 
although a crescent moon exists by day but is not purified or clear since it is 
outshone by the sun's radiance in the daytime or since it is deprived of the 
night, which is its ally owing to gentleness and owing to helpfulness to it, so 
too, this crescent moon of equanimity consisting in specific neutrality exists in 
the first jhana, etc., but it is not purified since it is outshone by the glare of the 
opposing states consisting in applied thought, etc., and since it is deprived of 
the night of equanimity-as-feeling for its ally; and because it is not purified, the 
conascent mindfulness and other states are not purified either, like the unpurified 
crescent moon's radiance by day. That is why no one among these [first three 
jhanas] is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. But here this 
crescent moon consisting in specific neutrality is utterly pure because it is 
not outshone by the glare of the opposing states consisting in applied 
thought, etc., and because it has the night of equanimity-as-feeling for its 
ally. And since it is purified, the conascent mindfulness and other states are 
purified and clear also, like the purified crescent moon's radiance. That, it 
should be understood, is why only this jhana is said to have purity of 
mindfulness due to equanimity. 

196. Fourth: it is fourth in numerical series; and it is fourth because it is entered 
upon fourth. 



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197. Then it was said, which abandons one factor, possesses two factors (§183); 
here the abandoning of the one factor should be understood as the abandoning 
of joy. But that joy is actually abandoned in the first impulsions of the same 
cognitive series (cf. §185). Hence it is called its factor of abandoning. 

The possession of the two factors should be understood as the arising of the 
two, namely, equanimity as feeling and unification of mind. 

The rest is as stated in the case of the first jhana. 

This, in the first place, is according to the fourfold reckoning of jhana. 

[The Fivefold Reckoning of Jhana] 

198. When, however, he is developing fivefold jhana, then, on emerging from 
the now familiar first jhana, he can regard the flaws in it in this way: "This 
attainment is threatened by the nearness of the hindrances, and its factors are 
weakened by the grossness of applied thought." [169] He can bring the second 
jhana to mind as quieter and so end his attachment to the first jhana and set 
about doing what is needed for attaining the second. 

199. Now, he emerges from the first jhana mindfully and fully aware; and only 
applied thought appears gross to him as he reviews the jhana factors, while the 
sustained thought, etc., appear peaceful. Then, as he brings that same sign to 
mind as "earth, earth" again and again with the purpose of abandoning the 
gross factor and obtaining the peaceful factors, the second jhana arises in him 
in the way already described. 

Its factor of abandoning is applied thought only. The four beginning with 
sustained thought are the factors that it possesses. The rest is as already stated. 

200. When this has been obtained in this way, and once he has mastery in the 
five ways already described, then on emerging from the now familiar second 
jhana he can regard the flaws in it in this way: "This attainment is threatened by 
the nearness of applied thought, and its factors are weakened by the grossness 
of sustained thought." He can bring the third jhana to mind as quieter and so 
end his attachment to the second jhana and set about doing what is needed for 
attaining the third. 

201. Now, he emerges from the second jhana mindfully and fully aware; only 
sustained thought appears gross to him as he reviews the jhana factors, while 
happiness, etc., appear peaceful. Then, as he brings that same sign to mind as 
"earth, earth" again and again with the purpose of abandoning the gross factor 
and obtaining the peaceful factors, the third jhana arises in him in the way 
already described. 

Its factor of abandoning is sustained thought only. The three beginning with 
happiness, as in the second jhana in the fourfold reckoning, are the factors that 
it possesses. The rest is as already stated. 

202. So that which is the second in the fourfold reckoning becomes the second 
and third in the fivefold reckoning by being divided into two. And those which 



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Chapter IV The Earth Kasina 

are the third and fourth in the former reckoning become the fourth and fifth in 
this reckoning. The first remains the first in each case. 

The fourth chapter called "The Description of the Earth 
Kasina" in the Treatise on the Development of Concen- 
tration in the Path of Purification composed for the purpose 
of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter V 

The Remaining Kasinas 
(Sesa-kasina-niddesa) 

[The Water Kasina] 

1. [170] Now, the water kasina comes next after the earth kasina (III. 105). Here 
is the detailed explanation. 

One who wants to develop the water kasina should, as in the case of the earth 
kasina, seat himself comfortably and apprehend the sign in water that "is either 
made up or not made up," etc.; and so all the rest should be repeated in detail 
(IV22). And as in this case, so with all those that follow [in this chapter]. We 
shall in fact not repeat even this much and shall only point out what is different. 

2. Here too, when someone has had practice in previous [lives], the sign arises 
for him in water that is not made up, such as a pool, a lake, a lagoon, or the ocean 
as in the case of the Elder Cula-Siva. The venerable one, it seems, thought to 
abandon gain and honour and live a secluded life. He boarded a ship at 
Mahatittha (Mannar) and sailed to Jambudipa (India). As he gazed at the ocean 
meanwhile, the kasina sign, the counterpart of that ocean, arose in him. 

3. Someone with no such previous practice should guard against the four 
faults of a kasina (IV24) and not apprehend the water as one of the colours, blue, 
yellow, red or white. He should fill a bowl or a four-footed water pot 1 to the brim 
with water uncontaminated by soil, taken in the open through a clean cloth 
[strainer], or with any other clear unturbid water. He should put it in a screened 
place on the outskirts of the monastery as already described and seat himself 
comfortably. He should neither review its colour nor bring its characteristic to 
mind. Apprehending the colour as belonging to its physical support, he should 
set his mind on the [name] concept as the most outstanding mental datum, and 
using any among the [various] names for water (apo) such as "rain" (ambu), 
"liquid" (udaka), "dew" (vari), "fluid" (salila), 2 he should develop [the kasina] by 
using [preferably] the obvious "water, water." 

4. As he develops it in this way, the two signs eventually arise in him in the way 
already described. Here, however, the learning sign has the appearance of moving. 
[171] If the water has bubbles of froth mixed with it, the learning sign has the 

1. Kundika — "a four-footed water pot": not in PED. 

2. English cannot really furnish five words for water. 

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same appearance, and it is evident as a fault in the kasina. But the counterpart 
sign appears inactive, like a crystal fan set in space, like the disk of a looking- 
glass made of crystal. With the appearance of that sign he reaches access jhana 
and the jhana tetrad and pentad in the way already described. 

[The Fire Kasina] 

5. Anyone who wants to develop the fire kasina should apprehend the sign in 
fire. Herein, when someone with merit, having had previous practice, is 
apprehending the sign, it arises in him in any sort of fire, not made up, as he 
looks at the fiery combustion in a lamp's flame or in a furnace or in a place for 
baking bowls or in a forest conflagration, as in the Elder Cittagutta's case. The 
sign arose in that elder as he was looking at a lamp's flame while he was in the 
Uposatha house on the day of preaching the Dhamma. 

6. Anyone else should make one up. Here are the directions for making it. He 
should split up some damp heartwood, dry it, and break it up into short lengths. 
He should go to a suitable tree root or to a shed and there make a pile in the way 
done for baking bowls, and have it lit. He should make a hole a span and four 
fingers wide in a rush mat or a piece of leather or a cloth, and after hanging it in 
front of the fire, he should sit down in the way already described. Instead of 
giving attention to the grass and sticks below or the smoke above, he should 
apprehend the sign in the dense combustion in the middle. 

7. He should not review the colour as blue or yellow, etc., or give attention to its 
characteristic as heat, etc., but taking the colour as belonging to its physical 
support, and setting his mind on the [name] concept as the most outstanding 
mental datum, and using any among the names for fire {tejo) such as "the Bright 
One" (pavaka), "the Leaver of the Black Trail" (kanhavattani), "the Knower of 
Creatures" (jataveda), "the Altar of Sacrifice" (hutasana), etc., he should develop 
[the kasina] by using [preferably] the obvious "fire, fire." 

8. As he develops it in this way the two signs eventually arise in him as already 
described. Herein, the learning sign appears like [the fire to keep] sinking down 
as the flame keeps detaching itself. [172] But when someone apprehends it in a 
kasina that is not made up, any fault in the kasina is evident [in the learning 
sign], and any firebrand, or pile of embers or ashes, or smoke appears in it. The 
counterpart sign appears motionless like a piece of red cloth set in space, like a 
gold fan, like a gold column. With its appearance he reaches access jhana and 
the jhana tetrad and pentad in the way already described. 

[The Air Kasina] 

9. Anyone who wants to develop the air kasina should apprehend the sign in 
air. And that is done either by sight or by touch. For this is said in the 
Commentaries: "One who is learning the air kasina apprehends the sign in air. 
He notices the tops of [growing] sugarcane moving to and fro; or he notices the 
tops of bamboos, or the tops of trees, or the ends of the hair, moving to and fro; or 
he notices the touch of it on the body." 



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10. So when he sees sugarcanes with dense foliage standing with tops level or 
bamboos or trees, or else hair four fingers long on a man's head, being struck by 
the wind, he should establish mindfulness in this way: "This wind is striking 
on this place." Or he can establish mindfulness where the wind strikes a part of 
his body after entering by a window opening or by a crack in a wall, and using 
any among the names for wind (vata) beginning with "wind" (vata), "breeze" 
(maluta), "blowing" (anila), he should develop [the kasina] by using [preferably] 
the obvious "air, air." 

11. Here the learning sign appears to move like the swirl of hot [steam] on rice 
gruel just withdrawn from an oven. The counterpart sign is quiet and motionless. 
The rest should be understood in the way already described. 

[The Blue Kasina] 

12. Next it is said [in the Commentaries]: "One who is learning the blue kasina 
apprehends the sign in blue, whether in a flower or in a cloth or in a colour 
element." 3 Firstly, when someone has merit, having had previous practice, the 
sign arises in him when he sees a bush with blue flowers, or such flowers spread 
out on a place of offering, or any blue cloth or gem. 

13. [173] But anyone else should take flowers such as blue lotuses, girikannika 
(morning glory) flowers, etc., and spread them out to fill a tray or a flat basket 
completely so that no stamen or stalk shows or with only their petals. Or he can 
fill it with blue cloth bunched up together; or he can fasten the cloth over the rim 
of the tray or basket like the covering of a drum. Or he can make a kasina disk, 
either portable as described under the earth kasina or on a wall, with one of the 
colour elements such as bronze-green, leaf-green, an j ana-ointment black, 
surrounding it with a different colour. After that, he should bring it to mind as 
"blue, blue" in the way already described under the earth kasina. 

14. And here too any fault in the kasina is evident in the learning sign; the 
stamens and stalks and the gaps between the petals, etc., are apparent. The 
counterpart sign appears like a crystal fan in space, free from the kasina disk. 
The rest should be understood as already described. 

[The Yellow Kasina] 

15. Likewise with the yellow kasina; for this is said: "One who is learning the 
yellow kasina apprehends the sign in yellow, either in a flower or in a cloth or in 
a colour element." Therefore here too, when someone has merit, having had 
previous practice, the sign arises in him when he sees a flowering bush or 
flowers spread out, or yellow cloth or colour element, as in the case of the Elder 
Cittagutta. That venerable one, it seems, saw an offering being made on the 
flower altar, with pattanga flowers 4 at Cittalapabbata, and as soon as he saw it the 
sign arose in him the size of the flower altar. 

3. Vanna-dhahi — "colour element" should perhaps have been rendered simply by 
"paint." The one Pali word "nlla" has to serve for the English blue, green, and sometimes 
black. 

4. Pattanga: not in PED. Asana — "altar": not in this sense in PED. 

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16. Anyone else should make a kasina, in the way described for the blue kasina, 
with kanikara flowers, etc., or with yellow cloth or with a colour element. He 
should bring it to mind as "yellow, yellow." The rest is as before. 

[The Red Kasina] 

17. Likewise with the red kasina; for this is said: "One who is learning the red 
kasina apprehends the sign in red, [174] either in a flower or in a cloth or in a 
colour element." Therefore here too, when someone has merit, having had 
previous practice, the sign arises in him when he sees a bandhujwaka (hibiscus) 
bush, etc., in flower, or such flowers spread out, or a red cloth or gem or colour 
element. 

18. But anyone else should make a kasina, in the way already described for the 
blue kasina, with jayasumana flowers or bandhujwaka or red korandaka flowers, 
etc., or with red cloth or with a colour element. He should bring it to mind as 
"red, red." The rest is as before. 

[The White Kasina] 

19. Of the white kasina it is said: "One who is learning the white kasina 
apprehends the sign in white, either in a flower or in a cloth or in a colour 
element." So firstly, when someone has merit, having had previous practice, the 
sign arises in him when he sees a flowering bush of such a kind or vassikasumana 
(jasmine) flowers, etc., spread out, or a heap of white lotuses or lilies, white cloth 
or colour element; and it also arises in a tin disk, a silver disk, and the moon's 
disk. 

20. Anyone else should make a kasina, in the way already described for the 
blue kasina, with the white flowers already mentioned, or with cloth or colour 
element. He should bring it to mind as "white, white." The rest is as before. 

[The Light Kasina] 

21. Of the light kasina it is said: "One who is learning the light kasina 
apprehends the sign in light in a hole in a wall, or in a keyhole, or in a window 
opening." So firstly, when someone has merit, having had previous practice, the 
sign arises in him when he sees the circle thrown on a wall or a floor by sunlight 
or moonlight entering through a hole in a wall, etc., or when he sees a circle 
thrown on the ground by sunlight or moonlight coming through a gap in the 
branches of a dense-leaved tree or through a gap in a hut made of closely packed 
branches. 

22. Anyone else should use that same kind of circle of luminosity just described, 
developing it as "luminosity, luminosity" or "light, light." If he cannot do so, he 
can light a lamp inside a pot, close the pot's mouth, make a hole in it and place 
it with the hole facing a wall. The lamplight coming out of the hole throws a 
circle on the wall. He should develop that [175] as "light, light." This lasts 
longer than the other kinds. 

23. Here the learning sign is like the circle thrown on the wall or the ground. The 
counterpart sign is like a compact bright cluster of lights. The rest is as before. 

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[The Limited-Space Kasina] 

24. Of the limited-space kasina it is said: "One who is learning the space 
kasina apprehends the sign in a hole in a wall, or in a keyhole, or in a window 
opening." So firstly, when someone has merit, having had previous practice, the 
sign arises in him when he sees any [such gap as a] hole in a wall. 

25. Anyone else should make a hole a span and four fingers broad in a well- 
thatched hut, or in a piece of leather, or in a rush mat, and so on. He should 
develop one of these, or a hole such as a hole in a wall, as "space, space." 

26. Here the learning sign resembles the hole together with the wall, etc., that 
surrounds it. Attempts to extend it fail. The counterpart sign appears only as a 
circle of space. Attempts to extend it succeed. The rest should be understood as 
described under the earth kasina. 5 

[General] 

27. He with Ten Powers, who all things did see, 
Tells ten kasinas, each of which can be 
The cause of fourfold and of fivefold jhana, 
The fine-material sphere's own master key. 
Now, knowing their descriptions and the way 
To tackle each and how they are developed, 
There are some further points that will repay 
Study, each with its special part to play 

28. Of these, the earth kasina is the basis for such powers as the state described 
as "Having been one, he becomes many" (D I 78), etc., and stepping or standing 
or sitting on space or on water by creating earth, and the acquisition of the bases 
of mastery (M II 13) by the limited and measureless method. 

29. The water kasina is the basis for such powers as diving in and out of the 
earth (D I 78), causing rain, storms, creating rivers and seas, making the earth 
and rocks and palaces quake (M I 253). 

5. In the Suttas the first eight kasinas are the same as those given here, and they are 
the only ones mentioned in the DhammasariganI (§160-203) and Patisambhida (Patis 
I 6). The Suttas give space and consciousness as ninth and tenth respectively (M II 14- 
15; D III 268; Netti 89, etc.). But these last two appear to coincide with the first two 
immaterial states, that is, boundless space and boundless consciousness. The light 
kasina given here as ninth does not appear in the Suttas. It is perhaps a development 
from the "perception of light" (aloka-sanna) (A II 45). The limited-space kasina given 
here as tenth has perhaps been made "limited' in order to differentiate it from the first 
immaterial state. The commentary on the consciousness kasina (M-a III 261) says 
nothing on this aspect. As to space, Vism-mht (p. 373) says: "The attainment of the 
immaterial states is not produced by means of the space kasina, and with the words 
'ending with the white kasina' (XXI.2) the light kasina is included in the white kasina." 
For description of space (akasa) see Dhs-a 325, Netti 29. Also Vism-mht (p. 393) defines 
space thus: "Wherever there is no obstruction, that is called space." Again the Majjhima 
Nikaya Tika (commenting on MN 106) remarks: "[Sense desires] are not called empty (ritta) 
in the sense that space, which is entirely devoid of individual essence, is called empty" 



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30. The fire kasina is the basis for such powers as smoking, flaming, causing 
showers of sparks, countering fire with fire, ability to burn only what one wants 
to burn (S IV 290), [176] causing light for the purpose of seeing visible objects 
with the divine eye, burning up the body by means of the fire element at the time 
of attaining Nibbana (M-a IV 196). 

31. The air kasina is the basis for such powers as going with the speed of the 
wind, causing wind storms. 

32. The blue kasina is the basis for such powers as creating black forms, causing 
darkness, acquisition of the bases of mastery by the method of fairness and 
ugliness, and attainment of the liberation by the beautiful (see M II 12) 

33. The yellow kasina is the basis for such powers as creating yellow forms, 
resolving that something shall be gold (S I 116), acquisition of the bases of 
mastery in the way stated, and attainment of the liberation by the beautiful. 

34. The red kasina is the basis for such powers as creating red forms, acquisition 
of the bases of mastery in the way stated, and attainment of the liberation by the 
beautiful. 

35. The white kasina is the basis for such powers as creating white forms, 
banishing stiffness and torpor, dispelling darkness, causing light for the purpose 
of seeing visible objects with the divine eye. 

36. The light kasina is the basis for such powers as creating luminous forms, 
banishing stiffness and torpor, dispelling darkness, causing light for the purpose 
of seeing visible objects with the divine eye. 

37. The space kasina is the basis for such powers as revealing the hidden, 
maintaining postures inside the earth and rocks by creating space inside them, 
travelling unobstructed through walls, and so on. 

38. The classification "above, below, around, exclusive, measureless" applies 
to all kasinas; for this is said: "He perceives the earth kasina above, below, around, 
exclusive, measureless" (M II 14), and so on. 

39. Herein, above is upwards towards the sky's level. Below is downwards 
towards the earth's level. Around is marked off all around like the perimeter of a 
field. For one extends a kasina upwards only, another downwards, another all 
round; or for some reason another projects it thus as one who wants to see 
visible objects with the divine eye projects light. [177] Hence "above, below, 
around" is said. The word exclusive, however, shows that anyone such state has 
nothing to do with any other. Just as there is water and nothing else in all 
directions for one who is actually in water, so too, the earth kasina is the earth 
kasina only; it has nothing in common with any other kasina. Similarly in each 
instance. Measureless means measureless intentness. He is intent upon the 
entirety with his mind, taking no measurements in this way: "This is its 
beginning, this is its middle." 

40. No kasina can be developed by any living being described as follows: 
"Beings hindered by kamma, by defilement or by kamma-result, who lack faith, 
zeal and understanding, will be incapable of entering into the certainty of 
Tightness in profitable states" (Vibh 341). 

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41. Herein, the words hindered by kamma refer to those who possess bad kamma 
entailing immediate effect [on rebirth]. 6 By defilement: who have fixed wrong 
view 7 or are hermaphrodites or eunuchs. By kamma-result: who have had a rebirth- 
linking with no [profitable] root-cause or with only two [profitable] root-causes. 
Lack faith: are destitute of faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Zeal: are 
destitute of zeal for the unopposed way. Understanding: are destitute of mundane 
and supramundane right view. Will be incapable of entering into the certainty of 
rightness in profitable states means that they are incapable of entering into the 
noble path called "certainty" and "rightness in profitable states." 

42. And this does not apply only to kasinas; for none of them will succeed in 
developing any meditation subject at all. So the task of devotion to a meditation 
subject must be undertaken by a clansman who has no hindrance by kamma- 
result, who shuns hindrance by kamma and by defilement, and who fosters 
faith, zeal and understanding by listening to the Dhamma, frequenting good 
men, and so on. 

The fifth chapter called "The Description of the 
Remaining Kasinas" in the Treatise on the Development 
of Concentration in the Path of Purification composed 
for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



6. The five kinds of bad kamma with immediate effect on rebirth are, in that order of 
priority: matricide, parricide, arahanticide, intentional shedding of a Buddha's blood, 
and causing a schism in the Community all of which cause rebirth in hell and remaining 
there for the remainder of the aeon (kappa), whatever other kinds of kamma may have 
been performed (M-a IV 109f.). 

7. The no-cause view, moral-inefficacy-of-action view, the nihilistic view that there is 
no such thing as giving, and so on (see DN 2). 



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Chapter VI 

Foulness as a Meditation Subject 
(Asubha-kammatthana-niddesa) 

[General Definitions] 

1. [178] Now, ten kinds of foulness, [as corpses] without consciousness, were 
listed next after the kasinas thus: the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut up, 
the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and scattered, the bleeding, the worm 
infested, a skeleton (III. 105). 

The bloated: it is bloated (uddhumata) because bloated by gradual dilation and 
swelling after (uddham) the close of life, as a bellows is with wind. What is 
bloated (uddhumata) is the same as "the bloated" (uddhumataka). Or alternatively, 
what is bloated (uddhumata) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 
"the bloated" (uddhumataka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular state. 

2. The livid: what has patchy discolouration is called livid (vinila). What is 
livid is the same as "the livid" (vinllaka). Or alternatively, what is livid (vinila) is 
vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is "the livid" (vinllaka). 1 This is a 
term for a corpse that is reddish-coloured in places where flesh is prominent, 
whitish-coloured in places where pus has collected, but mostly blue-black (nlla), 
as if draped with blue-black cloth in the blue-black places. 

3. The festering: what is trickling with pus in broken places is festering (vipubba). 
What is festering is the same as "the festering" (vipubbaka). Or alternatively, 
what is festering (vipubba) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 
"the festering" (vipubbaka). This is a term for a corpse in that particular state. 

4. The cut up: what has been opened up 2 by cutting it in two is called cut up 
(vicchidda). What is cut up is the same as "the cut up" (vicchiddaka). Or alternatively, 
what is cut up (vicchidda) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 
"the cut up" (vicchiddaka). This is a term for a corpse cut in the middle. [179] 

5. The gnawed: what has been chewed here and there in various ways by dogs, 
jackals, etc., is what is gnawed (vikkhayita). What is gnawed is the same as "the 
gnawed" (vikkhayitaka). Or alternatively, what is gnawed (vikkhayita) is vile 

1. It is not possible to render such associative and alliterative derivations of meaning 
into English. They have nothing to do with the historical development of words, and 
their purpose is purely mnemonic. 

2. Apavarita — "opened up": not in PED. 

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(kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is "the gnawed" (vikkhayitaka). This 
is a term for a corpse in that particular state. 

6. The scattered: what is strewed about (vividham khittam) is scattered (vikkhittam) . 
What is scattered is the same as "the scattered" (vikkhittaka). Or alternatively, 
what is scattered (vikkhitta) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is 
"the scattered" (vikkhittaka). This is a term for a corpse that is strewed here and 
there in this way: "Here a hand, there a foot, there the head" (cf. M I 58). 

7. The hacked and scattered: it is hacked, and it is scattered in the way just 
described, thus it is "hacked and scattered" (hata-vikkhittaka). This is a term for 
a corpse scattered in the way just described after it has been hacked with a knife 
in a crow's-foot pattern on every limb. 

8. The bleeding: it sprinkles (kirati), scatters, blood (lohita), and it trickles here 
and there, thus it is "the bleeding" (lohitaka). This is a term for a corpse smeared 
with trickling blood. 

9. The worm-infested: it is maggots that are called worms (puluva); it sprinkles 
worms (puluve kirati), thus it is worm-infested (puluvaka). This is a term for a 
corpse full of maggots. 

10. A skeleton: bone (atthi) is the same as skeleton (atthika). Or alternatively, 
bone (atthi) is vile (kucchita) because of repulsiveness, thus it is a skeleton (atthika). 
This is a term both for a single bone and for a framework of bones. 

11. These names are also used both for the signs that arise with the bloated, 
etc., as their support, and for the jhanas obtained in the signs. 

[The Bloated] 

12. Herein, when a meditator wants to develop the jhana called "of the bloated" 
by arousing the sign of the bloated on a bloated body, he should in the way 
already described approach a teacher of the kind mentioned under the earth 
kasina and learn the meditation subject from him. In explaining the meditation 
subject to him, the teacher should explain it all, that is, the directions for going 
with the aim of acquiring the sign of foulness, the characterizing of the 
surrounding signs, the eleven ways of apprehending the sign, the reviewing of 
the path gone by and come by, concluding with the directions for absorption. 
And when the meditator has learnt it all well, he should go to an abode of the 
kind already described and live there while seeking the sign of the bloated. 

13. Meanwhile, when he hears people saying that at some village gate or on 
some road or at some forest's edge or at the base of some rock or at the root of 
some tree [180] or on some charnel ground a bloated corpse is lying, he should 
not go there at once, like one who plunges into a river where there is no ford. 

14. Why not? Because this foulness is beset by wild beasts and non-human 
beings, and he might risk his life there. Or perhaps the way to it goes by a village 
gate or a bathing place or an irrigated field, and there a visible object of the 
opposite sex might come into focus. Or perhaps the body is of the opposite sex; 
for a female body is unsuitable for a man, and a male body for a woman. If only 
recently dead, it may even look beautiful; hence there might be danger to the life 

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Chapter VI Foulness as a Meditation Subject 

of purity. But if he judges himself thus, "This is not difficult for one like me," 
then he can go there. 

15. And when he goes, he should do so only after he has spoken to the senior 
elder of the Community or to some well-known bhikkhu. 

16. Why? Because if all his limbs are seized with shuddering at the charnel 
ground, or if his gorge rises when he is confronted with disagreeable objects 
such as the visible forms and sounds of non-human beings, lions, tigers, etc., or 
something else afflicts him, then he whom he told will have his bowl and robe 
well looked after in the monastery, or he will care for him by sending young 
bhikkhus or novices to him. 

17. Besides, robbers may meet there thinking a charnel ground a safe place for 
them whether or not they have done anything wrong. And when men chase 
them, they drop their goods near the bhikkhu and run away. Perhaps the men 
seize the bhikkhu, saying "We have found the thief with the goods," and bully 
him. Then he whom he told will explain to the men "Do not bully him; he went 
to do this special work after telling me," and he will rescue him. This is the 
advantage of going only after informing someone. 

18. Therefore he should inform a bhikkhu of the kind described and then set 
out eager to see the sign, and as happy and joyful as a warrior-noble (khattiya) 
on his way to the scene of anointing, as one going to offer libations at the hall of 
sacrifice, or as a pauper on his way to unearth a hidden treasure. And he should 
go there in the way advised by the Commentaries. 

19. For this is said: "One who is learning the bloated sign of foulness goes 
alone with no companion, with unremitting mindfulness established, with his 
sense faculties turned inwards, with his mind not turned outwards, reviewing 
the path gone by and come by. In the place where the bloated sign of foulness 
[181] has been left he notes any stone or termite-mound or tree or bush or creeper 
there each with its particular sign and in relation to the object. When he has 
done this, he characterizes the bloated sign of foulness by the fact of its having 
attained that particular individual essence, (see §84) Then he sees that the sign 
is properly apprehended, that it is properly remembered, that it is properly 
defined, by its colour, by its mark, by its shape, by its direction, by its location, by 
its delimitation, by its joints, by its openings, by its concavities, by its convexities, 
and all round. 

20. "When he has properly apprehended the sign, properly remembered it, 
properly defined it, he goes alone with no companion, with unremitting 
mindfulness established, with his sense faculties turned inwards, with his mind 
not turned outwards, reviewing the path gone by and come by. When he walks, 
he resolves that his walk is oriented towards it; when he sits, he prepares a seat 
that is oriented towards it. 

21. "What is the purpose, what is the advantage of characterizing the 
surrounding signs? Characterizing the surrounding signs has non-delusion 
for its purpose, it has non-delusion for its advantage. What is the purpose, what 
is the advantage of apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways? 



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Apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways has anchoring [the mind] for 
its purpose, it has anchoring [the mind] for its advantage. What is the purpose, 
what is the advantage of reviewing the path gone by and come by? Reviewing 
the path gone by and come by has keeping [the mind] on the track for its purpose, 
it has keeping [the mind] on the track for its advantage. 

22. "When he has established reverence for it by seeing its advantages and by 
perceiving it as a treasure and so come to love it, he anchors his mind upon that 
object: 'Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing and death.' Quite 
secluded from sense desires, secluded from unprofitable things he enters upon 
and dwells in the first jhana . . . [seclusion] . He has arrived at the first jhana of the 
fine-material sphere. His is a heavenly abiding and an instance of the meritorious 
action consisting in [meditative] development." (Source untraced.) 

23. So if he goes to the charnel ground to test his control of mind, let him do so 
after striking the gong or summoning a chapter. If he goes there mainly for 
[developing that] meditation subject, let him go alone with no companion, without 
renouncing his basic meditation subject and keeping it always in mind, taking 
a walking stick or a staff to keep off attacks by dogs, etc., [182] ensuring 
unremitting mindfulness by establishing it well, with his mind not turned 
outwards because he has ensured that his faculties, of which his mind is the 
sixth, are turned inwards. 

24. As he goes out of the monastery he should note the gate: "I have gone out in 
such a direction by such a gate." After that he should define the path by which he 
goes: "This path goes in an easterly direction ... westerly ... northerly ... southerly 
direction" or "It goes in an intermediate direction"; and "In this place it goes to the 
left, in this place to the right"; and "In this place there is a stone, in this a termite- 
mound, in this a tree, in this a bush, in this a creeper." He should go to the place 
where the sign is, defining in this way the path by which he goes. 

25. And he should not approach it upwind; for if he did so and the smell of 
corpses assailed his nose, his brain 3 might get upset, or he might throw up his 
food, or he might repent his coming, thinking "What a place of corpses I have 
come to!" So instead of approaching it upwind, he should go downwind. If he 
cannot go by a downwind path — if there is a mountain or a ravine or a rock or a 
fence or a patch of thorns or water or a bog in the way — then he should go 
stopping his nose with the corner of his robe. These are the duties in going. 

26. When he has gone there in this way, he should not at once look at the sign 
of foulness; he should make sure of the direction. For perhaps if he stands in a 
certain direction, the object does not appear clearly to him and his mind is not 
wieldy So rather than there he should stand where the object appears clearly 
and his mind is wieldy. And he should avoid standing to leeward or to windward 
of it. For if he stands to leeward he is bothered by the corpse smell and his mind 
strays; and if he stands to windward and non-human beings are dwelling there, 

3. This does not imply what we, now, might suppose. See the description of "brain" 
in VIII. 126 and especially VIII. 136. What is meant is perhaps that he might get a cold 
or catarrh. 

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they may get annoyed and do him a mischief. So he should move round a little 
and not stand too much to windward. [183] 

27. Then he should stand not too far off or too near, or too much towards the 
feet or the head. For if he stands too far off, the object is not clear to him, and if he 
stands too near, he may get frightened. If he stands too much towards the feet or 
the head, not all the foulness becomes manifest to him equally. So he should 
stand not too far off or too near, opposite the middle of the body, in a place 
convenient for him to look at it. 

28. Then he should characterize the surrounding signs in the way stated thus: 
"In the place where the bloated sign of foulness has been left he notes any stone 
... or creeper there with its sign" (§19). 

29. These are the directions for characterizing them. If there is a rock in the 
eye's focus near the sign, he should define it in this way: "This rock is high or 
low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round," after which he 
should observe [the relative positions] thus: "In this place, this is a rock, this is 
the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a rock." 

30. If there is a termite-mound, he should define it in this way: "This is high or 
low, small or large, brown or black or white, long or round," after which he 
should observe [the relative positions] thus: "In this place, this is a termite- 
mound, this is the sign of foulness." 

31. If there is a tree, he should define it in this way: "This is a pipal fig tree or 
a banyan fig tree or a kacchaka fig tree or a kapittha fig tree; it is tall or short, small 
or large, black or white," after which he should observe [the relative positions] 
thus: "In this place, this is a tree, this is the sign of foulness." 

32. If there is a bush, he should define it in this way: "This is a sindi bush or a 
karamanda bush or a kanavlra bush or a korandaka bush; it is tall or short, small or 
large," after which he should observe [the relative positions] thus: "In this place, 
this is a bush, this is the sign of foulness." 

33. If there is a creeper, he should define it in this way: "This is a pumpkin creeper 
or a gourd creeper or a brown creeper or a black creeper or a stinking creeper," after 
which he should observe [the relative positions] thus: "In this place, this is a creeper, 
this is the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a creeper." 

34. Also with its particular sign and in relation to the object was said (§19); but 
that is included by what has just been said; for he "characterizes it with its 
particular sign" when he defines it again and again, and he "characterizes it in 
relation to the object" when he defines it by combining it each time in pairs thus: 
"This is a rock, this is the sign of foulness; this is the sign of foulness, this is a 
rock." 

35. Having done this, again he should bring to mind the fact that it has an 
individual essence, its own state of being bloated, which is not common to 
anything else, since it was said that he defines 4 it by the fact of its having attained 

4. Reference back to §19 requires sabhavato upalakkhati rather than sabhavato vavatthapeti, 
but so the readings have it. 

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that particular individual essence. The meaning is that it should be defined 
according to individual essence, according to its own nature, as "the inflated, 5 
the bloated." 

Having defined it in this way, he should apprehend the sign in the following six 
ways, that is to say, (1) by its colour, (2) by its mark, (3) by its shape, [184] (4) by its 
direction, (5) by its location, (6) by its delimitation. How? 

36. (1) The meditator should define it by its colour thus: "This is the body of one 
who is black or white or yellow-skinned." 

37. (2) Instead of defining it by the female mark or the male mark, he should 
define it by its mark thus: "This is the body of one who was in the first phase of 
life, in the middle phase, in the last phase." 

38. (3) By its shape: he should define it only by the shape of the bloated thus: 
"This is the shape of its head, this is the shape of its neck, this is the shape of its 
hand, this is the shape of its chest, this is the shape of its belly, this is the shape 
of its navel, this is the shape of its hips, this is the shape of its thigh, this is the 
shape of its calf, this is the shape of its foot." 

39. (4) He should define it by its direction thus: "There are two directions in this 
body, that is, down from the navel as the lower direction, and up from it as the 
upper direction." Or alternatively, he can define it thus: "I am standing in this 
direction; the sign of foulness is in that direction." 

40. (5) He should define it by its location thus: "The hand is in this location, the 
foot in this, the head in this, the middle of the body in this." Or alternatively, he 
can define it thus: "I am in this location; the sign of foulness is in that." 

41. (6) He should define it by its delimitation thus: "This body is delimited 
below by the soles of the feet, above by the tips of the hair, all round by the skin; 
the space so delimited is filled up with thirty-two pieces of corpse." Or 
alternatively, he can define it thus: "This is the delimitation of its hand, this is the 
delimitation of its foot, this is the delimitation of its head, this is the delimitation 
of the middle part of its body." Or alternatively, he can delimit as much of it as he 
has apprehended thus: "Just this much of the bloated is like this." 

42. However, a female body is not appropriate for a man or a male one for a 
woman; for the object, [namely, the repulsive aspect], does not make its 
appearance in a body of the opposite sex, which merely becomes a condition 
for the wrong kind of excitement. 6 To quote the Majjhima Commentary: "Even 



5. Vanita — "inflated": glossed by Vism-mht with suna (swollen). Not in PED in this sense. 

6. Vipphandana — "wrong kind of excitement": Vism-mht says here "Kilesa- 
paripphandanass' eva nimittam hoti ti attho (the meaning is, it becomes the sign for 
interference by (activity of) defilement" (Vism-mht 170). Phandati and vipphandati are 
both given only such meanings as "to throb, stir, twitch" and paripphandati is not in 
PED. For the sense of wrong (vi-) excitement (phandana) cf. IV89 and XIV132 and note. 
There seems to be an association of meaning between vipphara, vyapara, vipphandana, 
ihaka, and paripphandana (perhaps also abhoga) in the general senses of interestedness, 
activity concern, interference, intervention, etc. 



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when decaying, 7 a woman invades a man's mind and stays there." That is 
why the sign should be apprehended in the six ways only in a body of the 
same sex. 

43. But when a clansman has cultivated the meditation subject under former 
Enlightened Ones, kept the ascetic practices, threshed out the great primary 
elements, discerned formations, defined mentality-materiality eliminated the 
perception of a being, done the ascetic's [185] duties, lived the moral life, and 
developed the development, when he contains the seed [of turning away from 
formations], and has mature knowledge and little defilement, then the 
counterpart sign appears to him in the place while he keeps looking. If it does 
not appear in that way, then it appears to him as he is apprehending the sign in 
the six ways. 

44. But if it does not appear to him even then, he should apprehend the sign 
again in five more ways: (7) by its joints, (8) by its openings, (9) by its concavities, 
(10) by its convexities, and (11) all round. 

45. Herein, (7) by its joints is [properly] by its hundred and eighty joints. But 
how can he define the hundred and eighty joints in the bloated? Consequently 
he can define it by its fourteen major joints thus: Three joints in the right arm, 
three in the left arm, three in the right leg, three in the left leg, one neck joint, one 
waist joint. 

46. (8) By its openings: an "opening" is the hollow between the arm [and the 
side], the hollow between the legs, the hollow of the stomach, the hollow of the 
ear. He should define it by its openings in this way. Or alternatively, the opened 
or closed state of the eyes and the opened or closed state of the mouth can be 
defined. 

47. (9) By its concavities: he should define any concave place on the body such 
as the eye sockets or the inside of the mouth or the base of the neck. Or he can 
define it thus: "I am standing in a concave place, the body is in a convex place." 

48. (10) By its convexities: he should define any raised place on the body such 
as the knee or the chest or the forehead. Or he can define it thus: "I am standing 
in a convex place, the body is in a concave place." 

49. (11) All round: the whole body should be defined all round. After working 
over the whole body with knowledge, he should establish his mind thus, "The 
bloated, the bloated," upon any part that appears clearly to him. If it has not 
appeared even yet, and if there is special intensity of the bloatedness in the belly, 8 
he should establish his mind thus, "The bloated, the bloated," on that. 

50. Now, as to the words, he sees that the sign is properly apprehended, etc., the 
explanation is this. The meditator should apprehend the sign thoroughly in 
that body in the way of apprehending the sign already described. He should 

7. The Harvard text has ugghatita, but Vism-mht (p. 170) reads "ugghanita (not in 
PED) pl-ti uddhumatakabhavappatta pi sabbaso kuthita-sartra-pi-ti attho." 

8. "Udara-pariyosanam uparisarlram" (Vism-mht 172). Pariyosana here means "intensity" 
though normally it means "end"; but see PED pariyosita. 

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advert to it with well-established mindfulness. He should see that it is properly 
remembered, properly defined, by doing that again and again. Standing in a 
place not too far from and not too near to the body, he should open his eyes, look 
and apprehend the sign. [186] He should open his eyes and look a hundred 
times, a thousand times, [thinking], "Repulsiveness of the bloated, repulsiveness 
of the bloated," and he should close his eyes and advert to it. 

51. As he does so again and again, the learning sign becomes properly 
apprehended by him. When is it properly apprehended? When it comes into 
focus alike whether he opens his eyes and looks or closes his eyes and adverts, 
then it is called properly apprehended. 

52. When he has thus properly apprehended the sign, properly remembered 
it, and properly defined it, then if he is unable to conclude his development on 
the spot, he can go to his own lodging, alone, in the same way as described of his 
coming, with no companion, keeping that same meditation subject in mind, 
with mindfulness well established, and with his mind not turned outwards 
owing to his faculties being turned inwards. 

53. As he leaves the charnel ground he should define the path he comes back 
by thus: "The path by which I have left goes in an easterly direction, westerly ... 
northerly ... southerly direction," or "It goes in an intermediate direction"; or 
"In this place it goes to the left, in this place to the right"; and "In this place 
there is a stone, in this a termite-mound, in this a tree, in this a bush, in this a 
creeper." 

54. When he has defined the path he has come back by and when, once back, 
he is walking up and down, he should see that his walk is oriented towards it 
too; the meaning is that he should walk up and down on a piece of ground that 
faces in the direction of the sign of foulness. And when he sits, he should prepare 
a seat oriented towards it too. 

55. But if there is a bog or a ravine or a tree or a fence or a swamp in that 
direction, if he cannot walk up and down on a piece of ground facing in that 
direction, if he cannot prepare his seat thus because there is no room for it, then 
he can both walk up and down and sit in a place where there is room, even 
though it does not face that way; but he should turn his mind in that direction. 

56. Now, as to the questions beginning with what is the purpose . . . characterizing 
the surrounding signs? The intention of the answer that begins with the words, has 
non-delusion for its purpose, is this: If someone goes at the wrong time to the place 
where the sign of the bloated is, and opens his eyes for the purpose of 
apprehending the sign by characterizing the surrounding signs, then as soon 
as he looks the dead body appears [187] as if it were standing up and threatening 9 
and pursuing him, and when he sees the hideous and fearful object, his mind 
reels, he is like one demented, gripped by panic, fear and terror, and his hair 
stands on end. For among the thirty-eight meditation subjects expounded in the 
texts no object is so frightening as this one. There are some who lose jhana in 
this meditation subject. Why? Because it is so frightening. 

9. There is no sense of ajjhottharati given in PED that fits here. Cf. 1.56. 

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57. So the meditator must stand firm. Establishing his mindfulness well, he 
should remove his fears in this way: "No dead body gets up and pursues one. If 
that stone or that creeper close to it were to come, the body might come too; but 
since that stone or that creeper does not come, the body will not come either. Its 
appearance to you in this way is born: of your perception, created by your 
perception. Today your meditation subject has appeared to you. Do not be afraid, 
bhikkhu." He should laugh it off and direct his mind to the sign. In that way he 
will arrive at distinction. The words "Characterizing the surrounding signs 
has non-delusion for its purpose" are said on this account. 

58. To succeed in apprehending the sign in the eleven ways is to anchor the 
meditation subject. For the opening of his eyes and looking conditions the arising 
of the learning sign; and as he exercises his mind on that the counterpart sign 
arises; and as he exercises his mind on that he reaches absorption. When he is 
sure of absorption, he works up insight and realizes Arahantship Hence it was 
said: apprehending the sign in the [other] eleven ways has anchoring [the mind] for its 
purpose. 

59. The reviewing of the path gone by and come by has keeping [the mind] on the track 
for its purpose: the meaning is that the reviewing of the path gone by and of the 
path come back by mentioned is for the purpose of keeping properly to the track 
of the meditation subject. 

60. For if this bhikkhu is going along with his meditation subject and people 
on the way ask him about the day, "What is today, venerable sir?" or they ask him 
some question [about Dhamma], or they welcome him, he ought not to go on in 
silence, thinking "I have a meditation subject." The day must be told, the question 
must be answered, even by saying "I do not know" if he does not know, a legitimate 
welcome must be responded to. [188] As he does so, the newly acquired sign 
vanishes. But even if it does vanish, he should still tell the day when asked; if he 
does not know the answer to the question, he should still say "I do not know," 
and if he does know it, he should explain it surely; 10 and he must respond to a 
welcome. Also reception of visitors must be attended to on seeing a visiting 
bhikkhu, and all the remaining duties in the Khandhakas must be carried out 
too, that is, the duties of the shrine terrace, the duties of the Bodhi-tree terrace, the 
duties of the Uposatha house, the duties of the refectory and the bath house, and 
those to the teacher, the preceptor, visitors, departing bhikkhus, and the rest. 

61. And the newly acquired sign vanishes while he is carrying out these too. 
When he wants to go again, thinking "I shall go and take up the sign," he finds 
he cannot go to the charnel ground because it has been invaded by non-human 
beings or by wild beasts, or the sign has disappeared. For a bloated corpse only 
lasts one or two days and then turns into a livid corpse. Of all the meditation 
subjects there is none so hard to come by as this. 

62. So when the sign has vanished in this way, the bhikkhu should sit down in 
his night quarters or in his day quarters and first of all review the path gone by 
and come by up to the place where he is actually sitting cross-legged, doing it in 

10. Reading ekamsena (surely) with Harvard text rather than ekadesena (partly). 

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this way: "I went out of the monastery by this gate, I took a path leading in such 
and such a direction, I turned left at such and such a place, I turned right at such 
and such a place, in one part of it there was a stone, in another a termite-mound 
or a tree or a bush or a creeper; having gone by that path, I saw the foulness in 
such and such a place, I stood there facing in such and such a direction and 
observed such and such surrounding signs, I apprehended the sign of foulness 
in this way; I left the charnel ground in such and such a direction, I came back 
by such and such a path doing this and this, and I am now sitting here." 

63. As he reviews it in this way, the sign becomes evident and appears as if 
placed in front of him; the meditation subject rides in its track as it did before. 
Hence it was said: the reviewing of the path gone by and come by has keeping [the 
mind] on the track for its purpose. 

64. Now, as to the words, when he has established reverence for it by seeing its 
advantages and by perceiving it as a treasure and so come to love it, he anchors 
the mind on that object: here, having gained jhana by exercising his mind on the 
repulsiveness in the bloated, he should increase insight with the jhana as its 
proximate cause, and then he should see the advantages in this way: [189] 
"Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing and death." 

65. Just as a pauper who acquired a treasure of gems would guard and love it 
with great affection, feeling reverence for it as one who appreciates the value of 
it, "I have got what is hard indeed to get!" so too [this bhikkhu] should guard 
the sign, loving it and feeling reverence for it as one who appreciates the value of 
it, "I have got this meditation subject, which is indeed as hard to get as a very 
valuable treasure is for a pauper to get. For one whose meditation subject is the 
four elements discerns the four primary elements in himself, one whose meditation 
subject is breathing discerns the wind in his own nostrils, and one whose 
meditation subject is a kasina makes a kasina and develops it at his ease, so these 
other meditation subjects are easily got. But this one lasts only one, or two days, 
after which it turns into a livid corpse. There is none harder to get than this 
one." In his night quarters and in his day quarters he should keep his mind 
anchored there thus, "Repulsiveness of the bloated, repulsiveness of the bloated." 
And he should advert to the sign, bring it to mind and strike at it with thought 
and applied thought over and over again. 

66. As he does so, the counterpart sign arises. Here is the difference between 
the two signs. The learning sign appears as a hideous, dreadful and frightening 
sight; but the counterpart sign appears like a man with big limbs lying down 
after eating his fill. 

67. Simultaneously with his acquiring the counterpart sign, his lust is 
abandoned by suppression owing to his giving no attention externally to sense 
desires [as object]. And owing to his abandoning of approval, ill will is abandoned 
too, as pus is with the abandoning of blood. Likewise stiffness and torpor are 
abandoned through exertion of energy, agitation and worry are abandoned 
through devotion to peaceful things that cause no remorse; and uncertainty 
about the Master who teaches the way, about the way, and about the fruit of the 
way, is abandoned through the actual experience of the distinction attained. So 

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the five hindrances are abandoned. And there are present applied thought with 
the characteristic of directing the mind on to that same sign, and sustained 
thought accomplishing the function of pressing on the sign, and happiness 
due to the acquisition of distinction, and tranquillity due to the production of 
tranquillity in one whose mind is happy, and bliss with that tranquillity as its 
sign, [190] and unification that has bliss as its sign due to the production of 
concentration in one whose mind is blissful. So the jhana factors become manifest. 

68. Thus access, which is the obverse of the first jhana, is produced in him too 
at that same moment. All after that up to absorption in the first jhana and mastery 
in it should be understood as described under the earth kasina. 

69. As regards the livid and the rest: the characterizing already described, 
starting with the going in the way beginning "One who is learning the bloated 
sign of foulness goes alone with no companion, with unremitting mindfulness 
established" (§19), should all be understood with its exposition and intention, 
substituting for the word "bloated" the appropriate word in each case thus: 
"One who is learning the livid sign of foulness ...", "One who is learning the 
festering sign of foulness ..." But the differences are as follows. 

[The Livid] 

70. The livid should be brought to mind as "Repulsiveness of the livid, 
repulsiveness of the livid." Here the learning sign appears blotchy-coloured; 
but the counterpart sign's appearance has the colour which is most prevalent. 

[The Festering] 

71. The festering should be brought to mind as "Repulsiveness of the festering, 
repulsiveness of the festering." Here the learning sign appears as though 
trickling; but the counterpart sign appears motionless and quiet. 

[The Cut Up] 

72. The cut up is found on a battlefield or in a robbers' forest or on a charnel 
ground where kings have robbers cut up or in the jungle in a place where men 
are torn up by lions and tigers. So, if when he goes there, it comes into focus at 
one adverting although lying in different places, that is good. If not, then he 
should not touch it with his own hand; for by doing so he would become familiar 
with it. 11 He should get a monastery attendant or one studying to become an 
ascetic or someone else to put it together in one place. If he cannot find anyone 
to do it, he should put it together with a walking stick or a staff in such a way 
that there is only a finger's breadth separating [the parts]. Having put it together 
thus, he should bring it to mind as "Repulsiveness of the cut up, repulsiveness of 
the cut up." Herein, the learning sign appears as though cut in the middle; but 
the counterpart sign appears whole. [191] 



11. "He would come to handle it without disgust as a corpse-burner would" 
(Vism-mht 176.). 



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[The Gnawed] 

73. The gnawed should be brought to mind as "Repulsiveness of the gnawed, 
repulsiveness of the gnawed." Here the learning sign appears as though gnawed 
here and there; but the counterpart sign appears whole. 

[The Scattered] 

74. After getting the scattered put together or putting it together in the way 
described under the cut up so that there is only a finger's breadth, separating 
[the pieces], it should be brought to mind as "Repulsiveness of the scattered, 
repulsiveness of the scattered." Here the learning sign appears with the gaps 
evident; but the counterpart sign appears whole. 

[The Hacked and Scattered] 

75. The hacked and scattered is found in the same places as those described 
under the cut up. Therefore, after going there and getting it put together or 
putting it together in the way described under the cut up so that there is only a 
finger's breadth separating [the pieces], it should be brought to mind as 
"Repulsiveness of the hacked and scattered, repulsiveness of the hacked and 
scattered." Here, when the learning sign becomes evident, it does so with the 
fissures of the wounds; but the counterpart sign appears whole. 

[The Bleeding] 

76. The bleeding is found at the time when [blood] is trickling from the openings 
of wounds received on battlefields, etc., or from the openings of burst boils and 
abscesses when the hands and feet have been cut off. So on seeing that, it should 
be brought to mind as "Repulsiveness of the bleeding, repulsiveness of the 
bleeding." Here the learning sign appears to have the aspect of moving like a 
red banner struck by wind; but the counterpart sign appears quiet. 

[The Worm-Infested] 

77. There is a worm-infested corpse when at the end of two or three days a mass 
of maggots oozes out from the corpse's nine orifices, and the mass lies there like 
a heap of paddy or boiled rice as big as the body, whether the body is that of a 
dog, a jackal, a human being, 12 an ox, a buffalo, an elephant, a horse, a python, 
or what you will. It can be brought to mind with respect to anyone of these as 
"Repulsiveness of the worm-infested, repulsiveness of the worm-infested." For 
the sign arose for the Elder Cula-Pindapatika-Tissa in the corpse of an elephant's 
carcass in the Kaladighavapi reservoir. Here the learning sign appears as though 
moving; but the counterpart sign appears quiet, like a ball of boiled rice. 

[A Skeleton] 

78. A skeleton is described in various aspects in the way beginning "As though 
he were looking at a corpse thrown onto a charnel ground, a skeleton with flesh 

12. Reading manussa with Sinhalese ed. 



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and blood, held together by sinews" (D II 296). [192] So he should go in the way 
already described to where it has been put, and noticing any stones, etc., with 
their surrounding signs and in relation, to the object, he should characterize it 
by the fact of its having attained that particular individual essence thus, "This is a 
skeleton," and he should apprehend the sign in the eleven ways by colour and 
the rest. But if he looks at it, [apprehending it only] by its colour as white, it does 
not appear to him [with its individual essence as repulsive], but only as a variant 
of the white kasina. Consequently he should only look at it as 'a skeleton' in the 
repulsive aspect. 

79. "Mark" is a term for the hand, etc., here, so he should define it by its mark 
according to hand, foot, head, chest, arm, waist, thigh, and shin. He should 
define it by its shape, however, according as it is long, short, square, round, small 
or large. By its direction and by its location are as already described (§39-40). 
Having defined it by its delimitation according to the periphery of each bone, he 
should reach absorption by apprehending whichever appears most evident to 
him. But it can also be defined by its concavities and by its convexities according to 
the concave and convex places in each bone. And it can also be defined by 
position thus: "I am standing in a concave place, the skeleton is in a convex 
place; or I am standing in a convex place, the skeleton is in a concave place." It 
should be defined by its joints according as any two bones are joined together. It 
should be defined by its openings according to the gaps separating the bones. It 
should be defined all round by directing knowledge to it comprehensively thus: 
"In this place there is this skeleton." If the sign does not arise even in this way, 
then the mind should be established on the frontal bone. And in this case, just as 
in the case of those that precede it beginning with the worm-infested, the 
apprehending of the sign should be observed in this elevenfold manner as 
appropriate. 

80. This meditation subject is successful with a whole skeleton frame and even 
with a single bone as well. So having learnt the sign in anyone of these in the 
eleven ways, he should bring it to mind as "Repulsiveness of a skeleton, 
repulsiveness of a skeleton." Here the learning sign and the counterpart sign 
are alike, so it is said. That is correct for a single bone. But when the learning 
sign becomes manifest in a skeleton frame, what is correct [to say] is that there 
are gaps in the learning sign while the counterpart sign appears whole. [193] 
And the learning sign even in a single bone should be dreadful and terrifying 
but the counterpart sign produces happiness and joy because it brings access. 

81. What is said in the Commentaries in this context allows that deduction. 
For there, after saying this, "There is no counterpart sign in the four divine 
abidings and in the ten kinds of foulness; for in the case of the divine abidings 
the sign is the breaking down of boundaries itself, and in the case of the ten 
kinds of foulness the sign comes into being as soon as the repulsiveness is seen, 
without any thinking about it," it is again said, immediately next: "Here the 
sign is twofold: the learning sign and the counterpart sign. The learning sign 
appears hideous, dreadful and terrifying," and so on. So what we said was well 
considered. And it is only this that is correct here. Besides, the appearance of a 



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woman's whole body as a collection of bones to the Elder Maha-Tissa through 
his merely looking at her teeth demonstrates this here (see 1.55). 

[General] 

82. The Divine Ruler with ten hundred eyes 
Did him with the Ten Powers eulogize, 

Who, fair in fame, made known as cause of jhana 
This foulness of ten species in such wise. 
Now, knowing their description and the way 
To tackle each and how they are developed, 
There are some further points that will repay 
Study, each with its special part to play 

83. One who has reached jhana in anyone of these goes free from cupidity; he 
resembles [an Arahant] without greed because his greed has been well 
suppressed. At the same time, however, this classification of foulness should be 
understood as stated in accordance with the particular individual essences 
successively reached by the [dead] body and also in accordance with the 
particular subdivisions of the greedy temperament. 

84. When a corpse has entered upon the repulsive state, it may have reached 
the individual essence of the bloated or anyone of the individual essences 
beginning with that of the livid. So the sign should be apprehended as 
"Repulsiveness of the bloated," "Repulsiveness of the livid," according to 
whichever he has been able to find. This, it should be understood, is how the 
classification of foulness comes to be tenfold with the body's arrival at each 
particular individual essence. 

85. And individually the bloated suits one who is greedy about shape since it 
makes evident the disfigurement of the body's shape. The livid suits one who is 
greedy about the body's colour since it makes evident the disfigurement of the 
skin's colour. The festering [194] suits one who is greedy about the smell of the 
body aroused by scents, perfumes, etc., since it makes evident the evil smells 
connected with this sore, the body. The cut up suits one who is greedy about 
compactness in the body since it makes evident the hollowness inside it. The 
gnawed suits one who is greedy about accumulation of flesh in such parts of the 
body as the breasts since it makes it evident how a fine accumulation of flesh 
comes to nothing. The scattered suits one who is greedy about the grace of the 
limbs since it makes it evident how limbs can be scattered. The hacked and 
scattered suits one who is greedy about a fine body as a whole since it makes 
evident the disintegration and alteration of the body as a whole. The bleeding 
suits one who is greedy about elegance produced by ornaments since it makes 
evident its repulsiveness when smeared with blood. The worm-infested suits one 
who is greedy about ownership of the body since it makes it evident how the 
body is shared with many families of worms. A skeleton suits one who is greedy 
about fine teeth since it makes evident the repulsiveness of the bones in the body. 
This, it should be understood, is how the classification of foulness comes to be 
tenfold according to the subdivisions of the greedy temperament. 



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86. But as regards the tenfold foulness, just as it is only by virtue of its rudder 
that a boat keeps steady in a river with turbulent 13 waters and a rapid current, 
and it cannot be steadied without a rudder, so too [here], owing to the weak hold 
on the object, consciousness when unified only keeps steady by virtue of applied 
thought, and it cannot be steadied without applied thought, which is why there 
is only the first jhana here, not the second and the rest. 

87. And repulsive as this object is, still it arouses joy and happiness in him by 
his seeing its advantages thus, "Surely in this way I shall be liberated from ageing 
and death," and by his abandoning the hindrances' oppression; just as a garbage 
heap does in a flower-scavenger by his seeing the advantages thus, "Now I shall 
get a high wage," and as the workings of purges and emetics do in a man 
suffering the pains of sickness. 

88. This foulness, while of ten kinds, has only one characteristic. For though it 
is of ten kinds, nevertheless its characteristic is only its impure, stinking, 
disgusting and repulsive state (essence). And foulness appears with this 
characteristic not only in a dead body but also in a living one, as it did to the 
Elder Maha-Tissa who lived at Cetiyapabbata (1.55), and to the novice attendant 
on the Elder Sahgharakkhita while he was watching the king riding an elephant. 
For a living body is just as foul as a dead one, [195] only the characteristic of 
foulness is not evident in a living body, being hidden by adventitious 
embellishments. 

89. This is the body's nature: it is a collection of over three hundred bones, 
jointed by one hundred and eighty joints, bound together by nine hundred 
sinews, plastered over with nine hundred pieces of flesh, enveloped in the moist 
inner skin, enclosed in the outer cuticle, with orifices here and there, constantly 
dribbling and trickling like a grease pot, inhabited by a community of worms, 
the home of disease, the basis of painful states, perpetually oozing from the nine 
orifices like a chronic open carbuncle, from both of whose eyes eye-filth trickles, 
from whose ears comes ear-filth, from whose nostrils snot, from whose mouth 
food and bile and phlegm and blood, from whose lower outlets excrement and 
urine, and from whose ninety-nine thousand pores the broth of stale sweat 
seeps, with bluebottles and their like buzzing round it, which when untended 
with tooth sticks and mouth-washing and head-anointing and bathing and 
underclothing and dressing would, judged by the universal repulsiveness of 
the body, make even a king, if he wandered from village to village with his hair 
in its natural wild disorder, no different from a flower-scavenger or an outcaste 
or what you will. So there is no distinction between a king's body and an outcaste's 
in so far as its impure stinking nauseating repulsiveness is concerned. 

90. But by rubbing out the stains on its teeth with tooth sticks and mouth- 
washing and all that, by concealing its private parts under several cloths, by 
daubing it with various scents and salves, by pranking it with nosegays and 
such things, it is worked up into a state that permits of its being taken as "I" and 



13. Aparisanthita — "turbulent." Parisanthati (to quiet) is not in PED. Aparisanthita is 
not in CPD. 



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"mine." So men delight in women and women in men without perceiving the 
true nature of its characteristic foulness, now masked by this adventitious 
adornment. But in the ultimate sense there is no place here even the size of an 
atom fit to lust after. 

91. And then, when any such bits of it as head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, 
spittle, snot, excrement or urine have dropped off the body, beings will not touch 
them; they are ashamed, humiliated and disgusted. But as long as anyone of 
these things remains in it, though it is just as repulsive, they take it as agreeable, 
desirable, permanent, [196] pleasant, self, because they are wrapped in the murk 
of ignorance and dyed with affection and greed for self. Taking it as they do, 
they resemble the old jackal who saw a flower not yet fallen from a kimsuka tree in 
a forest and yearned after it, thinking, "This is a piece of meat, it is a piece of 
meat." 

92. There was a jackal chanced to see 
A flowering kimsuka in a wood; 

In haste he went to where it stood: 
"I have found a meat-bearing tree!" 

He chewed the blooms that fell, but could, 
Of course, find nothing fit to eat; 
He took it thus: "Unlike the meat 
There on the tree, this is no good." 

A wise man will not think to treat 
As foul only the part that fell, 
But treats as foul the part as well 
That in the body has its seat. 

Fools cannot in their folly tell; 
They take the body to be fair, 
And soon get caught in Evil's snare 
Nor can escape its painful spell. 

But since the wise have thus laid bare 
This filthy body's nature, so, 
Be it alive or dead, they know 
There is no beauty lurking there. 

93. For this is said: 

"This filthy body stinks outright 
Like ordure, like a privy's site; 
This body men that have insight 
Condemn, as object of a fool's delight. 

"A tumour where nine holes abide 
Wrapped in a coat of clammy hide 
And trickling filth on every side, 
Polluting the air with stenches far and wide. 



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"If it perchance should come about 

That what is inside it came out, 

Surely a man would need a knout 

With which to put the crows and dogs to rout." 

94. So a capable bhikkhu should apprehend the sign wherever the aspect of 
foulness is manifest, whether in a living body or in a dead one, and he should 
make the meditation subject reach absorption. 

The sixth chapter called "The Description of Foulness as 
a Meditation Subject" in the Treatise on the Development 
of Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter VII 

Six Recollections 
(Cha-anussati-niddesa) 

1. [197] Now, ten recollections were listed next after the ten kinds of foulness 
(III. 105). As to these: 

Mindfulness (sati) itself is recollection (anussati) because it arises again and 
again; or alternatively, the mindfulness (sati) that is proper (anurupa) for a 
clansman gone forth out of faith, since it occurs only in those instances where it 
should occur, is "recollection" (anussati). 

The recollection arisen inspired by the Enlightened One is the recollection of 
the Buddha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Enlightened One's special 
qualities as its object. 

The recollection arisen inspired by the Law is the recollection of the Dhamma. 1 
This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of the Law's being well 
proclaimed, etc., as its object. 

1. The word dhamma — perhaps the most important and frequently used of Pali 
words — has no single equivalent in English because no English word has both a 
generalization so wide and loose as the word dhamma in its widest sense (which 
includes "everything" that can be known or thought of in any way) and at the same 
time an ability to be, as it were, focused in a set of well-defined specific uses. Roughly 
dhamma = what-can-be-remembered or what-can-be-borne-in-mind (dharetabba) as 
kamma = what-can-be-done (katabba). The following two principal (and overlapping) 
senses are involved here: (i) the Law as taught, and (ii) objects of consciousness, (i) In 
the first case the word has either been left untranslated as "Dhamma" or "dhamma" 
or it has been tendered as "Law" or "law." This ranges from the loose sense of the 
"Good Law," "cosmic law," and "teaching" to such specific technical senses as the 
"discrimination of law," "causality" "being subject to or having the nature of." (ii) In 
the second case the word in its looser sense of "something known or thought of" has 
either been left untranslated as "dhamma" or rendered by "state" (more rarely by 
"thing" or "phenomenon"), while in its technical sense as one of the twelve bases or 
eighteen elements "mental object" and "mental datum" have been used. The sometimes 
indiscriminate use of "dhamma," "state" and "law" in both the looser senses is 
deliberate. The English words have been reserved as far as possible for rendering 
dhamma (except that "state" has sometimes been used to render bhava, etc., in the 
sense of "-ness"). Other subsidiary meanings of a non-technical nature have 
occasionally been otherwise rendered according to context. 



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The recollection arisen inspired by the Community is the recollection of the 
Sangha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Community's special qualities of 
being entered on the good way etc., as its object. 

The recollection arisen inspired by virtue is the recollection of virtue. This is a term 
for mindfulness with the special qualities of virtue's untornness, etc., as its object. 

The recollection arisen inspired by generosity is the recollection of generosity. 
This is a term for mindfulness with generosity's special qualities of free 
generosity, etc., as its object. 

The recollection arisen inspired by deities is the recollection of deities. This is a 
term for mindfulness with the special qualities of one's own faith, etc., as its 
object with deities standing as witnesses. 

The recollection arisen inspired by death is the recollection of death. This is a 
term for mindfulness with the termination of the life faculty as its object. 

[Mindfulness occupied with the body (kaya-gata sati — lit. "body-gone 
mindfulness"):] it is gone (gata) to the material body (kayo) that is analyzed into 
head hairs, etc., or it is gone into the body, thus it is "body-gone" {kaya-gata). It is 
body-gone (kaya-gata) and it is mindfulness (sati), thus it is "body-gone- 
mindfulness" (kayagatasati — single compound); but instead of shortening [the 
vowel] thus in the usual way, "body-gone mindfulness" (kayagata sati — 
compound adj. + noun) is said. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its 
object the sign of the bodily parts consisting of head hairs and the rest. 

The mindfulness arisen inspired by breathing (anapana) is mindfulness of 
breathing. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its object the sign of in- 
breaths and out-breaths. 

In order to avoid muddle it is necessary to distinguish renderings of the word 
dhamma and renderings of the words used to define it. The word itself is a gerundive 
of the verb dharati (caus. dhareti — "to bear") and so is the literal equivalent of "[quality] 
that is to be borne." But since the grammatical meanings of the two words dharati ("to 
bear") and dahati ("to put or sort out," whence dhatu — "element") sometimes coalesce, 
it often comes very close to dhatu (but see VIII n. 68 and XI.104). If it is asked, what 
bears the qualities to be borne? A correct answer here would probably be that it is the 
event (samaya), as stated in the Dhammasarigani (§1, etc.), in which the various 
dhammas listed there arise and are present, variously related to each other. The word 
dhammin (thing qualified or "bearer of what is to be borne") is a late introduction as a 
logical term (perhaps first used in Pali by Vism-mht, see p. 534). 

As to the definitions of the word, there are several. At D-a I 99 four meanings are 
given: moral (meritorious) special quality (guna), preaching of the Law (desana), scripture 
(pariyatti), and "no-living-being-ness" (nissattata). Four meanings are also given at 
Dhs-a 38: scripture (pariyatti), cause (of effect) as law (hetu), moral (meritorious) 
special quality (guna), and "no-living-being-ness and soullessness" (nissatta-nijjivata). 
A wider definition is given at M-a 117, where the following meanings are distinguished: 
scriptural mastery, (pariyatti — A III 86) truth, (sacca — Vin 1 12) concentration, (samadhi — 
D II 54) understanding, (pahna — J-a 1 280) nature, (pakati — M 1 162) individual essence, 
(sabhava — Dhs 1) voidness, (suhhata — Dhs 25) merit, (puhna — S I 82) offence, (apatti — 
Vin III 187) what is knowable, (heyya — Patis II 194) "and so on" (see also VIII n. 68). 

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The recollection arisen inspired by peace is the recollection of peace. This is a 
term that has as its object the stilling of all suffering. 

[(1) Recollection of the Enlightened One] 

2. [198] Now, a meditator with absolute confidence 2 who wants to develop firstly 
the recollection of the Enlightened One among these ten should go into solitary 
retreat in a favourable abode and recollect the special qualities of the Enlightened 
One, the Blessed One, as follows: 

That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, fully enlightened, endowed 
with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct, sublime, the knower of worlds, the 
incomparable leader of men to be tamed, the teacher of gods and men, 
enlightened and blessed (M I 37; A III 285). 

3. Here is the way he recollects: "That Blessed One is such since he is 
accomplished, he is such since he is fully enlightened, ... he is such since he is 
blessed" — he is so for these several reasons, is what is meant. 

[Accomplished] 

4. Herein, what he recollects firstly is that the Blessed One is accomplished (arahanta) 
for the following reasons: (i) because of remoteness (araka), and (ii) because of 
his enemies (ari) and (iii) the spokes (ara) having been destroyed (hata), and (iv) 
because of his worthiness (araha) of requisites, etc., and (v) because of absence of 
secret (rahabhava) evil-doing. 3 

5. (i) He stands utterly remote and far away from all defilements because he has 
expunged all trace of defilement by means of the path — because of such 
remoteness (araka) he is accomplished (arahanta). 

A man remote (araka) indeed we call 

From something he has not at all; 

The Saviour too that has no stain 

May well the name "accomplished" (arahanta) gain. 

6. (ii) And these enemies (ari), these defilements, are destroyed (hata) by the 
path — because the enemies are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) 
also. 

The enemies (ari) that were deployed, 

Greed and the rest, have been destroyed (hata) 

By his, the Helper's, wisdom's sword, 

So he is "accomplished" (arahanta), all accord. 

7. (iii) Now, this wheel of the round of rebirths with its hub made of ignorance 
and of craving for becoming, with its spokes consisting of formations of merit 
and the rest, with its rim of ageing and death, which is joined to the chariot of 

2. "'Absolute confidence' is the confidence afforded by the noble path. Development 
of the recollection comes to success in him who has that, not in any other" (Vism-mht 
181). "Absolute confidence" is a constituent of the first three "factors of stream- 
entry" (see S V 196). 

3. Cf. derivation of the word ariya ("noble") at M-a I 21. 

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Chapter VII Six Recollections 

the triple becoming by piercing it with the axle made of the origins of cankers 
(see M I 55), has been revolving throughout time that has no beginning. All of 
this wheel's spokes (ara) were destroyed (hata) by him at the Place of 
Enlightenment, as he stood firm with the feet of energy on the ground of virtue, 
wielding with the hand of faith the axe of knowledge that destroys kamma — 
because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also. 

8. Or alternatively, it is the beginningless round of rebirths that is called the 
"wheel of the round of rebirths." Ignorance is its hub because it is its root. 
Ageing-and-death is its rim because it terminates it. The remaining ten states [of 
the dependent origination] are its spokes because ignorance is their root and 
ageing-and-death their termination. 

9. Herein, ignorance is unknowing about suffering and the rest. And ignorance 
in sensual becoming [199] is a condition for formations in sensual becoming. 
Ignorance in fine-material becoming is a condition for formations in fine-material 
becoming. Ignorance in immaterial becoming is a condition for formations in 
immaterial becoming. 

10. Formations in sensual becoming are a condition for rebirth-linking 
consciousness in sensual becoming. And similarly with the rest. 

11. Rebirth-linking consciousness in sensual becoming is a condition for 
mentality-materiality in sensual becoming. Similarly in fine-material becoming. 
In immaterial becoming it is a condition for mentality only. 

12. Mentality-materiality in sensual becoming is a condition for the sixfold 
base in sensual becoming. Mentality-materiality in fine-material becoming is a 
condition for three bases in fine-material becoming. Mentality in immaterial 
becoming is a condition for one base in immaterial becoming. 

13. The sixfold base in sensual becoming is a condition for six kinds of contact 
in sensual becoming. Three bases in fine-material becoming are conditions for 
three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming. The mind base alone in 
immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of contact in immaterial 
becoming. 

14. The six kinds of contact in sensual becoming are conditions for six kinds 
of feeling in sensual becoming. Three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming 
are conditions for three kinds of feeling there too. One kind of contact in 
immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of feeling there too. 

15. The six kinds of feeling in sensual becoming are conditions for the six 
groups of craving in sensual becoming. Three in the fine-material becoming are 
for three there too. One kind of feeling in the immaterial becoming is a condition 
for one group of craving in the immaterial becoming. The craving in the several 
kinds of becoming is a condition for the clinging there. 

16. Clinging, etc., are the respective conditions for becoming and the rest. In 
what way? Here someone thinks, "I shall enjoy sense desires," and with sense- 
desire clinging as condition he misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind. 
Owing to the fulfilment of his misconduct he reappears in a state of loss 
(deprivation). The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma- 

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process becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process 
becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is ageing, 
their dissolution is death. 

17. Another thinks, "I shall enjoy the delights of heaven," and in the parallel 
manner he conducts himself well. Owing to the fulfilment of his good conduct 
he reappears in a [sensual-sphere] heaven. The kamma that is the cause of his 
reappearance there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest as before. 

18. Another thinks, "I shall enjoy the delights of the Brahma-world," and with 
sense-desire clinging as condition he develops loving-kindness, compassion, 
gladness, and equanimity 4 [200] Owing to the fulfilment of the meditative 
development he is reborn in the Brahma-world. The kamma that is the cause of 
his rebirth there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest is as before. 

19. Yet another thinks, "I shall enjoy the delights of immaterial becoming," 
and with the same condition he develops the attainments beginning with the 
base consisting of boundless space. Owing to the fulfilment of the development 
he is reborn in one of these states. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there 
is kamma-process becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth- 
process becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is 
ageing, their dissolution is death (see M II 263). The remaining kinds of clinging 
are construable in the same way. 

20. So, "Understanding of discernment of conditions thus, 'Ignorance is a 
cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,' 
is knowledge of the causal relationship of states. Understanding of discernment 
of conditions thus, 'In the past and in the future ignorance is a cause, formations 
are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,' is knowledge of 
the causal relationship of states" (Patis I 50), and all the clauses should be given 
in detail in this way. 

21. Herein, ignorance and formations are one summarization; consciousness, 
mentality-materiality the sixfold base, contact, and feeling are another; craving, 
clinging, and becoming are another; and birth and ageing-and-death are 
another. Here the first summarization is past, the two middle ones are present, 
and birth and ageing-and-death are future. When ignorance and formations 
are mentioned, thentates, became dispassionate towards them, when his greed 
faded away, when he was liberated, then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished, 
the spokes of this wheel of the round of rebirths of the kind just described. 

22. Now, the Blessed One knew, saw, understood, and penetrated in all aspects 
this dependent origination with its four summarizations, its three times, its 
twenty aspects, and its three links. "Knowledge is in the sense of that being 
known, 5 and understanding is in the sense of the act of understanding that. 

4. "Because of the words, 'Also all dhammas of the three planes are sense desires 
(kama) in the sense of being desirable (kamanlya) (Cf. Nidd I 1: sabbepi kamavacara 
dhamma, sabbepi rupavacara dhamma, sabbepi arupavacara dhamma . . . kamanlyatthena . . . 
kama), greed for becoming is sense-desire clinging' (Vism-mht 184). See XII. 72. For 
the "way to the Brahma-world" see M II 194-96; 207f. 

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Hence it was said: 'Understanding of discernment of conditions is knowledge 
of the causal relationship of states'" (Patis I 52). Thus when the Blessed One, by 
correctly knowing these states with knowledge of relations of states, became 
dispassionate towards them, when his greed faded away, when he was liberated, 
then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished, the spokes of this wheel of the 
round of rebirths of the kind just described. 

Because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also. 
[201] 

The spokes (ara) of rebirth's wheel have been 
Destroyed (hata) with wisdom's weapon keen 
By him, the Helper of the World, 
And so "accomplished" (arahanta) he is called. 

23. (iv) And he is worthy (arahati) of the requisites of robes, etc., and of the 
distinction of being accorded homage because it is he who is most worthy of 
offerings. For when a Perfect One has arisen, important deities and human 
beings pay homage to none else; for Brahma Sahampati paid homage to the 
Perfect One with a jewelled garland as big as Sineru, and other deities did so 
according to their means, as well as human beings as King Bimbisara [of 
Magadha] and the king of Kosala. And after the Blessed One had finally attained 
Nibbana, King Asoka renounced wealth to the amount of ninety-six million for 
his sake and founded eight-four thousand monasteries throughout all 
Jambudipa (India). And so, with all these, what need to speak of others? Because 
of worthiness of requisites he is accomplished (arahanta) also. 

So he is worthy, the Helper of the World, 
Of homage paid with requisites; the word 
"Accomplished" (arahanta) has this meaning in the world: 
Hence the Victor is worthy of that word. 

24. (v) And he does not act like those fools in the world who vaunt their 
cleverness and yet do evil, but in secret for fear of getting a bad name. Because of 
absence of secret (rahabhava) evil-doing he is accomplished (arahanta) also. 

No secret evil deed may claim 
An author so august; the name 
"Accomplished" (arahanta) is his deservedly 
By absence of such secrecy (rahabhava). 

25. So in all ways: 

The Sage of remoteness unalloyed, 

Vanquished defiling foes deployed, 

The spokes of rebirth's wheel destroyed, 

Worthy of requisites employed, 

Secret evil he does avoid: 

For these five reasons he may claim 

This word "accomplished" for his name. 

5. Reading "tarn hatattthena nanam" with Vism-mht. 



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[Fully Enlightened] 

26. He is fully enlightened (sammasambuddha) because he has discovered 
(buddha) all things rightly (samma) and by himself (samam). 

In fact, all things were discovered by him rightly by himself in that he 
discovered, of the things to be directly known, that they must be directly known 
(that is, learning about the four truths), of the things to be fully understood that 
they must be fully understood (that is, penetration of suffering), of the things to 
be abandoned that they must be abandoned (that is, penetration of the origin of 
suffering), of the things to be realized that they must be realized (that is, 
penetration of the cessation of suffering), and of the things to be developed that 
they must be developed (that is, penetration of the path). Hence it is said: 

What must be directly known is directly known, 
What has to be developed has been developed, 
What has to be abandoned has been abandoned; 
And that, brahman, is why I am enlightened (Sn 558). 

27. [202] Besides, he has discovered all things rightly by himself step by step 
thus: The eye is the truth of suffering; the prior craving that originates it by being 
its root-cause is the truth of origin; the non-occurrence of both is the truth of cessation; 
the way that is the act of understanding cessation is the truth of the path. And so too 
in the case of the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. 

28. And the following things should be construed in the same way: 
the six bases beginning with visible objects; 

the six groups of consciousness beginning with eye-consciousness; 

the six kinds of contact beginning with eye-contact; 

the six kinds of feeling beginning with the eye-contact-born; 

the six kinds of perception beginning with perception of visible objects; 

the six kinds of volition beginning with volition about visible objects; 

the six groups of craving beginning with craving for visible objects; 

the six kinds of applied thought beginning with applied thought about visible 
objects; 

the six kinds of sustained thought beginning with sustained thought about 
visible objects; 

the five aggregates beginning with the aggregate of matter; 

the ten kasinas; 

the ten recollections; 

the ten perceptions beginning with perception of the bloated; 

the thirty-two aspects [of the body] beginning with head hairs; 

the twelve bases; 

the eighteen elements; 

the nine kinds of becoming beginning with sensual becoming; 6 



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the four jhanas beginning with the first; 

the four measureless states beginning with the development of loving- 
kindness; 

the four immaterial attainments; 

the factors of the dependent origination in reverse order beginning with 
ageing-and-death and in forward order beginning with ignorance (cf. XX. 9). 

29. Herein, this is the construction of a single clause [of the dependent 
origination]: Ageing-and-death is the truth of suffering, birth is the truth of 
origin, the escape from both is the truth of cessation, the way that is the act of 
understanding cessation is the truth of the path. 

In this way he has discovered, progressively discovered, completely discovered, 
all states rightly and by himself step by step. Hence it was said above: "He is fully 
enlightened because he has discovered all things rightly and by himself" (§26)7 

[Endowed With Clear Vision and Virtuous Conduct] 

30. He is endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct: vijjacaranasampanno 
= vijjahi caranena ca sampanno (resolution of compound). 



6. See XVII. 253f. The word bhava is rendered here both by "existence" and by 
"becoming." The former, while less awkward to the ear, is inaccurate if it is allowed a 
flavour of staticness. "Becoming" will be more frequently used as this work proceeds. 
Loosely the two senses tend to merge. But technically, "existence" should perhaps be 
used only for atthita, which signifies the momentary existence of a dhamma "possessed 
of the three instants of arising, presence, and dissolution." "Becoming" then signifies 
the continuous flow or flux of such triple-instant moments; and it occurs in three main 
modes: sensual, fine-material, and immaterial. For remarks on the words "being" and 
"essence" see VIII n. 68. 

7. "Is not unobstructed knowledge (anavarana-nana) different from omniscient 
knowledge (sabbannuta-nana)? Otherwise the words "Six kinds of knowledge unshared 
[by disciples]" (Patis I 3) would be contradicted? [Note: The six kinds are: knowledge 
of what faculties prevail in beings, knowledge of the inclinations and tendencies of 
beings, knowledge of the Twin Marvel, knowledge of the attainment of the great 
compassion, omniscient knowledge, and unobstructed knowledge (see Patis 1 133)]. — 
There is no contradiction, because two ways in which a single kind of knowledge's 
objective field occurs are described for the purpose of showing by means of this 
difference how it is not shared by others. 

It is only one kind of knowledge; but it is called omniscient knowledge because its 
objective field consists of formed, unformed, and conventional (sammuti) [i.e. 
conceptual] dhammas without remainder, and it is called unobstructed knowledge 
because of its unrestricted access to the objective field, because of absence of 
obstruction. And it is said accordingly in the Patisambhida: "It knows all the formed 
and the unformed without remainder, thus it is omniscient knowledge. It has no 
obstruction therein, thus it is unobstructed knowledge" (Patis I 131), and so on. So 
they are not different kinds of knowledge. And there must be no reservation, otherwise 
it would follow that omniscient and unobstructed knowledge had obstructions and 
did not make all dhammas its object. There is not in fact a minimal obstruction to the 

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Herein, as to [dear] vision: there are three kinds of clear vision and eight kinds 
of clear vision. The three kinds should be understood as stated in the 
Bhayabherava Sutta (M I 22f.), and the eight kinds as stated in the Ambattha 
Sutta (D 1 100). For there eight kinds of clear vision are stated, made up of the six 
kinds of direct-knowledge together with insight and the supernormal power of 
the mind-made [body]. 

Blessed One's knowledge: and if his unobstructed knowledge did not have all dhammas 
as its object, there would be presence of obstruction where it did not occur, and so it 
would not be unobstructed. 

"Or alternatively, even if we suppose that they are different, still it is omniscient 
knowledge itself that is intended as 'unhindered' since it is that which occurs 
unhindered universally. And it is by his attainment of that that the Blessed One is 
known as Omniscient, All-seer, Fully Enlightened, not because of awareness (avabodha) 
of every dhamma at once, simultaneously (see M II 127). And it is said accordingly in 
the Patisambhida: 'This is a name derived from the final liberation of the Enlightened 
Ones, the Blessed Ones, together with the acquisition of omniscient knowledge at the 
root of the Enlightenment Tree; this name "Buddha" is a designation based on 
realization' (Patis 1 174). For the ability in the Blessed One's continuity to penetrate all 
dhammas without exception was due to his having completely attained to knowledge 
capable of becoming aware of all dhammas. 

"Here it may be asked: But how then? When this knowledge occurs, does it do so 
with respect to every field simultaneously, or successively? For firstly, if it occurs 
simultaneously with respect to every objective field, then with the simultaneous 
appearance of formed dhammas classed as past, future and present, internal and 
external, etc., and of unformed and conventional (conceptual) dhammas, there would 
be no awareness of contrast (patibhaga), as happens in one who looks at a painted 
canvas from a distance. That being so, it follows that all dhammas become the objective 
field of the Blessed One's knowledge in an undifferentiated form (anirupita-rilpana), 
as they do through the aspect of not-self to those who are exercising insight thus 'All 
dhammas are not-self (Dhp 279; Th 678; M 1 230; II 64; S III 132; A I 286; IV 14; Patis II 
48, 62; Vin I 86. Cf. also A III 444; IV 88, 338; Sn 1076). And those do not escape this 
difficulty who say that the Enlightened One's knowledge occurs with the characteristic 
of presence of all knowable dhammas as its objective field, devoid of discriminative 
thinking (vikappa-rahita), and universal in time (sabba-kala) and that is why they are 
called 'All-seeing' and why it is said, 'The Naga is concentrated walking and he is 
concentrated standing' (?). 

They do not escape the difficulty since the Blessed One's knowledge would then 
have only a partial objective field, because, by having the characteristic of presence as 
its object, past, future and conventional dhammas, which lack that characteristic, would 
be absent. So it is wrong to say that it occurs simultaneously with respect to every 
objective field. Then secondly if we say that it occurs successively with respect to 
every objective field, that is wrong too. For when the knowable, classed in the many 
different ways according to birth, place, individual essence, etc., and direction, place, 
time, etc., is apprehended successively, then penetration without remainder is not 
effected since the knowable is infinite. And those are wrong too who say that the 
Blessed One is All-seeing owing to his doing his defining by taking one part of the 
knowable as that actually experienced (paccakkha) and deciding that the rest is the 
same because of the unequivocalness of its meaning, and that such knowledge is not 



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31. [Virtuous] conduct should be understood as fifteen things, that is to say: 
restraint by virtue, guarding of the sense faculties, knowledge of the right amount 
in eating, devotion to wakefulness, the seven good states, 8 and the four jhanas of 
the fine-material sphere. For it is precisely by means of these fifteen things that a 
noble disciple conducts himself, that he goes towards the deathless. That is why 
it is called "[virtuous] conduct," according as it is said, "Here, Mahanama, a 
noble disciple has virtue" (M I 355), etc, the whole of which should be understood 
as given in the Middle Fifty [of the Majjhima Nikaya]. 



inferential (anumanika) since it is free from doubt, because it is what is doubtfully 
discovered that is meant by inferential knowledge in the world. And they are wrong 
because there is no such defining by taking one part of the knowable as that actually 
experienced and deciding that the rest is the same because of the unequivocalness of its 
meaning, without making all of it actually experienced. For then that 'rest' is not actually 
experienced; and if it were actually experienced, it would no longer be 'the rest.' 

"All that is no argument. — Why not? — Because this is not a field for ratiocination; 
for the Blessed One has said this: 'The objective field of Enlightened Ones is 
unthinkable, it cannot be thought out; anyone who tried to think it out would reap 
madness and frustration' (A II 80). The agreed explanation here is this: Whatever the 
Blessed One wants to know — either entirely or partially — there his knowledge occurs 
as actual experience because it does so without hindrance. And it has constant 
concentration because of the absence of distraction. And it cannot occur in association 
with wishing of a kind that is due to absence from the objective field of something that 
he wants to know. There can be no exception to this because of the words, 'All dhammas 
are available to the adverting of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, are available at 
his wish, are available to his attention, are available to his thought' (Patis II 195). And 
the Blessed One's knowledge that has the past and future as its objective field is 
entirely actual experience since it is devoid of assumption based on inference, tradition 
or conjecture. 

"And yet, even in that case, suppose he wanted to know the whole in its entirety 
then would his knowledge not occur without differentiation in the whole objective 
field simultaneously? And so there would still be no getting out of that difficulty? 
"That is not so, because of its purifiedness. Because the Enlightened One's objective 
field is purified and it is unthinkable. Otherwise there would be no unthinkableness in 
the knowledge of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, if it occurred in the same way 
as that of ordinary people. So, although it occurs with all dhammas as its object, it 
nevertheless does so making those dhammas quite clearly defined, as though it had 
a single dhamma as its object. This is what is unthinkable here. ' 

There is as much knowledge as there is knowable, there is as much knowable as 
there is knowledge; the knowledge is limited by the knowable, the knowable is limited 
by the knowledge' (Patis II 195). So he is Fully Enlightened because he has rightly and 
by himself discovered all dhammas together and separately, simultaneously and 
successively according to his wish' (Vism-mht 190-91). 

8. A possessor of "the seven" has faith, conscience, shame, learning, energy, 
mindfulness, and understanding (see D III 252). PED traces saddhamma (as "the true 
dhamma," etc.) to sunt + dhamma; but it is as likely traceable to srad + dhamma = (good 
ground) for the placing of faith (saddha). 

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[203] Now, the Blessed One is endowed with these kinds of clear vision and 
with this conduct as well; hence he is called "endowed with [clear] vision and 
[virtuous] conduct." 

32. Herein, the Blessed One's possession of clear vision consists in the 
fulfilment of omniscience (Patis I 131), while his possession of conduct consists 
in the fulfilment of the great compassion (Patis I 126). He knows through 
omniscience what is good and harmful for all beings, and through compassion 
he warns them of harm and exhorts them to do good. That is how he is possessed 
of clear vision and conduct, which is why his disciples have entered upon the 
good way instead of entering upon the bad way as the self-mortifying disciples 
of those who are not possessed of clear vision and conduct have done. 9 

[Sublime] 

33. He is called sublime (sugata) 10 (i) because of a manner of going that is good 
(sobhana-gamana), (ii) because of being gone to an excellent place (sundaram 

9. "Here the Master's possession of vision shows the greatness of understanding, 
and his possession of conduct the greatness of his compassion. It was through 
understanding that the Blessed One reached the kingdom of the Dhamma, and through 
compassion that he became the bestower of the Dhamma. It was through 
understanding that he felt revulsion for the round of rebirths, and through compassion 
that he bore it. It was through understanding that he fully understood others' suffering, 
and through compassion that he undertook to counteract it. It was through 
understanding that he was brought face to face with Nibbana, and through compassion 
that he attained it. It was through understanding that he himself crossed over, and 
through compassion that he brought others across. It was through understanding 
that he perfected the Enlightened One's state, and through compassion that he perfected 
the Enlightened One's task. 

"Or it was through compassion that he faced the round of rebirths as a Bodhisatta, 
and through understanding that he took no delight in it. Likewise it was through 
compassion that he practiced non-cruelty to others, and through understanding that 
he was himself fearless of others. It was through compassion that he protected others 
to protect himself, and through understanding that he protected himself to protect 
others. Likewise it was through compassion that he did not torment others, and 
through understanding that he did not torment himself; so of the four types of persons 
beginning with the one who practices for his own welfare (A II 96) he perfected the 
fourth and best type. Likewise it was through compassion that he became the world's 
helper, and through understanding that he became his own helper. It was through 
compassion that he had humility [as a Bodhisatta], and through understanding that 
he had dignity [as a Buddha]. Likewise it was through compassion that he helped all 
beings as a father while owing to the understanding associated with it his mind 
remained detached from them all, and it was through understanding that his mind 
remained detached from all dhammas while owing to the compassion associated with 
it that he was helpful to all beings. For just as the Blessed One's compassion was 
devoid of sentimental affection or sorrow, so his understanding was free from the 
thoughts of T and 'mine'" (Vism-mht 192-93). 

10. The following renderings have been adopted for the most widely-used epithets 
for the Buddha. Tathagata, (Perfect One — for definitions see M-a 1 45f.) Bhagavant (Blessed 

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thanam gatatta), (iii) because of having gone rightly (sammagatatta) , and (iv) 
because of enunciating rightly (sammagadatta). 

(i) A manner of going (gamana) is called "gone" (gata), and that in the Blessed 
One is good (sobhana), purified, blameless. But what is that? It is the noble path; 
for by means of that manner of going he has "gone" without attachment in the 
direction of safety — thus he is sublime (sugata) because of a manner of going that 
is good. 

(ii) And it is to the excellent (sundara) place that he has gone {gata), to the 
deathless Nibbana — thus he is sublime (sugata) also because of having gone to 
an excellent place. 

34. (iii) And he has rightly (samma) gone (gata), without going back again to 
the defilements abandoned by each path. For this is said: "He does not again 
turn, return, go back, to the defilements abandoned by the stream entry path, 
thus he is sublime ... he does not again turn, return, go back, to the defilements 
abandoned by the Arahant path, thus he is sublime" (old commentary?). Or 
alternatively, he has rightly gone from the time of [making his resolution] at the 
feet of Dipahkara up till the Enlightenment Session, by working for the welfare 
and happiness of the whole world through the fulfilment of the thirty perfections 
and through following the right way without deviating towards either of the 
two extremes, that is to say, towards eternalism or annihilationism, towards 
indulgence in sense pleasures or self-mortification — thus he is sublime also 
because of having gone rightly. 

35. (iv) And he enunciates 11 (gadati) rightly (samma); he speaks only fitting 
speech in the fitting place — thus he is sublime also because of enunciating 
rightly. 

Here is a sutta that confirms this: "Such speech as the Perfect One knows to be 
untrue and incorrect, conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to 
others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be 
true and correct, but conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to 
others, that he does not speak. [204] And such speech as the Perfect One knows 
to be true and correct, conducive to good, but displeasing and unwelcome to 
others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound. Such speech as 
the Perfect One knows to be untrue and incorrect, and conducive to harm, but 
pleasing and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the 
Perfect One knows to be true and correct, but conducive to harm, though pleasing 
and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect 
One knows to be true and correct, conducive to good, and pleasing and welcome 
to others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound" (M I 395) — 
thus he is sublime also because of enunciating rightly. 



One), Sugata (Sublime One). These renderings do not pretend to literalness. Attempts 
to be literal here are apt to produce a bizarre or quaint effect, and for that very reason 
fail to render what is in the Pali. 
11. Gadati — "to enunciate": only noun gada in PED. 



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[Knower of Worlds] 

36. He is the knower ofivorlds because he has known the world in all ways. For 
the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated the world in all ways to 
its individual essence, its arising, its cessation, and the means to its cessation, 
according as it is said: "Friend, that there is a world's end where one neither is 
born nor ages nor dies nor passes away nor reappears, which is to be known or 
seen or reached by travel — that I do not say. Yet I do not say that there is ending 
of suffering without reaching the world's end. Rather, it is in this fathom-long 
carcass with its perceptions and its consciousness that I make known the world, 
the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the 
cessation of the world. 

"Tis utterly impossible 

To reach by travel the world's end; 

But there is no escape from pain 

Until the world's end has been reached. 

It is a sage, a knower of the worlds, 

Who gets to the world's end, and it is he 

Whose life divine is lived out to its term; 

He is at peace who the world's end has known 

And hopes for neither this world nor the next" (S I 62). 

37. Moreover, there are three worlds: the world of formations, the world of 
beings, and the world of location. Herein, in the passage, "One world: all beings 
subsist by nutriment" (Patis I 122), [205] the world of formations is to be 
understood. In the passage, "'The world is eternal' or 'The world is not eternal'" 
(M I 426) it is the world of beings. In the passage: 

"As far as moon and sun do circulate 

Shining 12 and lighting up the [four] directions, 

Over a thousand times as great a world 

Your power holds unquestionable sway" (M I 328) — 

it is the world of location. The Blessed One has known that in all ways too. 

38. Likewise, because of the words: "One world: all beings subsist by nutriment. 
Two worlds: mentality and materiality. Three worlds: three kinds of feeling. Four 
worlds: four kinds of nutriment. Five worlds: five aggregates as objects of clinging. 
Six worlds: six internal bases. Seven worlds: seven stations of consciousness. 
Eight worlds: eight worldly states. Nine worlds: nine abodes of beings. Ten worlds: 
ten bases. Twelve worlds: twelve bases. Eighteen worlds: eighteen elements" (Patis I 
122), 13 this world of formations was known to him in all ways. 

39. But he knows all beings' habits, knows their inherent tendencies, knows 
their temperaments, knows their bents, knows them as with little dust on their 
eyes and with much dust on their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, 
with good behaviour and with bad behaviour, easy to teach and hard to teach, 

12. Bhanti — "they shine": this form is not given in PED under bhati. 

13. To take what is not self-evident in this paragraph, three kinds of feeling are pleasant, 
painful and neither-painful-nor-pleasant (see MN 59). Four kinds of nutriment are physical 



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capable and incapable [of achievement] (cf. Patis I 121), therefore this world of 
beings was known to him in all ways. 

40. And as the world of beings so also the world of location. For accordingly 
this [world measures as follows]: 

One world-sphere 14 is twelve hundred thousand leagues and thirty-four 
hundred and fifty leagues (1,203,450) in breadth and width. In circumference, 
however: 

[The measure of it] all around 

Is six and thirty hundred thousand 

And then ten thousand in addition, 

Four hundred too less half a hundred (3,610,350). 

nutriment, contact, mental volition, and consciousness (see M I 48, and M-a I 207£). 
The seven stations of consciousness are: (1) sense sphere, (2) Brahma's Retinue, (3) 
Abhassara (Brahma-world) Deities, (4) Subhakinna (Brahma-world) Deities, (5) base 
consisting of boundless space, (6) base consisting of boundless consciousness, (7) 
base consisting of nothingness (see D III 253). The eight worldly states are gain, fame, 
praise, pleasure, and their opposites (see D III 260). The nine abodes of beings: (1-4) as in 
stations of consciousness, (5) unconscious beings, (6-9) the four immaterial states 
(see D III 263). The ten bases are eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, visible object, sound, 
odour, flavour, tangible object. 

14. Cakkavala (world-sphere or universe) is a term for the concept of a single complete 
universe as one of an infinite number of such universes. This concept of the cosmos, 
in its general form, is not peculiar to Buddhism, but appears to have been the already 
generally accepted one. The term loka-dhatu (world-element), in its most restricted 
sense, is one world-sphere, but it can be extended to mean any number, for example, 
the set of world-spheres dominated by a particular Brahma (see MN 120). 

As thus conceived, a circle of "world-sphere mountains" "like the rim of a wheel" 
(cakka — Vism-mht 198) encloses the ocean. In the centre of the ocean stands Mount 
Sineru (or Meru), surrounded by seven concentric rings of mountains separated by 
rings of sea. In the ocean between the outermost of these seven rings and the enclosing 
"world-sphere mountain" ring are the "four continents." 

"Over forty-two thousand leagues away" (Dhs-a 313) the moon and the sun circulate 
above them inside the world-sphere mountain ring, and night is the effect of the sun's 
going behind Sineru. The orbits of the moon and sun are in the sense-sphere heaven 
of the Four Kings (Catumaharaja), the lowest heaven, which is a layer extending from 
the world-sphere mountains to the slopes of Sineru. The stars are on both sides of 
them (Dhs-a 318). Above that come the successive layers of the other five sense- 
sphere heavens — the four highest not touching the earth — and above them the 
fine-material Brahma-worlds, the higher of which extend over more than one world- 
sphere (see A V 59). The world-sphere rests on water, which rests on air, which rests 
on space. World-spheres "lie adjacent to each other in contact like bowls, leaving a 
triangular unlit space between each three" (Vism-mht 199), called a "world-interspace" 
(see too M-a IV 178). Their numbers extend thus in all four directions to infinity on the 
supporting water's surface. 

The southern continent of Jambudipa is the known inhabited world (but see e.g. 
DN 26). Various hells (see e.g. MN 130; A V 173; Vin III 107) are below the earth's 
surface. The lowest sensual-sphere heaven is that of the Deities of the Four Kings 

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41. Herein: 

Two times a hundred thousand leagues 
And then four nahutas as well (240,000): 
This earth, this "Bearer of All Wealth," 
Has that much thickness, as they tell. 
And its support: 

Four times a hundred thousand leagues 
And then eight nahutas as well (480,000): 
The water resting on the air 
Has that much thickness, as they tell. 

And the support of that: [206] 

Nine times a hundred thousand goes 
The air out in the firmament 
And sixty thousand more besides (960,000) 
So this much is the world's extent. 

42. Such is its extent. And these features are to be found in it: 

Sineru, tallest of all mountains, plunges down into the sea 

Full four and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree 

Seven concentric mountain rings surround Sineru in suchwise 

That each of them in depth and height is half its predecessor's size: 

Vast ranges called Yugandhara, Isadhara, Karavika, 

Sudassana, Nemindhara, Vinataka, Assakanna. 

Heavenly [breezes fan] their cliffs agleam with gems, and here reside 

The Four Kings of the Cardinal Points, and other gods and sprites beside. 15 

Himalaya's lofty mountain mass rises in height five hundred leagues 

And in its width and in its breadth it covers quite three thousand leagues, 

And then it is bedecked besides with four and eighty thousand peaks. 16 

(Catumaharajika). The four are Dhatarattha Gandhabba-raja (King of the East), Virulha 
Kumbhanda-raja (King of the South), Virupaka Naga-raja (King of the West), and 
Kuvera or Vessavana Yakkha-raja (King of the North — see DN 32). Here the moon 
and sun circulate. The deities of this heaven are often at war with the Asura demons 
(see e.g. D II 285) for possession of the lower slopes of Sineru. The next higher is 
Tavatimsa (the Heaven of the Thirty-three), governed by Sakka, Ruler of Gods (sakka- 
devinda). Above this is the heaven of the Yama Deities (Deities who have Gone to Bliss) 
ruled by King Suyama (not to be confused with Yama King of the Underworld — see M 
III 179). Higher still come the Deities of the Tusita (Contented) Heaven with King 
Santusita. The fifth of these heavens is that of the Nimmanarati Deities (Deities who 
Delight in Creating) ruled by King Sunimmita. The last and highest of the sensual- 
sphere heavens is the Paranimmitavasavatti Heaven (Deities who Wield Power over 
Others' Creations). Their king is Vasavatti (see A I 227; for details see Vibh-a 519f.). 
Mara (Death) lives in a remote part of this heaven with his hosts, like a rebel with a 
band of brigands (M-a I 33f.). For destruction and renewal of all this at the end of the 
aeon, see Ch. XIII. 

15. "Sineru is not only 84,000 leagues in height but measures the same in width and 
breadth. For this is said: 'Bhikkhus, Sineru, king of mountains, is eighty-four thousand 



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The Jambu Tree called Naga lends the name, by its magnificence, 
To Jambudipa's land; its trunk, thrice five leagues in circumference, 
Soars fifty leagues, and bears all round branches of equal amplitude, 
So that a hundred leagues define diameter and altitude. 

43. The World-sphere Mountains' line of summits plunges down into the sea 
Just two and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree, 
Enringing one world-element all round in its entirety. 

And the size of the Jambu (Rose-apple) Tree is the same as that of the 
Citrapataliya Tree of the Asura demons, the Simbali Tree of the Garula demons, 
the Kadamba Tree in [the western continent of] Aparagoyana, the Kappa Tree 
[in the northern continent] of the Uttarakurus, the Sirisa Tree in [the eastern 
continent of] Pubbavideha, and the Paricchattaka Tree [in the heaven] of the 
Deities of the Thirty-three (Tavatimsa). 17 Hence the Ancients said: 

The Patali, Simbali, and Jambu, the deities' Paricchattaka, 
The Kadamba, the Kappa Tree and the Sirisa as the seventh. 

44. [207] Herein, the moon's disk is forty-nine leagues [across] and the sun's 
disk is fifty leagues. The realm of Tavatimsa (the Thirty-three Gods) is ten 
thousand leagues. Likewise the realm of the Asura demons, the great Avici 
(unremitting) Hell, and Jambudipa (India). Aparagoyana is seven thousand 
leagues. Likewise Pubbavideha. Uttarakuru is eight thousand leagues. And 
herein, each great continent is surrounded by five hundred small islands. And 
the whole of that constitutes a single world-sphere, a single world-element. 
Between [this and the adjacent world-spheres] are the Lokantarika (world- 
interspace) hells. 18 So the world-spheres are infinite in number, the world- 
elements are infinite, and the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated 
them with the infinite knowledge of the Enlightened Ones. 

45. Therefore this world of location was known to him in all ways too. So he is 
"knower of worlds" because he has seen the world in all ways. 

leagues in width and it is eighty-four thousand leagues in breadth' (A IV 100). Each of 
the seven surrounding mountains is half as high as that last mentioned, that is, 
Yugandhara is half as high as Sineru, and so on. The great ocean gradually slopes 
from the foot of the world-sphere mountains down as far as the foot of Sineru, where 
it measures in depth as much as Sineru's height. And Yugandhara, which is half that 
height, rests on the earth as Isadhara and the rest do; for it is said: 'Bhikkhus, the 
great ocean gradually slopes, gradually tends, gradually inclines' (Ud 53). Between 
Sineru and Yugandhara and so on, the oceans are called 'bottomless' (sldanta). Their 
widths correspond respectively to the heights of Sineru and the rest. The mountains 
stand all round Sineru, enclosing it, as it were. Yugandhara surrounds Sineru, then 
Isadhara surrounds Yugandhara, and likewise with the others" (Vism-mht 199). 

16. For the commentarial descriptions of Himavant (Himalaya) with its five peaks 
and seven great lakes, see M-a III 54. 

17. A-a commenting on A I 35 ascribes the Simbali Tree to the Supannas or winged 
demons. The commentary to Ud 5.5, incidentally, gives a further account of all these 
things, only a small portion of which are found in the Suttas. 

18. See note 14. 



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[Incomparable Leader of Men to be Tamed] 

46. In the absence of anyone more distinguished for special qualities than 
himself, there is no one to compare with him, thus he is incomparable. For in this 
way he surpasses the whole world in the special quality of virtue, and also in the 
special qualities of concentration, understanding, deliverance, and knowledge 
and vision of deliverance. In the special quality of virtue he is without equal, he 
is the equal only of those [other Enlightened Ones] without equal, he is without 
like, without double, without counterpart; ... in the special quality of 
knowledge and vision of deliverance he is ... without counterpart, according 
as it is said: "I do not see in the world with its deities, its Maras and its 
Brahmas, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmans, with its princes 
and men," anyone more perfect in virtue than myself" (S I 139), with the rest in 
detail, and likewise in the Aggappasada Sutta (A II 34; It 87), and so on, and in 
the stanzas beginning, "I have no teacher and my like does not exist in all the 
world" (M I 171), all of which should be taken in detail. 

47. He guides (sareti) men to be tamed (purisa-damme), thus he is leader of 
men to be tamed (purisadammasarathi); he tames, he disciplines, is what is 
meant. Herein, animal males (purisa) and human males, and non-human 
males that are not tamed but fit to be tamed (dametum yutta) are "men to be 
tamed" (purisadamma). For the animal males, namely, the royal naga (serpent) 
Apalala, Culodara, Mahodara, Aggisikha, Dhumasikha, the royal naga 
Aravala, the elephant Dhanapalaka, and so on, were tamed by the Blessed 
One, freed from the poison [of defilement] and established in the refuges and 
the precepts of virtue; and also the human males, namely, Saccaka the 
Niganthas' (Jains') son, the brahman student Ambattha, [208] Pokkharasati, 
Sonadanda, Kutadanta, and so on; and also the non-human males, namely, 
the spirits Alavaka, Suciloma and Kharaloma, Sakka Ruler of Gods, etc., 20 
were tamed and disciplined by various disciplinary means. And the following 
sutta should be given in full here: "I discipline men to be tamed sometimes 
gently, Kesi, and I discipline them sometimes roughly, and I discipline them 
sometimes gently and roughly" (A II 112). 

48. Then the Blessed One moreover further tames those already tamed, doing 
so by announcing the first jhana, etc., respectively to those whose virtue is 
purified, etc., and also the way to the higher path to stream enterers, and so on. 

19. The rendering of sadevamanussanam by "with its princes and men" is supported 
by the commentary. See M-a II 20 and also M-a I 33 where the use of sammuti-deva for 
a royal personage, not an actual god is explained. Deva is the normal mode of addressing 
a king. Besides, the first half of the sentence deals with deities and it would be out of 
place to refer to them again in the clause related to mankind. 

20. The references are these: Apalala (Mahavamsa, p. 242), "Dwelling in the Himalayas" 
(Vism-mht 202), Culodara and Mahodara (Mhv pp. 7-8; Dip pp. 21-23), Aggisikha and 
Dhumasikha ("Inhabitant of Sri Lanka" — Vism-mht 202), Aravala and Dhanapalaka 
(Vin II 194-96; J-a V 333-37), Saccaka (MN 35 and 36), Ambattha (DN 3), Pokkharasati 
(D I 109), Sonadanda (DN 4), Kutadanta (DN 5), Alavaka (Sn p. 31), Suciloma and 
Kharaloma (Sn p. 47f.), Sakka (D I 263f.). 

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Or alternatively, the words incomparable leader of men to be tamed can be taken 
together as one clause. For the Blessed One so guides men to be tamed that in a 
single session they may go in the eight directions [by the eight liberations] 
without hesitation. Thus he is called the incomparable leader of men to be tamed. 
And the following sutta passage should be given in full here: "Guided by the 
elephant-tamer, bhikkhus, the elephant to be tamed goes in one direction ..." 
(M III 222). 

[Teacher of Gods and Men] 

49. He teaches (anusasati) by means of the here and now, of the life to come, and 
of the ultimate goal, according as befits the case, thus he is the Teacher (satthar). 
And furthermore this meaning should be understood according to the Niddesa 
thus: "'Teacher (satthar)': the Blessed One is a caravan leader (satthar) since he 
brings home caravans (sattha). Just as one who brings a caravan home gets 
caravans across a wilderness, gets them across a robber-infested wilderness, 
gets them across a wild-beast-infested wilderness, gets them across a foodless 
wilderness, gets them across a waterless wilderness, gets them right across, gets 
them quite across, gets them properly across, gets them to reach a land of safety, 
so too the Blessed One is a caravan leader, one who brings home the caravans, he 
gets them across a wilderness, gets them across the wilderness of birth" (Nidd 
I 446). 

50. Of gods and men: devamanussanam = devanan ca manussanan ca (resolution of 
compound). This is said in order to denote those who are the best and also to 
denote those persons capable of progress. For the Blessed One as a teacher 
bestowed his teaching upon animals as well. For when animals can, through 
listening to the Blessed One's Dhamma, acquire the benefit of a [suitable rebirth 
as] support [for progress], and with the benefit of that same support they come, 
in their second or third rebirth, to partake of the path and its fruition. 

51. Manduka, the deity's son, and others illustrate this. While the Blessed One 
was teaching the Dhamma to the inhabitants of the city of Campa on the banks 
of the Gaggara Lake, it seems, a frog (manduka) apprehended a sign in the 
Blessed One's voice. [209] A cowherd who was standing leaning on a stick put 
his stick on the frog's head and crushed it. He died and was straight away 
reborn in a gilded, divine palace, twelve leagues broad in the realm of the Thirty- 
three (Tavatimsa). He found himself there, as if waking up from sleep, amidst a 
host of celestial nymphs, and he exclaimed, "So I have actually been reborn here. 
What deed did I do?" When he sought for the reason, he found it was none other 
than his apprehension of the sign in the Blessed One's voice. He went with his 
divine palace at once to the Blessed One and paid homage at his feet. Though 
the Blessed One knew about it, he asked him: 

"Who now pays homage at my feet, 
Shining with glory of success, 
Illuminating all around 
With beauty so outstanding?" 



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"In my last life I was a frog, 

The waters of a pond my home; 

A cowherd's crook ended my life 

While listening to your Dhamma" (Vv 49). 

The Blessed One taught him the Dhamma. Eighty-four thousand creatures 
gained penetration to the Dhamma. As soon as the deity's son became established 
in the fruition of stream-entry he smiled and then vanished. 

[Enlightened] 

52. He is enlightened (buddha) with the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of 
liberation, since everything that can be known has been discovered (buddha) by him. 

Or alternatively, he discovered (bujjhi) the four truths by himself and awakened 
(bodhesi) others to them, thus and for other such reasons he is enlightened 
(buddha). And in order to explain this meaning the whole passage in the Niddesa 
beginning thus: "He is the discoverer (bujjhitar) of the truths, thus he is 
enlightened (buddha). He is the awakened (bodhetar) of the generation, thus he is 
enlightened (buddha)" (Nidd I 457), or the same passage from the Patisambhida 
(Patis I 174), should be quoted in detail. 

[Blessed] 

53. Blessed (bhagavant) is a term signifying the respect and veneration accorded 
to him as the highest of all beings and distinguished by his special qualities. 21 
Hence the Ancients said: 

"Blessed" is the best of words, 
"Blessed" is the finest word; 
Deserving awe and veneration, 
Blessed is the name therefore. 

54. Or alternatively, names are of four kinds: denoting a period of life, describing 
a particular mark, signifying a particular acquirement, and fortuitously arisen, 22 
which last in the current usage of the world is called "capricious." Herein, [210] 
names denoting a period of life are those such as "yearling calf" (vaccha), "steer 
to be trained" (damma), "yoke ox" (balivaddha) , and the like. Names describing a 
particular mark are those such as "staff-bearer" (dandin), "umbrella-bearer" 
(chattin), "topknot-wearer" (sikhiri), "hand possessor" (karin — elephant), and 
the like. Names signifying a particular acquirement are those such as "possessor of 
the threefold clear vision" (tevijja), "possessor of the six direct-knowledges" 
(chalabhinha) , and the like. Such names are Sirivaddhaka ("Augmenter of 

21. For the breaking up of this compound cf. parallel passage at M-a I 10. 

22. Avatthika — "denoting a period in life" (from avattha, see IV167); not in PED; the 
meaning given in the PED for lihgika — "describing a particular mark," is hardly adequate 
for this ref.; nemittika — "signifying a particular acquirement" is not in this sense in 
PED. For more on names see Dhs-a 390. 

23. The commentarial name for the Elder Sariputta to whom the authorship of the 
Patisambhida is traditionally attributed. The Patisambhida text has "Buddha," not 
"Bhagava." 

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Lustre"), Dhanavaddhaka ("Augmenter of Wealth"), etc., are fortuitously arisen 
names; they have no reference to the word-meanings. 

55. This name, Blessed, is one signifying a particular acquirement; it is not 
made by Maha-Maya, or by King Suddhodana, or by the eighty thousand 
kinsmen, or by distinguished deities like Sakka, Santusita, and others. And this 
is said by the General of the Law: 23 "'Blessed': this is not a name made by a 
mother ... This [name] 'Buddha,' which signifies final liberation, is a realistic 
description of Buddhas (Enlightened Ones), the Blessed Ones, together with 
their obtainment of omniscient knowledge at the root of an Enlightenment [Tree]" 
(Patis I 174; Nidd I 143). 

56. Now, in order to explain also the special qualities signified by this name 
they cite the following stanza: 

Bhagl bhajl bhagl vibhattava iti 
Akasi bhaggan ti garu ti bhagyava 
Bahuhi nayehi subhavitattano 
Bhavantago so bhagava ti vuccati. 

The reverend one (garu) has blessings (bhagl), is a frequenter (bhajl), a partaker 
(bhagl), a possessor of what has been analyzed (vibhattava); 

He has caused abolishing (bhagga), he is fortunate (bhagyava), 

He has fully developed himself (subhavitattano) in many ways; 

He has gone to the end of becoming (bhavantago); thus is called "Blessed" 
(bhagava). 

The meaning of these words should be understood according to the method 
of explanation given in the Niddesa (Nidd I 142). 24 

24. "The Niddesa method is this: 'The word Blessed (bhagava) is a term of respect. 
Moreover, he has abolished (bhagga) greed, thus he is blessed (bhagava); he has 
abolished hate, . . . delusion, . . . views, . . . craving, . . . defilement, thus he is blessed. 

"'He divided (bhaji), analyzed (vibhaji), and classified (pativibhaji) the Dhamma 
treasure, thus he is blessed (bhagava). He makes an end of the kinds of becoming 
(bhavanam antakaroti), thus he is blessed (bhagava). He has developed (bhavita) the body 
and virtue and the mind and understanding, thus he is blessed (bhagava). 

"'Or the Blessed One is a frequenter (bhajl) of remote jungle-thicket resting places 
with little noise, with few voices, with a lonely atmosphere, where one can lie hidden 
from people, favourable to retreat, thus he is blessed (bhagava). 

"'Or the Blessed One is a partaker (bhagl) of robes, alms food, resting place, and the 
requisite of medicine as cure for the sick, thus he is blessed (bhagava). Or he is a 
partaker of the taste of meaning, the taste of the Law, the taste of deliverance, the 
higher virtue, the higher consciousness, the higher understanding, thus he is blessed 
(bhagava). Or he is a partaker of the four jhanas, the four measureless states, the four 
immaterial states, thus he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the eight liberations, the 
eight bases of mastery, the nine successive attainments, thus he is blessed. Or he is a 
partaker of the ten developments of perception, the ten kasina attainments, 
concentration due to mindfulness of breathing, the attainment due to foulness, thus 
he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the ten powers of Perfect Ones (see MN 12), of the 



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57. But there is this other way: 

Bhagyava bhaggava yutto bhagehi ca vibhattava. 
Bhattava vanta-gamano bhavesu: bhagava tato. 

He is fortunate (bhagyava), possessed of abolishment (bhaggava), associated 
with blessings (yutto bhagehi), and a possessor of what has been analyzed 
(vibhattava). 

He has frequented (bhattava), and he has rejected going in the kinds of 
becoming (VAnta-GAmano BHAvesu), thus he is Blessed (Bhagava). 

58. Herein, by using the characteristic of language beginning with "vowel 
augmentation of syllable, elision of syllable" (see Kasika VI. 3. 109), or by using 
the characteristic of insertion beginning with [the example of] pisodara, etc. (see 
Panini, Ganapatha 6, 3, 109), it may be known that he [can also] be called "blessed" 
(bhagava) when he can be called "fortunate" (bhagyava) owing to the 
fortunateness (bhagya) to have reached the further shore [of the ocean of 
perfection] of giving, virtue, etc., which produce mundane and supramundane 
bliss (See Khp-a 108.). 

59. [Similarly], he [can also] be called "blessed" (bhagava) when he can be 
called "possessed of abolishment" (bhaggava) owing to the following menaces 
having been abolished; for he has abolished (abhahji) all the hundred thousand 
kinds of trouble, anxiety and defilement classed as greed, as hate, as delusion, 
and as misdirected attention; as consciencelessness and shamelessness, as anger 
and enmity, as contempt and domineering, as envy and avarice, as deceit and 
fraud, as obduracy and presumption, as pride and haughtiness, as vanity and 
negligence, as craving and ignorance; as the three roots of the unprofitable, 
kinds of misconduct, defilement, stains, [211] fictitious perceptions, applied 
thoughts, and diversifications; as the four perversenesses, cankers, ties, floods, 
bonds, bad ways, cravings, and clingings; as the five wildernesses in the heart, 
shackles in the heart, hindrances, and kinds of delight; as the six roots of discord, 
and groups of craving; as the seven inherent tendencies; as the eight 
wrongnesses; as the nine things rooted in craving; as the ten courses of 
unprofitable action; as the sixty-two kinds of [false] view; as the hundred and 
eight ways of behaviour of craving 25 — or in brief, the five Maras, that is to say, the 

four kinds of perfect confidence (ibid), of the four discriminations, of the six kinds of 
direct knowledge, of the six Enlightened Ones' states [not shared by disciples (see note 7)], 
thus he is blessed. Blessed One (bhagava): this is not a name made by a mother . . . This 
name, Blessed One, is a designation based on realization"' (Vism-mht 207). 
25. Here are explanations of those things in this list that cannot be discovered by 
reference to the index: The pairs, "anger and enmity" to "conceit and negligence (M I 
16). The "three roots" are greed, hate, and delusion (D III 214). The "three kinds of 
misconduct" are that of body, speech, and mind (S V 75). The "three defilements" are 
misconduct, craving and views (Ch. 1.9,13). The "three erroneous perceptions" (visama- 
sanna) are those connected with greed, hate, and delusion (Vibh 368). The three "applied 
thoughts" are thoughts of sense-desire, ill will, and cruelty (M I 114). The "three 
diversifications" (papanca) are those due to craving, conceit, and [false] views (XVI 
n. 17). "Four perversenesses": seeing permanence, pleasure, self, and beauty, where 

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Maras of defilement, of the aggregates, and of kamma-formations, Mara as a 
deity, and Mara as death. 

And in this context it is said: 

He has abolished (bhagga) greed and hate, 
Delusion too, he is canker-free; 
Abolished every evil state, 
"Blessed" his name may rightly be. 

60. And by his fortunateness (bhagyavata) is indicated the excellence of his 
material body which bears a hundred characteristics of merit; and by his having 
abolished defects (bhaggadosata) is indicated the excellence of his Dhamma body. 
Likewise, [by his fortunateness is indicated] the esteem of worldly [people; and 
by his having abolished defects, the esteem of] those who resemble him. [And by 
his fortunateness it is indicated] that he is fit to be relied on 26 by laymen; and [by 
his having abolished defects that he is fit to be relied on by] those gone forth into 
homelessness; and when both have relied on him, they acquire relief from bodily 
and mental pain as well as help with both material and Dhamma gifts, and they 
are rendered capable of finding both mundane and supramundane bliss. 

61. He is also called "blessed" (bhagava) since he is "associated with blessings" 
(bhagehi yuttatta) such as those of the following kind, in the sense that he "has 
those blessings" (bhaga assa santi). Now, in the world the word "blessing" is used 
for six things, namely, lordship, Dhamma, fame, glory wish, and endeavour. He 
has supreme lordship over his own mind, either of the kind reckoned as mundane 
and consisting in "minuteness, lightness," etc., 27 or that complete in all aspects, 
and likewise the supramundane Dhamma. And he has exceedingly pure fame, 
spread through the three worlds, acquired though the special quality of veracity. 
And he has glory of all limbs, perfect in every aspect, which is capable of 
comforting the eyes of people eager to see his material body. And he has his wish, 
in other words, the production of what is wanted, since whatever is wanted and 

there is none (Vibh 376). "Four cankers," etc. (XXII.47ff.). "Five wildernesses" and 
"shackles" (M I 101). "Five kinds of delight": delight in the five aggregates (XVI.93). 
"Six roots of discord": anger, contempt, envy, fraud, evilness of wishes, and adherence 
to one's own view (D III 246). "Nine things rooted in craving" (D III 288-89). "Ten 
courses of unprofitable action": killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slander, 
harsh speech, gossip, covetousness, ill will, wrong view (M I 47, 286f.). "Sixty- two 
kinds of view": (D I 12ff.; MN 102). "The hundred and eight ways of behaviour of 
craving" (Vibh 400). 

26. Abhigamanlya — "fit to be relied on": abhigacchati not in PED. 

27. Vism-mht says the word "etc." includes the following six: mahima, patti, pakamma, 
Jsita, vasita, and yatthakamavasayita. "Herein, anima means making the body minute (the 
size of an atom — anu). Laghima means lightness of body; walking on air, and so on. 
Mahima means enlargement producing hugeness of the body. Patti means arriving 
where one wants to go. Pakamma means producing what one wants by resolving, and 
so on. Isita means self-mastery lordship. Vasita means mastery of miraculous powers. 
Yatthakamavasayita means attainment of perfection in all ways in one who goes through 
the air or does anything else of the sort" (Vism-mht 210). Yogabhasya 3.45. 



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needed by him as beneficial to himself or others is then and there produced for 
him. And he has the endeavour, in other words, the right effort, which is the 
reason why the whole world venerates him. 

62. [He can also] be called "blessed" (bhagava) when he can be called "a possessor 
of what has been analyzed" (vibhattava) owing to his having analyzed [and 
clarified] all states into the [three] classes beginning with the profitable; or 
profitable, etc., states into such classes as aggregates, bases, elements, truths, 
faculties, dependent origination, etc.; [212] or the noble truth of suffering into 
the senses of oppressing, being formed, burning, and changing; and that of 
origin into the senses of accumulating, source, bond, and impediment; and that 
of cessation into the senses of escape, seclusion, being unformed, and deathless; 
and that of the path into the senses of outlet, cause, seeing, and predominance. 
Having analyzed, having revealed, having shown them, is what is meant. 

63. He [can also] be called "blessed" {bhagava) when he can be called one who 
"has frequented" (bhattava) owing to his having frequented (bhaji), cultivated, 
repeatedly practiced, such mundane and supramundane higher-than-human 
states as the heavenly, the divine, and the noble abidings, 28 as bodily, mental, and 
existential seclusion, as the void, the desireless, and the signless liberations, 
and others as well. 

64. He [can also] be called "blessed" (bhagava) when he can be called one who 
"has rejected going in the kinds of becoming" (vantagamano bhavesu) because in the 
three kinds of becoming (bhava), the going (gamana), in other words, craving, has 
been rejected (vanta) by him. And the syllables bha from the word bhava, and ga 
from the word gamana, and va from the word vanta with the letter a lengthened, 
make the word bhagava, just as is done in the world [of the grammarians outside 
the Dispensation] with the word mekhala (waist-girdle) since "garland for the 
private parts" (MEhanassa KHAssa maLA) can be said. 

65. As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Buddha in 
this way, "For this and this reason the Blessed One is accomplished, ... for this 
and this reason he is blessed," then: "On that occasion his mind is not obsessed 
by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on 
that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One" (A III 285). 29 

28. The three "abidings" are these: heavenly abiding = kasina jhana, divine abiding 
= loving-kindness jhana, etc., noble abiding = fruition attainment. For the three kinds 
of seclusion, see IV note 23. 

29. Vism-mht adds seven more plays on the word bhagava, which in brief are these: 
he is bhagava (a possessor of parts) because he has the Dhamma aggregates of virtue, 
etc. (bhaga = part, vant = possessor of). He is bhatava (possessor of what is borne) 
because he has borne (bhata) the perfections to their full development. He has cultivated 
the parts (bhage vani), that is, he has developed the various classes of attainments. He 
has cultivated the blessings (bhage vani), that is, the mundane and supramundane 
blessings. He is bhattava (possessor of devotees) because devoted (bhatta) people 
show devotion (bhatti) to him on account of his attainments. He has rejected blessings 
(bhage vami) such as glory, lordship, fame and so on. He has rejected the parts (bhage 
vami) such as the five aggregates of experience, and so on (Vism-mht 241-46). 

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66. So when he has thus suppressed the hindrances by preventing obsession 
by greed, etc., and his mind faces the meditation subject with rectitude, then his 
applied thought and sustained thought occur with a tendency toward the 
Enlightened One's special qualities. As he continues to exercise applied thought 
and sustained thought upon the Enlightened One's special qualities, happiness 
arises in him. With his mind happy, with happiness as a proximate cause, his 
bodily and mental disturbances are tranquilized by tranquillity. When the 
disturbances have been tranquilized, bodily and mental bliss arise in him. When 
he is blissful, his mind, with the Enlightened One's special qualities for its 
object, becomes concentrated, and so the jhana factors eventually arise in a 
single moment. But owing to the profundity of the Enlightened One's special 
qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of 
many sorts, the jhana is only access and does not reach absorption. And that 
access jhana itself is known as "recollection of the Buddha" too, because it 
arises with the recollection of the Enlightened One's special qualities as the 
means. 

67. When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Buddha, he is respectful 
and deferential towards the Master. He attains fullness of faith, mindfulness, 
understanding and merit. He has much happiness and gladness. He conquers 
fear and dread. [213] He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were 
living in the Master's presence. And his body, when the recollection of the 
Buddha's special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as a 
shrine room. His mind tends toward the plane of the Buddhas. When he 
encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has awareness of conscience 
and shame as vivid as though he were face to face with the Master. And if he 
penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of the Buddha 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This, firstly, is the section dealing with the recollection of the Enlightened 
One in the detailed explanation. 

[(2) Recollection of the Dhamma] 

68. One who wants to develop the recollection of the Dhamma (Law) should go 
into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of both the Dhamma (Law) of 
the scriptures and the ninefold supramundane Dhamma (state) as follows: 



As to the word "bhattava": at VII. 63, it is explained as "one who has frequented 
(bhaji) attainments." In this sense the attainments have been "frequented" (bhatta) by 
him Vism-mht (214 f.). uses the same word in another sense as "possessor of 
devotees," expanding it as bhatta dalhabhattika assa bahu atthi ("he has many devoted 
firm devotees" — Skr. bhakta). In PED under bhattavant (citing also Vism 212) only the 
second meaning is given. Bhatta is from the same root (bhaj) in both cases. 

For a short exposition of this recollection see commentary to AN 1:16.1. 

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"The Dhamma is well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now, 
not delayed (timeless), inviting of inspection, onward-leading, and directly 
experienceable by the wise" (M I 37; A III 285). 

[Well Proclaimed] 

69. Well proclaimed: in this clause the Dhamma of the scriptures is included as 
well as the other; in the rest of the clauses only the supramundane Dhamma is 
included. 

Herein, the Dhamma of the scriptures is well proclaimed because it is good in the 
beginning, the middle, and the end, and because it announces the life of purity that 
is utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail (see M I 179). 

Even a single stanza of the Blessed One's teaching is good in the beginning 
with the first word, good in the middle with the second, third, etc., and good in 
the end with the last word, because the Dhamma is altogether admirable. A 
sutta with a single sequence of meaning 30 is good in the beginning with the 
introduction, good in the end with the conclusion, and good in the middle with 
what is in between. A sutta with several sequences of meaning is good in the 
beginning with the first sequence of meaning, good in the end with the last 
sequence of meaning, and good in the middle with the sequences of meaning in 
between. Furthermore, it is good in the beginning with the introduction [giving 
the place of] and the origin [giving the reason for] its utterance. It is good in the 
middle because it suits those susceptible of being taught since it is unequivocal 
in meaning and reasoned with cause and example. It is good in the end with its 
conclusion that inspires faith in the hearers. 

70. Also the entire Dhamma of the Dispensation is good in the beginning with 
virtue as one's own well-being. It is good in the middle with serenity and insight 
and with path and fruition. It is good in the end with Nibbana. Or alternatively, 
it is good in the beginning with virtue and concentration. [214] It is good in the 
middle with insight and the path. It is good in the end with fruition and Nibbana. 
Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning because it is the good discovery 
made by the Buddha. It is good in the middle because it is the well-regulatedness 
of the Dhamma. It is good in the end because it is the good way entered upon by 
the Sahgha. Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning as the discovery of what 
can be attained by one who enters upon the way of practice in conformity after 
hearing about it. It is good in the middle as the unproclaimed enlightenment [of 
Paccekabuddhas]. It is good in the end as the enlightenment of disciples. 

71. And when listened to, it does good through hearing it because it suppresses 
the hindrances, thus it is good in the beginning. And when made the way of 



30. Annsandhi — "sequence of meaning": a technical commentarial term signifying 
both a particular subject treated in a discourse, and also the way of linking one subject 
with another in the same discourse. At M-a 1 175 three kinds are distinguished: sequence 
of meaning in answer to a question (pucchanusandhi — e.g. M I 36), that to suit a 
personal idiosyncrasy, (ajjhasayannsandhi — e.g. M I 23) and that due to the natural 
course of the teaching (yathanusandhi — e.g. the whole development of MN 6). 



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practice it does good through the way being entered upon because it brings the 
bliss of serenity and insight, thus it is good in the middle. And when it has thus 
been made the way of practice and the fruit of the way is ready it does good 
through the fruit of the way because it brings [unshakable] equipoise, thus it is 
good in the end. 

So it is "well proclaimed" because of being good in the beginning, the middle 
and the end. 

72. Now, the life of purity, that is to say, the life of purity of the Dispensation and 
the life of purity of the path, which the Blessed One announces, which he shows 
in various ways when he teaches the Dhamma, is "with meaning" because of 
perfection of meaning, and it is "with detail" because of perfection of detail, as 
it is proper that it should be. It is "with meaning" because it conforms to the 
words declaring its meaning by pronouncing, clarifying, revealing, expounding, 
and explaining it. It is "with detail" because it has perfection of syllables, words, 
details, style, language, and descriptions. It is "with meaning" owing to 
profundity of meaning and profundity of penetration. It is "with detail" owing 
to profundity of law and profundity of teaching. It is "with meaning" because it 
is the province of the discriminations of meaning and of perspicuity. It is "with 
detail" because it is the province of the discriminations of law and of language 
(see XIV21). It is "with meaning" since it inspires confidence in persons of 
discretion, being experienceable by the wise. It is "with detail" since it inspires 
confidence in worldly persons, being a fit object of faith. It is "with meaning" 
because its intention is profound. It is "with detail" because its words are clear. 
It is "utterly perfect" with the complete perfection due to absence of anything 
that can be added. It is "pure" with the immaculateness due to absence of 
anything to be subtracted. 

73. Furthermore, it is "with meaning" because it provides the particular 
distinction 31 of achievement through practice of the way, and it is "with detail" 
because it provides the particular distinction of learning through mastery of 
scripture. It is "utterly perfect" because it is connected with the five 
aggregates of Dhamma beginning with virtue. 32 It is "pure" because it has 
no imperfection, because it exists for the purpose of crossing over [the round 
of rebirths' flood (see M I 134)], and because it is not concerned with worldly 
things. 

So it is "well proclaimed" because it "announces the life of purity that is 
utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail." 

Or alternatively, it is well proclaimed since it has been properly proclaimed 
with no perversion of meaning. For the meaning of other sectarians' law suffers 
perversion since there is actually no obstruction in the [215] things described 
there as obstructive and actually no outlet in the things described there as outlets, 

31. Vyatti (byatti) — "particular distinction" (n. fm. vi + an]); not so spelt in PED but 
see viyatti. Glossed by Vism-mht with veyyatti. 

32. These "five aggregates" are those of virtue, concentration, understanding, 
deliverance, and knowledge and vision of deliverance. 

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which is why their law is ill-proclaimed; but not so the Blessed One's Law, 
whose meaning suffers no perversion since the things described there as 
obstructions and the things described there as outlets are so in actual fact. 

So, in the first place, the Dhamma of the scriptures is "well proclaimed." 

74. The supramundane Dhamma is well proclaimed since both the way that 
accords with Nibbana and the Nibbana that accords with the way have been 
proclaimed, according as it is said: "The way leading to Nibbana has been 
properly declared to the disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbana and the way 
meet. Just as the water of the Ganges meets and joins with the water of the 
Yamuna, so too the way leading to Nibbana has been properly declared to the 
disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbana and the way meet" (D II 223). 

75. And here the noble path, which is the middle way since it does not approach 
either extreme, is well proclaimed in being proclaimed to be the middle way. 

The fruits of asceticism, where defilements are tranquilized, are well proclaimed 
too in being proclaimed to have tranquilized defilement. 

Nibbana, whose individual essence is eternal, deathless, the refuge, the shelter, 
etc., is well proclaimed too in being proclaimed to have an individual essence that 
is eternal, and so on. 

So the supramundane Dhamma is also "well proclaimed." 

[Visible Here and Now] 

76. Visible here and now: firstly, the noble path is "visible here and now" since it 
can be seen by a noble person himself when he has done away with greed, etc., 
in his own continuity, according as it is said: "When a man is dyed with greed, 
brahman, and is overwhelmed and his mind is obsessed by greed, then he thinks 
for his own affliction, he thinks for others' affliction, he thinks for the affliction 
of both, and he experiences mental suffering and grief. When greed has been 
abandoned, he neither thinks for his own affliction, nor thinks for others' 
affliction, nor thinks for the affliction of both, and he does not experience mental 
suffering and grief. This, brahman, is how the Dhamma is visible here and now" 
(A I 156). [216] 

77. Furthermore, the ninefold supramundane Dhamma is also visible here and 
now, since when anyone has attained it, it is visible to him through reviewing 
knowledge without his having to rely on faith in another. 

78. Or alternatively, the view (ditthi) that is recommended (pasattha — pp. of root 
sams) is "proper view" (sanditthi). It conquers by means of proper view, thus it 
"has proper view" (sanditthika — "visible here and now"). For in this way the 
noble path conquers defilements by means of the proper view associated with it, 
and the noble fruition does so by means of the proper view that is its cause, and 
Nibbana does so by means of the proper view that has Nibbana as its objective 
field. So the ninefold supramundane Dhamma "has the proper view" 
{sanditthika — "is visible here and now") since it conquers by means of proper 
view, just as a charioteer (rathika) is so called because he conquers by means of 
a chariot (ratha). 



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79. Or alternatively, it is seeing (dassana) that is called "the seen" (dittha); 
then dittha and sandittha are identical in meaning as "seeing." It is worthy of 
being seen (dittha), thus it is "visible here and now" (sanditthika). For the 
supramundane Dhamma (law) arrests the fearful round [of kamma, etc.,] as 
soon as it is seen by means of penetration consisting in development [of the 
path] and by means of penetration consisting in realization [of Nibbana]. So 
it is "visible here and now" (sanditthika) since it is worthy of being seen 
(dittha), just as one who is clothable (vattihika) 33 is so called because he is 
worthy of clothes (vattha). 

[Not Delayed] 

80. It has no delay (lit. "takes no time" — kala) in the matter of giving its own 
fruit, thus it is "without delay" (akala). "Without delay" is the same as "not 
delayed" (akalika). What is meant is that instead of giving its fruit after creating 
a delay (using up time), say, five days, seven days, it gives its fruit immediately 
next to its own occurrence (see Sn 226). 

81. Or alternatively, what is delayed (kalika — lit. "what takes time") is what 
needs some distant 34 time to be reached before it can give its fruit. What is that? 
It is the mundane law of profitable [kamma]. This, however, is undelayed (na 
kalika) because its fruit comes immediately next to it, so it is "not delayed" 
(akalika). 

This is said with reference to the path. 

[Inviting of Inspection] 

82. It is worthy of an invitation to inspect (ehipassa-vidhi) given thus: "Come 
and see this Dhamma" (ehi passa imam dhammam), thus it is "inviting of 
inspection" (ehipassika). But why is it worthy of this invitation? Because it is 
found and because of its purity. For if a man has said that there is money or gold 
in an empty fist, he cannot say, "Come and see it." Why not? Because it is not 
found. And on the other hand, while dung or urine may well be found, a man 
cannot, for the purpose of cheering the mind by exhibiting beauty, say, "Come 



33. Vatthika— "clothable"; not in PED. 

34. Pakattha— "distant"; not in PED (= dura— Vism-mht 297). 

35. This passage is only loosely renderable because the exegesis here is based 
almost entirely on the substitution of one Pali grammatical form for another (padasiddhi). 
The reading opaneyyiko (for opanayiko) does not appear in any Sinhalese text (generally 
the most reliable); consequently the sentence "opanayiko va opaneyyiko" (see Harvard 
text) is absent in them, being superfluous. Vism-mht's explanations are incorporated. 
This paragraph depends on the double sense of upaneti (upa + neti, to lead on or 
induce) and its derivatives as (i) an attractive inducement and (ii) a reliable guide, and 
so the word induce is stretched a bit and inducive coined on the analogy of conducive. 
Upanaya (inducement) is not in PED, nor is upanayana (inducing) in this sense (see also 
XIV68). Upanayana means in logic "application," "subsumption"; and also upanetabba 
means "to be added"; see end of §72. For alliyana ("treating as one's shelter") see 
references in Glossary. 

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and see this;" on the contrary, they have to be covered up with grass and leaves. 
Why? Because of their impurity. But this ninefold supramundane Dhamma is 
actually found as such in its individual essence, and it is as pure as the full 
moon's disk in a cloudless sky, as a gem of pure water on bleached cloth. [217] 
Consequently, it is worthy of the invitation to inspect since it is found and pure, 
thus it is "inviting of inspection." 

[Onward-Leading] 

83. The word opanayika ("onward-leading") is [equivalent to the gerund] 
upanetabba ("ought to — can — be induced"). Here is an exposition. An inducing 
(upanayana) is an inducement (upanaya). [As the four paths and four fruitions] 
this [Dhamma] is worth inducing (upanayanam arahati) [that is, arousing] in 
one's own mind [subjectively] by means of development, without any question 
of whether or not one's clothing or one's head is on fire (see A IV 320), thus it is 
"onward-leading" {opanayika). This applies to the [above-mentioned eight] 
formed supramundane states (dhammas). But the unformed [dhamma] is worth 
inducing by one's own mind [to become the mind's object], thus it is "onward- 
leading," too; the meaning is that it is worth treating as one's shelter by 
realizing it. 

84. Or alternatively, what induces (upaneti) [the noble person] onwards to 
Nibbana is the noble path, which is thus inductive (upaneyya). Again, what can 
(ought to) be induced (upanetabba) to realizability is the Dhamma consisting in 
fruition and Nibbana, which is thus inductive (upaneyya), too. The word upaneyya 
is the same as the word opanayika. 35 

[Is Directly Experienceable by the Wise] 

85. Is directly experienceable by the wise: it can be experienced by all the kinds of 
wise men beginning with the "acutely wise" (see A II 135) each in himself thus: 
"The path has been developed, fruition attained, and cessation realized, by me." 
For it does not happen that when a preceptor has developed the path his co- 
resident abandons his defilements, nor does a co-resident dwell in comfort owing 
to the preceptor's attainment of fruition, nor does he realize the Nibbana realized 
by the preceptor. So this is not visible in the way that an ornament on another's 
head is, but rather it is visible only in one's own mind. What is meant is that it 
can be undergone by wise men, but it is not the province of fools. 

86. Now, in addition, this Dhamma is well proclaimed. Why? Because it is 
visible here and now. It is visible here and now because it is not delayed. It is not 
delayed because it invites inspection. And what invites inspection is onward- 
leading. 

87. As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Dhamma in 
this way, then: "On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed 
by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being 
inspired by the Dhamma" (A III 285). 

So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described 
(§66), the jhana factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the 



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profundity of the Dhamma's special qualities, or else owing to his being occupied 
in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhana is only access and does 
not reach absorption. And that access jhana itself is known as "recollection of 
the Dhamma" too because it arises with the recollection of the Dhamma's special 
qualities as the means. 

88. [218] When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Dhamma, he 
thinks: "I never in the past met a master who taught a law that led onward thus, 
who possessed this talent, nor do I now see any such a master other than the 
Blessed One." Seeing the Dhamma's special qualities in this way, he is respectful 
and deferential towards the Master. He entertains great reverence for the 
Dhamma and attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has much happiness and 
gladness. He conquers fear and dread. He is able to endure pain. He comes to 
feel as if he were living in the Dhamma's presence. And his body, when the 
recollection of the Dhamma's special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of 
veneration as a shrine room. His mind tends towards the realization of the peerless 
Dhamma. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has vivid 
awareness of conscience and shame on recollecting the well-regulatedness of 
the Dhamma. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy 
destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of the Dhamma 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Dhamma in the detailed 
explanation. 

[(3) Recollection of the Sangha] 

89. One who wants to develop the recollection of the Community should go 
into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of the community of Noble 
Ones as follows: 

"The community of the Blessed One's disciples has entered on the good way, 
the community of the Blessed One's disciples has entered on the straight way, 
the community of the Blessed One's disciples has entered on the true way, the 
community of the Blessed One's disciples has entered on the proper way, that is 
to say, the four pairs of men, the eight persons; this community of the Blessed 
One's disciples is fit for gifts, fit for hospitality, fit for offerings, fit for reverential 
salutation, as an incomparable field of merit for the world" (A III 286). 

[Entered on the Good, Straight, True, Proper Way] 

90. Herein, entered on the good way (supatipanna) is thoroughly entered on the 
way (sutthu patipanna). What is meant is that it has entered on a way {patipanna) 
that is the right way (samma-patipada), the way that is irreversible, the way that is 
in conformity [with truth], the way that has no opposition, the way that is 
regulated by the Dhamma. They hear (sunanti) attentively the Blessed One's 
instruction, thus they are his disciples (savaka — lit. "hearers"). The community of 



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the disciples is the community of those disciples. The meaning is that the total of 
disciples forms a communality because it possesses in common both virtue and 
[right] view. [219] That right way, being straight, unbent, uncrooked, unwarped, 
is called noble and true and is known as proper owing to its becomingness, 
therefore the noble community that has entered on that is also said to have entered 
on the straight way, entered on the true way, and entered on the proper way. 

91. Those who stand on the path can be understood to have entered on the good 
way since they possess the right way. And those who stand in fruition can be 
understood to have entered on the good way with respect to the way that is now 
past since by means of the right way they have realized what should be realized. 

92. Furthermore, the Community has entered on the good way because it has 
entered on the way according as instructed in the well-proclaimed Dhamma 
and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya), and because it has entered on the immaculate 
way. It has entered on the straight way because it has entered on the way avoiding 
the two extremes and taking the middle course, and because it has entered on 
the way of the abandonment of the faults of bodily and verbal crookedness, 
tortuousness and warpedness. It has entered on the true way because Nibbana is 
what is called "true" and it has entered on the way with that as its aim. It has 
entered on the proper way because it has entered on the way of those who are 
worthy of proper acts [of veneration]. 

93. The word yadidam ("that is to say") = yani imani. The four pairs of men: 
taking them pairwise, the one who stands on the first path and the one who 
stands in the first fruition as one pair, in this way there are four pairs. The eight 
persons: taking them by persons, the one who stands on the first path as one and 
the one who stands in the first fruition as one, in this way there are eight persons. 
And there in the compound purisa-puggala (persons) the words purisa and puggala 
have the same meaning, but it is expressed in this way to suit differing 
susceptibility to teaching. 

This community of the Blessed One's disciples: this community of the Blessed 
One's disciples taken by pairs as the four pairs of men (purisa) and individually 
as the eight persons (purisa-puggala). 

[Fit for Gifts] 

94. As to fit for gifts, etc.: what should be brought (anetva) and given (hunitabba) 
is a gift (ahuna — lit. "sacrifice"); the meaning is, what is to be brought even from 
far away and donated to the virtuous. It is a term for the four requisites. The 
Community is fit to receive that gift (sacrifice) because it makes it bear great fruit, 
thus it is "fit for gifts" (ahuneyya). 

95. Or alternatively, all kinds of property, even when the bringer comes (agantva) 
from far away, can be given (hunitabba) here, thus the Community "can be given 
to" (ahavanlya); or it is fit to be given to by Sakka and others, thus it "can be given 
to." And the brahmans' fire is called "to be given (sacrificed) to" (ahavanlya), for 
they believe that what is sacrificed to it brings great fruit. [220] But if something 
is to be sacrificed to for the sake of the great fruit brought by what is sacrificed to 



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it, then surely the Community should be sacrificed to; for what is sacrificed 
(given) to the Community has great fruit, according as it is said: 

"Were anyone to serve the fire 

Out in the woods a hundred years, 

And pay one moment's homage too 

To men of self-development, 

His homage would by far excel 

His hundred years of sacrifice" (Dhp 107). 

And the words ahavanlya ("to be sacrificed to"), which is used in the schools, 36 
is the same in meaning as this word ahuneyya ("fit for gifts") used here. There is 
only the mere trifling difference of syllables. So it is "fit for gifts." 

[Fit for Hospitality] 

96. Fit for hospitality (pahuneyya): "hospitality" (pahuna) is what a donation to 
visitors is called, prepared with all honours for the sake of dear and beloved 
relatives and friends who have come from all quarters. But even more than to 
such objects of hospitality, it is fitting that it should be given also to the Community; 
for there is no object of hospitality so fit to receive hospitality as the Community 
since it is encountered after an interval between Buddhas and possesses wholly 
endearing and lovable qualities. So it is "fit for hospitality" since the hospitality 
is fit to be given to it and it is fit to receive it. 

But those who take the text to be pahavanlya ("fit to be given hospitality to") 
have it that the Community is worthy to be placed first and so what is to be given 
should first of all be brought here and given (sabba-Pathamam Anetva ettha 
HUNitabbam), and for that reason it is "fit to be given hospitality to" (pahavanlya) 
or since it is worthy to be given to in all aspects (sabba-Pakarena AHAVANAm 
arahati), it is thus "fit to be given hospitality to" (pahavanlya). And here this is 
called pahuneyya in the same sense. 

[Fit for Offering] 

97. "Offering" (dakkhina) is what a gift is called that is to be given out of faith 
in the world to come. The Community is worthy of that offering, or it is helpful to 
that offering because it purifies it by making it of great fruit, thus it is fit for 
offerings (dakkhineyya). 

[Fit for Salutation] 

It is worthy of being accorded by the whole world the reverential salutation 
(anjali-kamma) consisting in placing both hands [palms together] above the head, 
thus it is fit for reverential salutation (anjalikaranlya). 

[As an Incomparable Field of Merit for the World] 

98. As an incomparable field of merit for the world: as a place without equal in the 
world for growing merit; just as the place for growing the king's or minister's 

36. "In the Sarvastivadin school and so on" (Vism-mht 230). 

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rice or corn is the king's rice-field or the king's corn-field, so the Community is 
the place for growing the whole world's merit. For the world's various kinds of 
merit leading to welfare and happiness grow with the Community as their 
support. Therefore the Community is "an incomparable field of merit for the 
world." 

99. As long as he recollects the special qualities of the Sahgha in this way, 
classed as "having entered on the good way," etc., [221] then: "On that occasion 
his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; 
his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Sahgha" (A III 
286). 

So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described 
(§66), the jhana factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the 
profundity of the Community's special qualities, or else owing to his being 
occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhana is only access 
and does not reach absorption. And that access jhana itself is known as 
"recollection of the Sahgha" too because it arises with the recollection of the 
Community's special qualities as the means. 

100. When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Community, he is 
respectful and deferential towards the Community. He attains fullness of faith, 
and so on. He has much happiness and bliss. He conquers fear and dread. He is 
able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Community's 
presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Sangha's special qualities 
dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as an Uposatha house where the 
Community has met. His mind tends towards the attainment of the Community's 
special qualities. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has 
awareness of conscience and shame as vividly as if he were face to face with the 
Community. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy 
destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of the Sangha 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Community in the 
detailed explanation. 

[(4) Recollection of Virtue] 

101. One who wants to develop the recollection of virtue should go into solitary 
retreat and recollect his own different kinds of virtue in their special qualities of 
being untorn, etc., as follows: 

Indeed, my various kinds of virtue are "untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled, 
liberating, praised by the wise, not adhered to, and conducive to concentration" 
(A III 286). And a layman should recollect them in the form of laymen's virtue 
while one gone forth into homelessness should recollect them in the form of the 
virtue of those gone forth. 



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102. Whether they are the virtues of laymen or of those gone forth, when no 
one of them is broken in the beginning or in the end, not being torn like a cloth 
ragged at the ends, then they are untorn. [222] When no one of them is broken in 
the middle, not being rent like a cloth that is punctured in the middle, then they 
are unrent. When they are not broken twice or thrice in succession, not being 
blotched like a cow whose body is some such colour as black or red with 
discrepant-coloured oblong or round patch appearing on her back or belly, then 
they are unblotched. When they are not broken all over at intervals, not being 
mottled like a cow speckled with discrepant-coloured spots, then they are 
unmottled. 

103. Or in general they are untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled when they are 
undamaged by the seven bonds of sexuality (1.144) and by anger and enmity 
and the other evil things (see §59). 

104. Those same virtues are liberating since they liberate by freeing from the 
slavery of craving. They are praised by the wise because they are praised by such 
wise men as Enlightened Ones. They are not adhered to (aparamattha) since they 
are not adhered to (aparamatthatta) with craving and [false] view, or because of 
the impossibility of misapprehending (paramatthum) that "There is this flaw in 
your virtues." They are conducive to concentration since they conduce to access 
concentration and absorption concentration, or to path concentration and fruition 
concentration. 

105. As long as he recollects his own virtues in their special qualities of being 
untorn, etc., in this way, then: "On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by 
greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on 
that occasion, being inspired by virtue" (A III 286). 

So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described 
(§66), the jhana factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the 
profundity of the virtues' special qualities, or owing to his being occupied in 
recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhana is only access and does 
not reach absorption. And that access jhana itself is known as "recollection of 
virtue" too because it arises with the virtues' special qualities as the means. 

106. And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of virtue, he has respect 
for the training. He lives in communion [with his fellows in the life of purity]. He 
is sedulous in welcoming. He is devoid of the fear of self-reproach and so on. He 
sees fear in the slightest fault. He attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has 
much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least 
headed for a happy destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of his virtue 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of virtue in the detailed 
explanation. [223] 



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[(5) Recollection of Generosity] 

107. One who wants to develop the recollection of generosity should be 
naturally devoted to generosity and the constant practice of giving and sharing. 
Or alternatively if he is one who is starting the development of it, he should 
make the resolution: "From now on, when there is anyone present to receive, I 
shall not eat even a single mouthful without having given a gift." And that very 
day he should give a gift by sharing according to his means and his ability with 
those who have distinguished qualities. When he has apprehended the sign in 
that, he should go into solitary retreat and recollect his own generosity in its 
special qualities of being free from the stain of avarice, etc., as follows: 

"It is gain for me, it is great gain for me, that in a generation obsessed by the 
stain of avarice I abide with my heart free from stain by avarice, and am freely 
generous and open-handed, that I delight in relinquishing, expect to be asked, 
and rejoice in giving and sharing" (A III 287). 

108. Herein, it is gain for me: it is my gain, advantage. The intention is: I surely 
partake of those kinds of gain for a giver that have been commended by the 
Blessed One as follows: "A man who gives life [by giving food] shall have life 
either divine or human" (A III 42), and: "A giver is loved and frequented by 
many" (A III 40), and: "One who gives is ever loved, according to the wise man's 
law" (A III 41), and so on. 

109. It is great gain for me: it is great gain for me that this Dispensation, or the 
human state, has been gained by me. Why? Because of the fact that "I abide with 
my mind free from stain by avarice ... and rejoice in giving and sharing." 

110. Herein, obsessed by the stain of avarice is overwhelmed by the stain of avarice. 
Generation: beings, so called owing to the fact of their being generated. So the 
meaning here is this: among beings who are overwhelmed by the stain of avarice, 
which is one of the dark states that corrupt the [natural] transparency of 
consciousness (see A I 10) and which has the characteristic of inability to bear 
sharing one's own good fortune with others. 

111. Free from stain by avarice because of being both free from avarice and from 
the other stains, greed, hate, and the rest. I abide with my heart: I abide with my 
consciousness of the kind already stated, is the meaning. [224] But in the sutta, 
"I live the home life with my heart free" (A III 287; V 331), etc., is said because it 
was taught there as a [mental] abiding to depend on [constantly] to Mahanama 
the Sakyan, who was a stream-enterer asking about an abiding to depend on. 
There the meaning is "I live overcoming ..." 

112. Freely generous: liberally generous. Open-handed: with hands that are 
purified. What is meant is: with hands that are always washed in order to give 
gifts carefully with one's own hands. That I delight in relinquishing: the act of 
relinquishing (vossajjana) is relinquishing (vossagga); the meaning is, giving up. 
To delight in relinquishing is to delight in constant devotion to that relinquishing. 
Expect to be asked (yacayoga): accustomed to being asked (yacana-yogga) because 
of giving whatever others ask for, is the meaning. Yajayoga is a reading, in 
which case the meaning is: devoted (yutta) to sacrifice (yaja), in other words, to 



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sacrificing (yajana). And rejoice in sharing: the meaning is, he recollects thus: "I 
give gifts and I share out what is to be used by myself, and I rejoice in both." 

113. As long as he recollects his own generosity in its special qualities of 
freedom from stain by avarice, etc., in this way, then: "On that occasion his mind 
is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind 
has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by generosity" (A III 287). 

So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described 
(§66), the jhana factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the 
profundity of the generosity's special qualities, or owing to his being occupied 
in recollecting the generosity's special qualities of many sorts, the jhana is only 
access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhana is known as 
"recollection of generosity" too because it arises with the generosity's special 
qualities as the means. 

114. And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of generosity, he 
becomes ever more intent on generosity, his preference is for non-greed, he acts 
in conformity with loving-kindness, he is fearless. He has much happiness and 
gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy 
destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of his giving 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of generosity in the detailed 
explanation. [225] 

[(6) Recollection of Deities] 

115. One who wants to develop the recollection of deities should possess the 
special qualities of faith, etc., evoked by means of the noble path, and he should 
go into solitary retreat and recollect his own special qualities of faith, etc., with 
deities standing as witnesses, as follows: 

"There are deities of the Realm of the Four Kings (deva catummaharajika) , 
there are deities of the Realm of the Thirty-three (deva tavatimsa), there are deities 
who are Gone to Divine Bliss (yama) . . . who are Contented (tusita) . . . who Delight 
in Creating (nimmanarati) ... who Wield Power Over Others' Creations 
(paranimmitavasavatti), there are deities of Brahma's Retinue (brahmakayika), there 
are deities higher than that. And those deities were possessed of faith such that 
on dying here they were reborn there, and such faith is present in me too. And 
those deities were possessed of virtue ... of learning ... of generosity ... of 
understanding such that when they died here they were reborn there, and such 
understanding is present in me too" (A III 287). 

116. In the sutta, however, it is said: "On the occasion, Mahanama, on which a 
noble disciple recollects the faith, the virtue, the learning, the generosity, and the 
understanding that are both his own and of those deities," on that occasion his 
mind is not obsessed by greed ..." (A III 287). Although this is said, it should 



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nevertheless be understood as said for the purpose of showing that the special 
qualities of faith, etc., in oneself are those in the deities, making the deities stand 
as witnesses. For it is said definitely in the Commentary: "He recollects his own 
special qualities, making the deities stand as witnesses." 

117. As long as in the prior stage he recollects the deities' special qualities of 
faith, etc., and in the later stage he recollects the special qualities of faith, etc., 
existing in himself, then: "On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, 
or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on that 
occasion, being inspired by deities" (A III 288). 

So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already stated (§66), 
the jhana factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity 
of the special qualities of faith, etc., or owing to his being occupied in recollecting 
special qualities of many sorts, the jhana is only access and does not reach 
absorption. And that access jhana itself is known as "recollection of deities" too 
because it arises with the deities special qualities as the means. [226] 

118. And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of deities, he becomes 
dearly loved by deities. He obtains even greater fullness of faith. He has much 
happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for 
a happy destiny. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection of deities 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of deities in the detailed 
explanation. 

[General] 

119. Now, in setting forth the detail of these recollections, after the words, "His 
mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One," it is 
added: "When a noble disciple's mind has rectitude, Mahanama, the meaning 
inspires him, the law inspires him, and the application of the law makes him 
glad. When he is glad, happiness is born in him" (A III 285-88). Herein, the 
meaning inspires him should be understood as said of contentment inspired by 
the meaning beginning, "This Blessed One is such since he is ..." (§2). The law 
inspires him is said of contentment inspired by the text. The application of the law 
makes him glad is said of both (cf. M-a I 173). 

120. And when in the case of the recollection of deities inspired by deities is 
said, this should be understood as said either of the consciousness that occurs 
in the prior stage inspired by deities or of the consciousness [that occurs in the 
later stage] inspired by the special qualities that are similar to those of the deities 
and are productive of the deities' state (cf. §117). 

121. These six recollections succeed only in noble disciples. For the special 
qualities of the Enlightened One, the Law, and the Community, are evident to 
them; and they possess the virtue with the special qualities of untornness, etc., 



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the generosity that is free from stain by avarice, and the special qualities of faith, 
etc., similar to those of deities. 

122. And in the Mahanama Sutta (A III 285 f.) they are expounded in detail by 
the Blessed One in order to show a stream-winner an abiding to depend upon 
when he asked for one. 

123. Also in the Gedha Sutta they are expounded in order that a noble disciple 
should purify his consciousness by means of the recollections and so attain 
further purification in the ultimate sense thus: "Here, bhikkhus, a noble disciple 
recollects the Perfect One in this way: That Blessed One is such since he is 
accomplished ... His mind has rectitude on that occasion. He has renounced, 
[227] got free from, emerged from cupidity. Cupidity, bhikkhus, is a term for the 
five cords of sense desire. Some beings gain purity here by making this 
[recollection] their prop" (A III 312). 

124. And in the Sambadhokasa Sutta taught by the venerable Maha-Kaccana 
they are expounded as the realization of the wide-open through the susceptibility 
of purification that exists in the ultimate sense only in a noble disciple thus: "It 
is wonderful, friends, it is marvellous how the realization of the wide-open in the 
crowded [house life] has been discovered by the Blessed One who knows and 
sees, accomplished and fully enlightened, for the purification of beings, [for the 
surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the ending of pain and grief, for the 
attainment of the true way], for the realization of Nibbana, that is to say, the six 
stations of recollection. What six? Here, friends, a noble disciple recollects the 
Perfect One ... Some beings are susceptible to purification in this way" (A HI 
314-15). 

125. Also in the Uposatha Sutta they are expounded in order to show the 
greatness of the fruit of the Uposatha, as a mind-purifying meditation subject for 
a noble disciple who is observing the Uposatha: "And what is the Noble Ones' 
Uposatha, Visakha? It is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by 
imperfections. And what is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by 
imperfections? Here, Visakha, a noble disciple recollects the Perfect One ..." (A 
I 206-11). 

126. And in the Book of Elevens, when a noble disciple has asked, "Venerable 
sir, in what way should we abide who abide in various ways?" (A V 328), they 
are expounded to him in order to show the way of abiding in this way: "One 
who has faith is successful, Mahanama, not one who has no faith. One who is 
energetic . . . One whose mindfulness is established . . . One who is concentrated 
... One who has understanding is successful, Mahanama, not one who has no 
understanding. Having established yourself in these five things, Mahanama, 
you should develop six things. Here, Mahanama, you should recollect the Perfect 
One: That Blessed One is such since ..." (A V 329-32). 

127. Still, though this is so, they can be brought to mind by an ordinary man 
too, if he possesses the special qualities of purified virtue, and the rest. [228] For 
when he is recollecting the special qualities of the Buddha, etc., even only 
according to hearsay, his consciousness settles down, by virtue of which the 
hindrances are suppressed. In his supreme gladness he initiates insight, and 

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he even attains to Arahantship, like the Elder Phussadeva who dwelt at 
Katakandhakara. 

128. That venerable one, it seems, saw a figure of the Enlightened One created 
by Mara. He thought, "How good this appears despite its having greed, hate 
and delusion! What can the Blessed One's goodness have been like? For he was 
quite without greed, hate and delusion!" He acquired happiness with the Blessed 
One as object, and by augmenting his insight he reached Arahantship. 

The seventh chapter called "The Description of Six 
Recollections" in the Treatise on the Development of 
Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the 
purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Other Recollections as Meditation Subjects 
(Anussati-kammatthana-niddesa) 

[(7) Mindfulness of Death] 

1. [229] Now comes the description of the development of mindfulness of death, 
which was listed next (III. 105). 

[Definitions] 

Herein, death (marana) is the interruption of the life faculty included within [the 
limits of] a single becoming (existence). But death as termination (cutting off), in 
other words, the Arahant's termination of the suffering of the round, is not 
intended here, nor is momentary death, in other words, the momentary dissolution 
of formations, nor the "death" of conventional (metaphorical) usage in such 
expressions as "dead tree," "dead metal," and so on. 

2. As intended here it is of two kinds, that is to say, timely death and untimely 
death. Herein, timely death comes about with the exhaustion of merit or with the 
exhaustion of a life span or with both. Untimely death comes about through 
kamma that interrupts [other, life-producing] kamma. 

3. Herein, death through exhaustion of merit is a term for the kind of death that 
comes about owing to the result of [former] rebirth-producing kamma's having 
finished ripening although favourable conditions for prolonging the continuity 
of a life span may be still present. Death through exhaustion of a life span is a term 
for the kind of death that comes about owing to the exhaustion of the normal life 
span of men of today, which measures only a century owing to want of such 
excellence in destiny [as deities have] or in time [as there is at the beginning of 
an aeon] or in nutriment [as the Uttarakurus and so on have]. 1 Untimely death is 
a term for the death of those whose continuity is interrupted by kamma capable 
of causing them to fall (cavana) from their place at that very moment, as in the 
case of Dusi-Mara (see M I 337), Kalaburaja (see J-a III 39), etc., 2 or for the death 
of those whose [life's] continuity is interrupted by assaults with weapons, etc., 
due to previous kamma. [230] All these are included under the interruption of 

1. Amplifications are from Vism-mht, p. 236. 

2. "The word 'etc' includes Nanda-yakkha, Nanda-manava, and others" (Vism-mht 
236). See A-a II 104, and M-a IV 8. 

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the life faculty of the kinds already stated. So mindfulness of death is the 
remembering of death, in other words, of the interruption of the life faculty. 

[Development] 

4. One who wants to develop this should go into solitary retreat and exercise 
attention wisely in this way: "Death will take place; the life faculty will be 
interrupted," or "Death, death." 

5. If he exercises his attention unwisely in recollecting the [possible] death of 
an agreeable person, sorrow arises, as in a mother on recollecting the death of 
her beloved child she bore; and gladness arises in recollecting the death of a 
disagreeable person, as in enemies on recollecting the death of their enemies; 
and no sense of urgency arises on recollecting the death of neutral people, as 
happens in a corpse-burner on seeing a dead body; and anxiety arises on 
recollecting one's own death, as happens in a timid person on seeing a murderer 
with a poised dagger. 

6. In all that there is neither mindfulness nor sense of urgency nor knowledge. So 
he should look here and there at beings that have been killed or have died, and 
advert to the death of beings already dead but formerly seen enjoying good things, 
doing so with mindfulness, with a sense of urgency and with knowledge, after 
which he can exercise his attention in the way beginning, "Death will take place." 
By so doing he exercises it wisely. He exercises it as a [right] means, is the meaning. 3 

7. When some exercise it merely in this way, their hindrances get suppressed, 
their mindfulness becomes established with death as its object, and the meditation 
subject reaches access. 

[Eight Ways of Recollecting Death] 

8. But one who finds that it does not get so far should do his recollecting of 
death in eight ways, that is to say: (1) as having the appearance of a murderer, (2) 
as the ruin of success, (3) by comparison, (4) as to sharing the body with many, 
(5) as to the frailty of life, (6) as signless, (7) as to the limitedness of the extent, (8) 
as to the shortness of the moment. 

9. 1. Herein, as having the appearance of a murderer, he should do his recollecting 
thus, "Just as a murderer appears with a sword, thinking, 'I shall cut this man's 
head off,' and applies it to his neck, so death appears." Why? Because it comes 
with birth and it takes away life. 

10. As budding toadstools always come up lifting dust on their tops, so beings 
are born along with aging and death. For accordingly their rebirth-linking 
consciousness reaches aging immediately next to its arising and then breaks 
up together with its associated aggregates, like a stone that falls from the summit 
of a rock. [231] So to begin with, momentary death comes along with birth. But 
death is inevitable for what is born; consequently the kind of death intended 
here also comes along with birth. 

3. For the expression upaya-manasikara — "attention as a [right] means" see M-a I 64. 

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11. Therefore, just as the risen sun moves on towards its setting and never 
turns back even for a little while from wherever it has got to, or just as a mountain 
torrent sweeps by with a rapid current, ever flowing and rushing on and never 
turning back even for a little while, so too this living being travels on towards 
death from the time when he is born, and he never turns back even for a little 
while. Hence it is said: 

"Right from the very day a man 

Has been conceived inside a womb 

He cannot but go on and on, 

Nor going can he once turn back" (J-a IV 494). 

12. And whilst he goes on thus death is as near to him as drying up is to 
rivulets in the summer heat, as falling is to the fruits of trees when the sap 
reaches their attachments in the morning, as breaking is to clay pots tapped by 
a mallet, as vanishing is to dewdrops touched by the sun's rays. Hence it is said: 

"The nights and days go slipping by 
As life keeps dwindling steadily 
Till mortals' span, like water pools 
In failing rills, is all used up" (S I 109). 

"As there is fear, when fruits are ripe, 

That in the morning they will fall, 

So mortals are in constant fear, 

When they are born, that they will die. 

And as the fate of pots of clay 

Once fashioned by the potter's hand, 

Or small or big or baked or raw, 4 

Condemns them to be broken up, 

So mortals' life leads but to death" (Sn p. 576f.). 

"The dewdrop on the blade of grass 
Vanishes when the sun comes up; 
Such is a human span of life; 
So, mother, do not hinder me" (J-a IV 122). 

13. So this death, which comes along with birth, is like a murderer with poised 
sword. And like the murderer who applies the sword to the neck, it carries off life 
and never returns to bring it back. [232] That is why, since death appears like a 
murderer with poised sword owing to its coming along with birth and carrying 
off life, it should be recollected as "having the appearance of a murderer." 

14. 2. As the ruin of success: here success shines as long as failure does not 
overcome it. And the success does not exist that might endure out of reach of 
failure. Accordingly: 

"He gave with joy a hundred millions 

After conquering all the earth, 

Till in the end his realm came down 

4. This line is not in the Sutta-nipata, but see D II 120, note. 

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To less than half a gall-nut's worth. 
Yet when his merit was used up, 
His body breathing its last breath, 
The Sorrowless Asoka too 5 
Felt sorrow face to face with death." 

15. Furthermore, all health ends in sickness, all youth ends in aging, all life 
ends in death; all worldly existence is procured by birth, haunted by aging, 
surprised by sickness, and struck down by death. Hence it is said: 

"As though huge mountains made of rock 

So vast they reached up to the sky 

Were to advance from every side, 

Grinding beneath them all that lives, 

So age and death roll over all, 

Warriors, priests, merchants, and craftsmen, 

The outcastes and the scavengers, 

Crushing all beings, sparing none. 

And here no troops of elephants, 

No charioteers, no infantry, 

No strategy in form of spells, 

No riches, serve to beat them off" (S 1 102). 

This is how death should be recollected as the "ruin of success" by defining 
it as death's final ruining of life's success. 

16. 3. By comparison: by comparing oneself to others. Herein, death should be 
recollected by comparison in seven ways, that is to say: with those of great fame, 
with those of great merit, with those of great strength, with those of great 
supernormal power, with those of great understanding, with Paccekabuddhas, 
with fully enlightened Buddhas. How? [233] 

17. Although Mahasammata, Mandhatu, Mahasudassana, Dalhanemi, Nimi, 6 
etc., 7 were greatly famous and had a great following, and though they had 
amassed enormous wealth, yet death inevitably caught up with them at length, 
so how shall it not at length overtake me? 

Great kings like Mahasammata, 
Whose fame did spread so mightily, 
All fell into death's power too; 
What can be said of those like me? 



5. The Emperor Asoka is referred to. His name Asoka means "Sorrowless." This 
story is in the Asokavadana and Divyavadana, pp. 429-434. 

6. The references for the names here and in the following paragraphs are: 
Mahasammata (J-a III 454; II 311), Mandhatu (J-a II 311), Mahasudassana (D II 169f.), 
Dalhanemi (D III 59f.), Nimi (J-a VI 96f.), Jotika (Vism XII.41), Jatila (XII.41), Ugga (A-a 
I 394), Mendaka (XII.41f.), Punnaka (XII.42), Vasudeva (J-a IV 81f.), Baladeva (J-a IV 
81f.), Bhlmasena (J-a V 426), Yuddhitthila (J-a V 426), Canura (J-a IV 81). 

7. Pabhuti — "etc.": this meaning is not in PED; see §121. 



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It should be recollected in this way, firstly, by comparison with those of great 
fame. 

18. How by comparison with those of great merit? 

Jotika, Jatila, Ugga, 

And Mendaka, and Punnaka 

These, the world said, and others too, 

Did live most meritoriously; 

Yet they came one and all to death; 

What can be said of those like me? 

It should be recollected in this way by comparison with those of great merit. 

19. How by comparison with those of great strength? 

Vasudeva, Baladeva, 
Bhimasena, Yuddhitthila, 
And Canura the wrestler, 
Were in the Exterminator's power. 
Throughout the world they were renowned 
As blessed with strength so mighty; 
They too went to the realm of death; 
What can be said of those like me? 

It should be recollected in this way by comparison with those of great strength. 

20. How by comparison with those of great supernormal power? 

The second of the chief disciples, 
The foremost in miraculous powers, 
Who with the point of his great toe 
Did rock Vejayanta's Palace towers, 
Like a deer in a lion's jaw, he too, 
Despite miraculous potency, 
Fell in the dreadful jaws of death; 
What can be said of those like me? 

It should be recollected in this way by comparison with those of great 
supernormal power. 

21. How by comparison with those of great understanding? [234] 

The first of the two chief disciples 
Did so excel in wisdom's art 
That, save the Helper of the World, 
No being is worth his sixteenth part. 
But though so great was Sariputta's 
Understanding faculty, 
He fell into death's power too; 
What can be said of those like me? 

It should be recollected in this way by comparison with those of great 
understanding. 



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22. How by comparison with Paccekabuddhas? Even those who by the strength 
of their own knowledge and energy crushed all the enemy defilements and 
reached enlightenment for themselves, who [stood alone] like the horn of the 
rhinoceros (see Sn p. 35f.), who were self-perfected, were still not free from death. 
So how should I be free from it? 

To help them in their search for truth 

The Sages various signs employed, 

Their knowledge brought them self-perfection, 

Their cankers were at length destroyed. 

Like the rhinoceros's horn 
They lived alone in constancy, 
But death they could no way evade; 
What can be said of those like me? 
It should be recollected in this way by comparison with Paccekabuddhas. 

23. How by comparison with fully enlightened Buddhas? Even the Blessed One, 
whose material body was embellished with the eighty lesser details and adorned 
with the thirty-two marks of a great man (see MN 91; DN 30), whose Dhamma 
body brought to perfection the treasured qualities of the aggregates of virtue, 
etc., 8 made pure in every aspect, who overpassed greatness of fame, greatness of 
merit, greatness of strength, greatness of supernormal power and greatness of 
understanding, who had no equal, who was the equal of those without equal, 
without double, accomplished and fully enlightened — even he was suddenly 
quenched by the downpour of death's rain, as a great mass of fire is quenched by 
the downpour of a rain of water. 

And so the Greatest Sage possessed 
Such mighty power in every way, 
And it was not through fear or guilt 
That over him Death held his sway. 

No being, not even one without 
Guilt or pusillanimity, 
But will be smitten down; so how I 
Will he not conquer those like me? 

It should be recollected in this way by comparison with fully enlightened 
Buddhas. 

24. When he does his recollecting in this way by comparing himself with 
others possessed of such great fame, etc., in the light of the universality of death, 
thinking, "Death will come to me even as it did to those distinguished beings," 
then his meditation subject reaches access. This is how death should be recollected 
by comparison. [235] 

25. 4. As to the sharing of the body with many: this body is shared by many. Firstly, 
it is shared by the eighty families of worms. There too, creatures live in dependence 

8. Virtue, concentration, understanding, deliverance, knowledge, and vision of 
deliverance. 

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on the outer skin, feeding on the outer skin; creatures live in dependence on the 
inner skin, feeding on the inner skin; creatures live in dependence on the flesh, 
feeding on the flesh; creatures live in dependence on the sinews, feeding on the 
sinews; creatures live in dependence on the bones, feeding on the bones; and 
creatures live in dependence on the marrow, feeding on the marrow. And there 
they are born, grow old and die, evacuate, and make water; and the body is their 
maternity home, their hospital, their charnel-ground, their privy and their urinal. 
The body can also be brought to death with the upsetting of these worms. And 
just as it is shared with the eighty families of worms, so too it is shared by the 
several hundred internal diseases, as well as by such external causes of death as 
snakes, scorpions, and what not. 

26. And just as when a target is set up at a crossroads and then arrows, spears, 
pikes, stones, etc., come from all directions and fall upon it, so too all kinds of 
accidents befall the body, and it also comes to death through these accidents 
befalling it. Hence the Blessed One said: "Here, bhikkhus, when day is departing 
and night is drawing on, 9 a bhikkhu considers thus: 'In many ways I can risk 
death. A snake may bite me, or a scorpion may sting me, or a centipede may sting 
me. I might die of that, and that would set me back. Or I might stumble and fall, 
or the food I have eaten might disagree with me, or my bile might get upset, or my 
phlegm might get upset [and sever my joints as it were] like knives. I might die of 
that, and that would set me back'" (A III 306). 

That is how death should be recollected as to sharing the body with many 

27. 5. As to the frailty of life: this life is impotent and frail. For the life of beings 
is bound up with breathing, it is bound up with the postures, it is bound up with 
cold and heat, it is bound up with the primary elements, and it is bound up with 
nutriment. 

28. Life occurs only when the in -breaths and out-breaths occur evenly. But 
when the wind in the nostrils that has gone outside does not go in again, or 
when that which has gone inside does not come out again, then a man is 
reckoned to be dead. 

And it occurs only when the four postures are found occurring evenly. [236] 
But with the prevailing of anyone of them the life process is interrupted. 

And it occurs only when cold and heat are found occurring evenly. But it fails 
when a man is overcome by excessive cold or heat. 

And it occurs only when the four primary elements are found occurring 
evenly. But with the disturbance of the earth element even a strong man's life can 
be terminated if his body becomes rigid, or with the disturbance of one of the 
elements beginning with water if his body becomes flaccid and petrified with a 
flux of the bowels, etc., or if he is consumed by a bad fever, or if he suffers a 
severing of his limb-joint ligatures (cf. XI.102). 



9. Patihitaya — "drawing on": not in PED; Vism-mht (p. 240) reads panitaya and explains 
by paccagataya (come back). 



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And life occurs only in one who gets physical nutriment at the proper time; 
but if he gets none, he uses his life up. 

This is how death should be recollected as to the frailty of life. 

29. 6. As signless: as indefinable. The meaning is that it is unpredictable. For in 
the case of all beings: 

The span, the sickness, and the time, and where 
The body will be laid, the destiny: 
The living world can never know 10 these things; 
There is no sign foretells when they will be. 

30. Herein, firstly the span has no sign because there is no definition such as: 
Just so much must be lived, no more than that. For beings [die in the various 
stages of the embryo, namely], at the time of the kalala, of the abbnda, of the pesi, of 
the ghana, at one month gone, two months gone, three months gone, four months 
gone, five months gone . . . ten months gone, and on the occasion of coming out 
of the womb. And after that they die this side or the other of the century. 

31. And the sickness has no sign because there is no definition such as: Beings 
die only of this sickness, not of any other. For beings die of eye disease or of any 
one among those beginning with ear disease (see A V 110). 

32. And the time has no sign because there is no definition such as: One has to 
die only at this time, not at any other. For beings die in the morning and at any of 
the other times such as noon. 

33. And where the body will be laid down has no sign because there is no 
definition such as: When people die, they must drop their bodies only here, not 
anywhere else. For the person of those born inside a village is dropped outside 
the village, and that of those born outside the village is dropped inside it. Likewise 
that of those born in water is dropped on land, and that of those born on land in 
water. And this can be multiplied in many ways. [237] 

34. And the destiny has no sign because there is no definition such as: One who 
dies there must be reborn here. For there are some who die in a divine world and are 
reborn in the human world, and there are some who die in the human world and are 
reborn in a divine world, and so on. And in this way the world goes round and 
round the five kinds of destinies like an ox harnessed to a machine. 

This is how death should be recollected as signless. 

35. 7. As to the limitedness of the extent: the extent of human life is short now. One 
who lives long lives a hundred years, more or less. Hence the Blessed One said: 
"Bhikkhus, this human life span is short. There is a new life to be gone to, there 
are profitable [deeds] to be done, there is the life of purity to be led. There is no 
not dying for the born. He who lives long lives a hundred years, more or less ..." 

"The life of humankind is short; 
A wise man holds it in contempt 
And acts as one whose head is burning; 
Death will never fail to come" (S I 108). 

10. Nayare — "can know": form not in PED; Vism-mht explains by nayanti. 

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And he said further: "Bhikkhus, there was once a teacher called Araka ..." (A 
IV 136), all of which sutta should be given in full, adorned as it is with seven 
similes. 

36. And he said further: "Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu develops mindfulness of 
death thus, 'Oh, let me live a night and day that I may attend to the Blessed One's 
teaching, surely much could be done by me,' and when a bhikkhu develops 
mindfulness of death thus, 'Oh, let me live a day that I may attend to the Blessed 
One's teaching, surely much could be done by me,' and when a bhikkhu develops 
mindfulness of death thus, 'Oh, let me live as long as it takes to chew and 
swallow four or five mouthfuls that I may attend to the Blessed One's teaching, 
surely much could be done by me' — these are called bhikkhus who dwell in 
negligence and slackly develop mindfulness of death for the destruction of 
cankers. [238] 

37. "And, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu develops mindfulness of death thus, 
'Oh, let me live for as long as it takes to chew and swallow a single mouthful that 
I may attend to the Blessed One's teaching, surely much could be done by me,' 
and when a bhikkhu develops mindfulness of death thus, 'Oh, let me live as 
long as it takes to breathe in and breathe out, or as long as it takes to breathe out 
and breathe in, that I may attend to the Blessed One's teaching, surely much 
could be done by me' — these are called bhikkhus who dwell in diligence and 
keenly develop mindfulness of death for the destruction of cankers" (A III 305-6). 

38. So short in fact is the extent of life that it is not certain even for as long as it 
takes to chew and swallow four or five mouthfuls. 

This is how death should be recollected as to the limitedness of the extent. 

39. 8. As to the shortness of the moment: in the ultimate sense the life-moment of 
living beings is extremely short, being only as much as the occurrence of a 
single conscious moment. Just as a chariot wheel, when it is rolling, rolls [that 
is, touches the ground] only on one point of [the circumference of] its tire, and, 
when it is at rest, rests only on one point, so too, the life of living beings lasts 
only for a single conscious moment. When that consciousness has ceased, the 
being is said to have ceased, according as it is said: "In a past conscious moment 
he did live, not he does live, not he will live. In a future conscious moment not he 
did live, not he does live, he will live. In the present conscious moment not he did 
live, he does live, not he will live." 

"Life, person, pleasure, pain — just these alone 
Join in one conscious moment that flicks by. 
Ceased aggregates of those dead or alive 
Are all alike, gone never to return. 

No [world is] born if [consciousness is] not 
Produced; when that is present, then it lives; 
When consciousness dissolves, the world is dead: 
The highest sense this concept will allow" 11 (Nidd I 42). 

11. "'Person' (atta-bhava) is the states other than the already-mentioned life, feeling 
and consciousness. The words 'just these alone' mean that it is unmixed with self (atta) 



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or permanence" (Vism-mht 242). Atta-bhava as used in the Suttas and in this work is 
more or less a synonym for sakkaya in the sense of person (body and mind) or 
personality, or individual form. See Pitaka refs. in PED and e.g. this chapter §35 and 
XI.54. 

"'When consciousness dissolves, the world is dead": just as in the case of the death- 
consciousness, this world is also called 'dead' in the highest (ultimate) sense with the 
arrival of any consciousness whatever at its dissolution, since its cessation has no 
rebirth-linking (is 'cessation never to return'). Nevertheless, though this is so, 'the 
highest sense this concept will allow (pannatti paramatthiya)' — the ultimate sense will 
allow this concept of continuity which is what the expression of common usage 'Tissa 
lives, Phussa lives' refers to, and which is based on consciousnesses [momentarily] 
existing along with a physical support; this belongs to the ultimate sense here, since, 
as they say, 'It is not the name and surname that lives.'" (Vism-mht 242, 801) 

Something may be said about the word pannatti here. Twenty-four kinds are dealt 
with in the commentary to the Puggalapannatti. The Puggalapannatti Schedule (rnatika) 
gives the following six pannatti (here a making known, a setting out): of aggregates, 
bases, elements, truths, faculties, and persons. (Pug 1) The commentary explains the 
word in this sense as pannapana (making known) and thapana (placing), quoting "He 
announces, teaches, declares (pahnapeti), establishes" (cf. M III 248), and also "a well- 
appointed (supannatta) bed and chair" (?). It continues: "The making known of a name 
(nama-pannatti) shows such and such dhammas and places them in such and such 
compartments, while the making known of the aggregates (khandha-pannatti) and the 
rest shows in brief the individual form of those making-known (pannatti). " 

It then gives six kinds of pannatti "according to the commentarial method but not 
in the texts": (1) Concept of the existent (vijjamana-pahhatti), which is the conceptualizing 
of (making known) a dhamma that is existent, actual, become, in the true and ultimate 
sense (e.g. aggregates, etc.). (2) Concept of the non-existent, which is, for example, the 
conceptualizing of "female," "male," "persons," etc., which are non-existent by that 
standard and are only established by means of current speech in the world; similarly 
"such impossibilities as concepts of a fifth truth or the other sectarians' Atom, 
Primordial Essence, World Soul, and the like." (3) Concept of the non-existent based on 
the existent, e.g. the expression, "One with the three clear-visions," where the "person" 
("one") is nonexistent and the "clear-visions" are existent. (4) Concept of the existent 
based on the non-existent, e.g. the "female form," "visible form" (= visible datum base) 
being existent and "female" non-existent. (5) Concept of the existent based on the 
existent, e.g. "eye-contact," both "eye" and "contact" being existent. (6) Concept of the 
non-existent based on the non-existent, e.g. "banker's son," both being non-existent. 

Again two more sets of six are given as "according to the Teachers, but not in the 
Commentaries." The first is: (1) Derivative concept (upada-pahhatti); this, for instance, 
is a "being," which is a convention derived from the aggregates of materiality feeling, 
etc., though it has no individual essence of its own apprehendable in the true ultimate 
sense, as materiality say, has in its self-identity and its otherness from feeling, etc.; or 
a "house" or a "fist" or an "oven" as apart from its component parts, or a "pitcher" or 
a "garment," which are all derived from those same aggregates; or "time" or 
"direction," which are derived from the revolutions of the moon and sun; or the 
"learning sign" or "counterpart sign" founded on some aspect or other, which are a 
convention derived from some real sign as a benefit of meditative development: these 
are derived concepts, and this kind is a "concept" (pannatti) in the sense of "ability to 



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This is how death should be recollected as to the shortness of the moment. 

[Conclusion] 

40. So while he does his recollecting by means of one or other of these eight 
ways, his consciousness acquires [the support of] repetition owing to the 
reiterated attention, mindfulness settles down with death as its object, the 
hindrances are suppressed, and the jhana factors make their appearance. But 
since the object is stated with individual essences, 12 and since it awakens a sense 
of urgency, the jhana does not reach absorption and is only access. [239] Now, 
with special development, the supramundane jhana and the second and the 
fourth immaterial jhanas reach absorption even with respect to states with 
individual essences. For the supramundane reaches absorption by means of 

be set up" (pahnapetabba = ability to be conceptualized), but not in the sense of "making 
known" (panhapana). Under the latter heading this would be a "concept of the 
nonexistent." (2) Appositional concept (upa-nidha-p .): many varieties are listed, namely, 
apposition of reference ("second" as against "first," "third" as against "second," 
"long" as against "short"); apposition of what is in the hand ("umbrella-in-hand," 
"knife-in-hand"); apposition of association ("earring-wearer," "topknot-wearer," 
"crest-wearer"); apposition of contents ("corn-wagon," "ghee-pot"); apposition of 
proximity ("Indasala Cave," "Piyarigu Cave"); apposition of comparison ("golden 
coloured," "with a bull's gait"); apposition of majority ("Padumassara-brahman 
Village"); apposition of distinction ("diamond ring"); and so on. (3) Collective concept 
(samodhana-p.), e.g., "eight-footed," "pile of riches." (4) Additive concept (upanikkhitta- 
p.), e.g. "one," "two," "three." (5) Verisimilar concept (tajja-p.): refers to the individual 
essence of a given dhamma, e.g. "earth," "fire," "hardness," "heat." (6) Continuity 
concept (santati-p .): refers to the length of continuity of life, e.g. "octogenarian," 
"nonagenarian. " 

In the second set there are: (i) Concept according to function (kicca-p.), e.g. "preacher," 
"expounder of Dhamma." (ii) Concept according to shape (santhana-p.), e.g. "thin," "stout," 
"round," "square." (iii) Concept according to gender (lihga-p.), e.g. "female," "male." (iv) 
Concept according to location (bhumi-p.), e.g. "of the sense sphere," "Kosalan." (v) Concept 
as proper name (paccatta-p.), e.g. "Tissa," "Naga," "Sumana," which are making-known 
(appellations) by mere name-making, (vi) Concept of the unformed (asahkhata-pannatti), 
e.g. "cessation," "Nibbana," etc., which make the unformed dhamma known — an 
existent concept. (From commentary to Puggalapahnatti, condensed — see also Dhs-a 
390f.) 

All this shows that the word pannatti carries the meanings of either appellation or 
concept or both together, and that no English word quite corresponds. 
12. "'But since the object is stated with individual essences': the breakup of states 
with individual essences, their destruction, their fall — [all] that has to do only with 
states with individual essences. Hence the Blessed One said: 'Bhikkhus, aging-and- 
death is impermanent, formed, dependently arisen' (S II 26). ... If it cannot reach 
absorption because of [its object being] states with individual essences then what 
about the supramundane jhanas and certain of the immaterial jhanas? It was to answer 
this that he said 'now with special development the supramundane jhana' and so on" 
(Vism-mht 243). Kasina jhana, for example, has a concept (pannatti) as its object 
(IV29) and a concept is a dhamma without individual essence (asabhava-dhamma). 

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progressive development of the purification and the immaterial jhanas do so by 
means of development consisting in the surmounting of the object (see Ch. X) 
since there [in those two immaterial jhanas] there is merely the surmounting of 
the object of jhana that had already reached absorption. But here [in mundane 
mindfulness of death] there is neither so the jhana only reaches access. And that 
access is known as "mindfulness of death" too since it arises through its means. 

41. A bhikkhu devoted to mindfulness of death is constantly diligent. He 
acquires perception of disenchantment with all kinds of becoming (existence). 
He conquers attachment to life. He condemns evil. He avoids much storing. He 
has no stain of avarice about requisites. Perception of impermanence grows in 
him, following upon which there appear the perceptions of pain and not-self. 
But while beings who have not developed [mindfulness of] death fall victims to 
fear, horror and confusion at the time of death as though suddenly seized by 
wild beasts, spirits, snakes, robbers, or murderers, he dies undeluded and fearless 
without falling into any such state. And if he does not attain the deathless here 
and now, he is at least headed for a happy destiny on the breakup of the body. 

Now, when a man is truly wise, 
His constant task will surely be 
This recollection about death 
Blessed with such mighty potency. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of death in the detailed 
explanation. 

[(8) Mindfulness Occupied with the Body] 

42. Now comes the description of the development of mindfulness occupied 
with the body as a meditation subject, which is never promulgated except after 
an Enlightened One's arising, and is outside the province of any sectarians. It 
has been commended by the Blessed One in various ways in different suttas 
thus: "Bhikkhus, when one thing is developed and repeatedly practiced, it leads 
to a supreme sense of urgency, to supreme benefit, to supreme surcease of bondage, 
to supreme mindfulness and full awareness, to acquisition of knowledge and 
vision, to a happy life here and now, to realization of the fruit of clear vision and 
deliverance. What is that one thing? It is mindfulness occupied with the body" 
(A I 43). And thus: "Bhikkhus, they savour the deathless who savour mindfulness 
occupied with the body; they do not savour the deathless who do not savour 
mindfulness occupied with the body 13 [240] They have savoured the deathless 
who have savoured mindfulness occupied with the body; they have not savoured 
. . . They have neglected . . . they have not neglected . . . They have missed . . . they 
have found the deathless who have found mindfulness occupied with the body" 
(A I 45). And it has been described in fourteen sections in the passage beginning, 
"And how developed, bhikkhus, how repeatedly practiced is mindfulness 
occupied with the body of great fruit, of great benefit? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, 
gone to the forest ..." (M III 89), that is to say, the sections on breathing, on 

13. In the Ariguttara text the negative and positive clauses are in the opposite order. 

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postures, on the four kinds of full awareness, on attention directed to 
repulsiveness, on attention directed to elements, and on the nine charnel-ground 
contemplations. 

43. Herein, the three, that is to say, the sections on postures, on the four kinds of 
full awareness (see M-a I 253f.), and on attention directed to elements, as they are 
stated [in that sutta], deal with insight. Then the nine sections on the charnel- 
ground contemplations, as stated there, deal with that particular phase of insight 
knowledge called contemplation of danger. And any development of 
concentration in the bloated, etc., that might be implied there has already been 
explained in the Description of Foulness (Ch. VI). So there are only the two, that 
is, the sections on breathing and on directing attention to repulsiveness, that, as 
stated there, deal with concentration. Of these two, the section on breathing is a 
separate meditation subject, namely, mindfulness of breathing. 

[Text] 

44. What is intended here as mindfulness occupied with the body is the thirty- 
two aspects. This meditation subject is taught as the direction of attention to 
repulsiveness thus: "Again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu reviews this body, up from the 
soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair and contained in the skin, as 
full of many kinds of filth thus: In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, 
nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidney, heart, liver, midriff, 
spleen, lungs, bowels, entrails, gorge, dung, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, 
tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine" (M III 90), the brain being 
included in the bone marrow in this version [with a total of only thirty-one aspects]. 

45. Here is the description of the development introduced by a commentary on 
the text. 

[Word Commentary] 

This body: this filthy body constructed out of the four primary elements. Up from 
the soles of the feet: from the soles of the feet upwards. Down from the top of the hair: 
from the highest part of the hair downwards. Contained in the skin: terminated all 
round by the skin. Reviews ... as full of many kinds of filth: [241] he sees that this 
body is packed with the filth of various kinds beginning with head hairs. How? 
"In this body there are head hairs ... urine." 

46. Herein, there are means, there are found. In this: in this, which is expressed 
thus: "Up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair and 
contained in the skin, as full of many kinds of filth." Body: the carcass; for it is 
the carcass that is called "body" {kayo.) because it is a conglomeration of filth, 
because such vile (kucchita) things as the head hairs, etc., and the hundred 
diseases beginning with eye disease, have it as their origin {aya). 

Head hairs, body hairs: these things beginning with head hairs are the thirty- 
two aspects. The construction here should be understood in this way: In this 
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47. No one who searches throughout the whole of this fathom-long carcass, 
starting upwards from the soles of the feet, starting downwards from the top of 
the head, and starting from the skin all round, ever finds even the minutest atom 
at all beautiful in it, such as a pearl, or a gem, or beryl, or aloes, 14 or saffron, or 
camphor, or talcum powder; on the contrary he finds nothing but the various 
very malodorous, offensive, drab-looking sorts of filth consisting of the head 
hairs, body hairs, and the rest. Hence it is said: "In this body there are head 
hairs, body hairs ... urine." 

This is the commentary on the word-construction here. 

[Development] 

48. Now, a clansman who, as a beginner, wants to develop this meditation 
subject should go to a good friend of the kind already described (III. 61-73) and 
learn it. And the teacher who expounds it to him should tell him the sevenfold 
skill in learning and the tenfold skill in giving attention. 

[The Sevenfold Skill in Learning] 

Herein, the sevenfold skill in learning should be told thus: (1) as verbal recitation, 
(2) as mental recitation, (3) as to colour, (4) as to shape, (5) as to direction, (6) as 
to location, (7) as to delimitation. 

49. 1. This meditation subject consists in giving attention to repulsiveness. 
Even if one is master of the Tipitaka, the verbal recitation should still be done at 
the time of first giving it attention. For the meditation subject only becomes 
evident to some through recitation, as it did to the two elders who learned the 
meditation subject from the Elder Maha Deva of the Hill Country (Malaya). On 
being asked for the meditation subject, it seems, the elder [242] gave the text of 
the thirty-two aspects, saying, "Do only this recitation for four months." 
Although they were familiar respectively with two and three Pitakas, it was only 
at the end of four months of recitation of the meditation subject that they became 
stream-en terers, with right apprehension [of the text]. So the teacher who expounds 
the meditation subject should tell the pupil to do the recitation verbally first. 

50. Now, when he does the recitation, he should divide it up into the "skin 
pentad," etc., and do it forwards and backwards. After saying "Head hairs, 
body hairs, nails, teeth, skin," he should repeat it backwards, "Skin, teeth, nails, 
body hairs, head hairs." 

51. Next to that, with the "kidney pentad," after saying "Flesh, sinews, bones, 
bone marrow, kidney," he should repeat it backwards, "Kidney, bone marrow, 
bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs." 

52. Next, with the "lungs pentad," after saying "Heart, liver, midriff, spleen, 
lungs," he should repeat it backwards, "Lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart; kidney, 
bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs." 



14. Agaru — "aloes": not so spelled in PED; but see again. 



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53. Next, with the "brain pentad," after saying "Bowels, entrails, gorge, dung, 
brain," he should repeat it backwards, "Brain, dung, gorge, entrails, bowels; 
lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart; kidney, bone marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; 
skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs." 

54. Next, with the "fat sextad," after saying "Bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, 
fat," he should repeat it backwards, "Fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm, bile; brain, 
dung, gorge, entrails, bowels; lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart; kidney, bone 
marrow, bones, sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs." 

55. Next, with the "urine sextad," after saying "Tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil 
of the joints, urine," he should repeat it backwards, "Urine, oil of the joints, snot, 
spittle, grease, tears; fat, sweat, blood, pus, phlegm, bile; brain, dung, gorge, 
entrails, bowels; lungs, spleen, midriff, liver, heart; kidney, bone marrow, bones, 
sinews, flesh; skin, teeth, nails, body hairs, head hairs." [243] 

56. The recitation should be done verbally in this way a hundred times, a 
thousand times, even a hundred thousand times. For it is through verbal recitation 
that the meditation subject becomes familiar, and the mind being thus prevented 
from running here and there, the parts become evident and seem like [the fingers 
of] a pair of clasped hands, 15 like a row of fence posts. 

57. 2. The mental recitation should be done just as it is done verbally. For the 
verbal recitation is a condition for the mental recitation, and the mental recitation 
is a condition for the penetration of the characteristic [of foulness]. 16 

58. 3. As to colour: the colour of the head hairs, etc., should be defined. 

4. As to shape: their shape should be defined too. 

5. As to direction: in this body, upwards from the navel is the upward direction, 
and downwards from it is the downward direction. So the direction should be 
defined thus: "This part is in this direction." 

6. As to location: the location of this or that part should be defined thus: "This 
part is established in this location." 

59. 7. As to delimitation: there are two kinds of delimitation, that is, delimitation 
of the similar and delimitation of the dissimilar. Herein, delimitation of the 
similar should be understood in this way: "This part is delimited above and 
below and around by this." Delimitation of the dissimilar should be understood 
as non-intermixed-ness in this way: "Head hairs are not body hairs, and body 
hairs are not head hairs." 

60. When the teacher tells the skill in learning in seven ways thus, he should 
do so knowing that in certain suttas this meditation subject is expounded from 
the point of view of repulsiveness and in certain suttas from the point of view of 
elements. For in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (DN 22) it is expounded only as 
repulsiveness. In the Maha Hatthipadopama Sutta (MN 28), in the Maha 

15. Hatthasahkhalika — "the fingers of a pair of clasped hands," "a row of fingers 
(ahgulipanti) (Vism-mht 246). 

16. "For the penetration of the characteristic of foulness, for the observation of 
repulsiveness as the individual essence" (Vism-mht 246). 

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Rahulovada Sutta (MN 62), and the Dhatuvibhahga (MN 140, also Vibh 82), it 
is expounded as elements. In the Kayagatasati Sutta (MN 119), however, four 
jhanas are expounded with reference to one to whom it has appeared as a 
colour [kasina] (see III. 107). Herein, it is an insight meditation subject that is 
expounded as elements and a serenity meditation subject that is expounded as 
repulsiveness. Consequently it is only the serenity meditation subject [that is 
relevant] here. 

[The Tenfold Skill in Giving Attention] 

61. Having thus told the sevenfold skill in learning, he should tell the tenfold 
skill in giving attention as follows: (1) as to following the order, (2) not too 
quickly, (3) not too slowly (4) as to warding off distraction, (5) as to surmounting 
the concept, (6) as to successive leaving, (7) as to absorption, (8)-(10) as to the 
three suttantas. 

62. 1. Herein, as to following the order: from the time of beginning the recitation 
[244] attention should be given following the serial order without skipping. For 
just as when someone who has no skill climbs a thirty-two-rung ladder using 
every other step, his body gets exhausted and he falls without completing the 
climb, so too, one who gives it attention skipping [parts] becomes exhausted in 
his mind and does not complete the development since he fails to get the 
satisfaction that ought to be got with successful development. 

63. 2. Also when he gives attention to it following the serial order, he should 
do so not too quickly. For just as when a man sets out on a three-league journey, 
even if he has already done the journey out and back a hundred times rapidly 
without taking note of [turnings] to be taken and avoided, though he may finish 
his journey, he still has to ask how to get there, so too, when the meditator gives 
his attention to the meditation subject too quickly, though he may reach the end 
of the meditation subject, it still does not become clear or bring about any 
distinction. So he should not give his attention to it too quickly. 

64. 3. And as "not too quickly," so also not too slowly. For just as when a man 
wants to do a three-league journey in one day, if he loiters on the way among 
trees, rocks, pools, etc., he does not finish the journey in a day and needs two or 
three to complete it, so too, if the meditator gives his attention to the meditation 
subject too slowly, he does not get to the end and it does not become a condition 
for distinction. 

65. 4. As to warding off distraction: he must ward off [temptation] to drop the 
meditation subject and to let his mind get distracted among the variety of external 
objects. For if not, just as when a man has entered on a one-foot-wide cliff path, 
if he looks about here and there without watching his step, he may miss his 
footing and fall down the cliff, which is perhaps as high as a hundred men, so 
too, when there is outward distraction, the meditation subject gets neglected 
and deteriorates. So he should give his attention to it warding off distraction. 

66. 5. As to surmounting the concept: this [name-] concept beginning with "head 
hairs, body hairs" must be surmounted and consciousness established on [the 
aspect] "repulsive." For just as when men find a water hole in a forest in a time 



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of drought, they hang up some kind of signal there such as a palm leaf, and 
people come to bathe and drink guided by the signal, [245] but when the way 
has become plain with their continual traffic, there is no further need of the 
signal and they go to bathe and drink there whenever they want, so too, when 
repulsiveness becomes evident to him as he is giving his attention to the 
meditation subject through the means of the [name-] concept "head hairs, body 
hairs," he must surmount the concept "head hairs, body hairs" and establish 
consciousness on only the actual repulsiveness. 

67. 6. As to successive leaving: in giving his attention he should eventually leave 
out any [parts] that do not appear to him. For when a beginner gives his attention 
to head hairs, his attention then carries on till it arrives at the last part, that is, 
urine and stops there; and when he gives his attention to urine, his attention 
then carries on till it arrives back at the first part, that is, head hairs, and stops 
there. As he persists in giving his attention thus, some parts appear to him and 
others do not. Then he should work on those that have appeared till one out of 
any two appears the clearer. He should arouse absorption by again and again 
giving attention to the one that has appeared thus. 

68. Here is a simile. Suppose a hunter wanted to catch a monkey that lived in a 
grove of thirty-two palms, and he shot an arrow through a leaf of the palm that 
stood at the beginning and gave a shout; then the monkey went leaping 
successively from palm to palm till it reached the last palm; and when the 
hunter went there too and did as before, it came back in like manner to the first 
palm; and being followed thus again and again, after leaping from each place 
where a shout was given, it eventually jumped on to one palm, and firmly seizing 
the palm shoot's leaf spike in the middle, would not leap any more even when 
shot — so it is with this. 

69. The application of the simile is this. The thirty-two parts of the body are like 
the thirty-two palms in the grove. The monkey is like the mind. The meditator is 
like the hunter. The range of the meditator's mind in the body with its thirty-two 
parts as object is like the monkey's inhabiting the palm grove of thirty-two 
palms. The settling down of the meditator's mind in the last part after going 
successively [from part to part] when he began by giving his attention to head 
hairs is like the monkey's leaping from palm to palm and going to the last palm, 
[246] when the hunter shot an arrow through the leaf of the palm where it was 
and gave a shout. Likewise in the return to the beginning. His doing the 
preliminary work on those parts that have appeared, leaving behind those that 
did not appear while, as he gave his attention to them again and again, some 
appeared to him and some did not, is like the monkey's being followed and 
leaping up from each place where a shout is given. The meditator's repeated 
attention given to the part that in the end appears the more clearly of any two 
that have appeared to him and his finally reaching absorption, is like the 
monkey's eventually stopping in one palm, firmly seizing the palm shoot's leaf 
spike in the middle and not leaping up even when shot. 

70. There is another simile too. Suppose an alms-food-eater bhikkhu went to 
live near a village of thirty-two families, and when he got two lots of alms at the 
first house he left out one [house] beyond it, and next day, when he got three lots 



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of [alms at the first house] he left out two [houses] beyond it, and on the third day 
he got his bowl full at the first [house], and went to the sitting hall and ate — so it 
is with this. 

71. The thirty- two aspects are like the village with the thirty-two families. The 
meditator is like the alms-food eater. The meditator's preliminary work is like the 
alms-food eater's going to live near the village. The meditator's continuing to 
give attention after leaving out those parts that do not appear and doing his 
preliminary work on the pair of parts that do appear is like the alms-food eater's 
getting two lots of alms at the first house and leaving out one [house] beyond it, 
and like his next day getting three [lots of alms at the first house] and leaving 
out two [houses] beyond it. The arousing of absorption by giving attention 
again and again to that which has appeared the more clearly of two is like the 
alms-food eater's getting his bowl full at the first [house] on the third day and 
then going to the sitting hall and eating. 

72. 7. As to absorption: as to absorption part by part. The intention here is this: 
it should be understood that absorption is brought about in each one of the 
parts. 

73. 8-10. As to the three suttantas: the intention here is this: it should be 
understood that the three suttantas, namely, those on higher consciousness, 17 on 
coolness, and on skill in the enlightenment factors, have as their purpose the 
linking of energy with concentration. 

74. 8. Herein, this sutta should be understood to deal with higher 
consciousness: "Bhikkhus, there are three signs that should be given attention 
from time to time by a bhikkhu intent on higher consciousness. The sign of 
concentration should be given attention from time to time, the sign of exertion 
should be given attention from time to time, the sign of equanimity should be 
given attention from time to time. [247] If a bhikkhu intent on higher 
consciousness gives attention only to the sign of concentration, then his 
consciousness may conduce to idleness. If a bhikkhu intent on higher 
consciousness gives attention only to the sign of exertion, then his consciousness 
may conduce to agitation. If a bhikkhu intent on higher consciousness gives 
attention only to the sign of equanimity, then his consciousness may not become 
rightly concentrated for the destruction of cankers. But, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu 
intent on higher consciousness gives attention from time to time to the sign of 
concentration ... to the sign of exertion ... to the sign of equanimity, then his 
consciousness becomes malleable, wieldy and bright, it is not brittle and becomes 
rightly concentrated for the destruction of cankers. 

75. "Bhikkhus, just as a skilled goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice prepares 
his furnace and heats it up and puts crude gold into it with tongs; and he blows 
on it from time to time, sprinkles water on it from time to time, and looks on at it 
from time to time; and if the goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice only blew on 
the crude gold, it would burn and if he only sprinkled water on it, it would cool 
down, and if he only looked on at it, it would not get rightly refined; but, when 

17. "The higher consciousness" is a term for jhana. 

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the goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice blows on the crude gold from time to 
time, sprinkles water on it from time to time, and looks on at it from time to time, 
then it becomes malleable, wieldy and bright, it is not brittle, and it submits 
rightly to being wrought; whatever kind of ornament he wants to work it into, 
whether a chain or a ring or a necklace or a gold fillet, it serves his purpose. 

76. "So too, bhikkhus, there are three signs that should be given attention from 
time to time by a bhikkhu intent on higher consciousness ... becomes rightly 
concentrated for the destruction of cankers. [248] He attains the ability to be a 
witness, through realization by direct-knowledge, of any state realizable by 
direct-knowledge to which he inclines his mind, whenever there is occasion" (A 
I 256-58). 1S 

77. 9. This sutta deals with coolness: "Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu possesses 
six things, he is able to realize the supreme coolness. What six? Here, bhikkhus, 
when consciousness should be restrained, he restrains it; when consciousness 
should be exerted, he exerts it; when consciousness should be encouraged, he 
encourages it; when consciousness should be looked on at with equanimity, he 
looks on at it with equanimity. He is resolute on the superior [state to be attained], 
he delights in Nibbana. Possessing these six things a bhikkhu is able to realize 
the supreme coolness" (A III 435). 

78. 10. Skill in the enlightenment factors has already been dealt with in the 
explanation of skill in absorption (IV.51, 57) in the passage beginning, 
"Bhikkhus, when the mind is slack, that is not the time for developing the 
tranquillity enlightenment factor ..." (S V 113). 

79. So the meditator should make sure that he has apprehended this sevenfold 
skill in learning well and has properly defined this tenfold skill in giving 
attention, thus learning the meditation subject properly with both kinds of skill. 

[Starting the Practice] 

80. If it is convenient for him to live in the same monastery as the teacher, then 
he need not get it explained in detail thus [to begin with], but as he applies 
himself to the meditation subject after he has made quite sure about it he can 
have each successive stage explained as he reaches each distinction. 

One who wants to live elsewhere, however, must get it explained to him in 
detail in the way already given, and he must turn it over and over, getting all the 
difficulties solved. He should leave an abode of an unsuitable kind as described 
in the Description of the Earth Kasina, and go to live in a suitable one. Then he 
should sever the minor impediments (IV20) and set about the preliminary work 
for giving attention to repulsiveness. 



18. Vism-mht explains "sati sati ayatane" (rendered here by "whenever there is 
occasion" with "tasmirn tasmirn pubbahetu-adi-karane sati" ("when there is this or that 
reason consisting in a previous cause, etc."); M-a IV 146 says: "Sati sati karane. Kim pan' 
ettha karanan'ti. Abhinna' va karanam ('Whenever there is a reason. But what is the 
reason here? The direct-knowledge itself is the reason')." 



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[The Thirty-two Aspects in Detail] 

81. When he sets about it, he should first apprehend the [learning] sign in 
head hairs. How? The colour should be defined first by plucking out one or two 
head hairs and placing them on the palm of the hand. [249] He can also look at 
them in the hair-cutting place, or in a bowl of water or rice gruel. If the ones he 
sees are black when he sees them, they should be brought to mind as "black;" if 
white, as "white;" if mixed, they should be brought to mind in accordance with 
those most prevalent. And as in the case of head hairs, so too the sign should be 
apprehended visually with the whole of the "skin pentad." 

82. Having apprehended the sign thus and (a) defined all the other parts of the 
body by colour, shape, direction, location, and delimitation (§58), he should then (b) 
define repulsiveness in five ways, that is, by colour, shape, odour, habitat, and location. 

83. Here is the explanation of all the parts given in successive order. 

[Head Hairs] 

(a) Firstly head hairs are black in their normal colour, the colour of fresh 
aritthaka seeds. 19 As to shape, they are the shape of long round measuring rods. 20 
As to direction, they lie in the upper direction. As to location, their location is the 
wet inner skin that envelops the skull; it is bounded on both sides by the roots of 
the ears, in front by the forehead, and behind by the nape of the neck. 21 As to 
delimitation, they are bounded below by the surface of their own roots, which are 
fixed by entering to the amount of the tip of a rice grain into the inner skin that 
envelops the head. They are bounded above by space, and all round by each 
other. There are no two hairs together. This is their delimitation by the similar. 
Head hairs are not body hairs, and body hairs are not head hairs; being likewise 
not intermixed with the remaining thirty-one parts, the head hairs are a separate 
part. This is their delimitation by the dissimilar. Such is the definition of head 
hairs as to colour and so on. 

84. (b) Their definition as to repulsiveness in the five ways, that is, by colour, etc., 
is as follows. Head hairs are repulsive in colour as well as in shape, odour, 
habitat, and location. 

85. For on seeing the colour of a head hair in a bowl of inviting rice gruel or 
cooked rice, people are disgusted and say, "This has got hairs in it. Take it 
away." So they are repulsive in colour. Also when people are eating at night, they 
are likewise disgusted by the mere sensation of a hair-shaped akka-bark or makaci- 
bark fibre. So they are repulsive in shape. 

86. And the odour of head hairs, unless dressed with a smearing of oil, scented 
with flowers, etc., is most offensive. And it is still worse when they are put in the 



19. Aritthaka as a plant is not in PED; see CPD — Sinh penela uta. 

20. There are various readings. 

21. "Galavataka," here rendered by "nape of the neck," which the context demands. 
But elsewhere (e.g. IV47, VIII. 110) "base of the neck" seems indicated, that is, where 
the neck fits on to the body, or "gullet." 



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fire. [250] Even if head hairs are not directly repulsive in colour and shape, still 
their odour is directly repulsive. Just as a baby's excrement, as to its colour, is the 
colour of turmeric and, as to its shape, is the shape of a piece of turmeric root, 
and just as the bloated carcass of a black dog thrown on a rubbish heap, as to its 
colour, is the colour of a ripe palmyra fruit and, as to its shape, is the shape of a 
[mandolin-shaped] drum left face down, and its fangs are like jasmine buds, 
and so even if both these are not directly repulsive in colour and shape, still their 
odour is directly repulsive, so too, even if head hairs are not directly repulsive in 
colour and shape, still their odour is directly repulsive. 

87. But just as pot herbs that grow on village sewage in a filthy place are 
disgusting to civilized people and unusable, so also head hairs are disgusting 
since they grow on the sewage of pus, blood, urine, dung, bile, phlegm, and the 
like. This is the repulsive aspect of the habitat. 

88. And these head hairs grow on the heap of the [other] thirty-one parts as 
fungi do on a dung-hill. And owing to the filthy place they grow in they are 
quite as unappetizing as vegetables growing on a charnel-ground, on a midden, 
etc., as lotuses or water lilies growing in drains, and so on. This is the repulsive 
aspect of their location. 

89. And as in the case of head hairs, so also the repulsiveness of all the parts 
should be defined (b) in the same five ways by colour, shape, odour, habitat, and 
location. All, however, must be defined individually (a) by colour, shape, direction, 
location, and delimitation, as follows. 

[Body Hairs] 

90. Herein, firstly, as to natural colour, body, hairs are not pure black like head 
hairs but blackish brown. As to shape, they are the shape of palm roots with the 
tips bent down. As to direction, they lie in the two directions. As to location, 
except for the locations where the head hairs are established, and for the palms 
of the hands and soles of the feet, they grow in most of the rest of the inner skin 
that envelops the body. As to delimitation, they are bounded below by the surface 
of their own roots, which are fixed by entering to the extent of a likha 22 into the 
inner skin that envelops the body, above by space, and all round by each other. There 
are no two body hairs together. This is the delimitation by the similar. But their 
delimitation by the dissimilar is like that for the head hairs. [Note: These two last 
sentences are repeated verbatim at the end of the description of each part. They 
are not translated in the remaining thirty parts]. 

[Nails] 

91. "Nails" is the name for the twenty nail plates. They are all white as to 
colour. As to shape, they are the shape of fish scales. As to direction: the toenails 
are in the lower direction; the fingernails are in the upper direction. [251] So 
they grow in the two directions. As to location, they are fixed on the tips of the 
backs of the fingers and toes. As to delimitation, they are bounded in the two 

22. A measure of length, as much as a "louse's head." 

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directions by the flesh of the ends of the fingers and toes, and inside by the flesh 
of the backs of the fingers and toes, and externally and at the end by space, and 
all round by each other. There are no two nails together . . . 

[Teeth] 

92. There are thirty-two tooth bones in one whose teeth are complete. They are 
white in colour. As to shape, they are of various shapes; for firstly in the lower row, 
the four middle teeth are the shape of pumpkin seeds set in a row in a lump of 
clay; that on each side of them has one root and one point and is the shape of a 
jasmine bud; each one after that has two roots and two points and is the shape of 
a wagon prop; then two each side with three roots and three points, then two 
each side four-rooted and four-pointed. Likewise in the upper row. As to direction, 
they lie in the upper direction. As to location, they are fixed in the jawbones. As 
to delimitation, they are bounded by the surface of their own roots which are 
fixed in the jawbones; they are bounded above by space, and all round by each 
other. There are no two teeth together . . . 

[Skin (Taca)] 

93. The inner skin envelops the whole body. Outside it is what is called the 
outer cuticle, which is black, brown or yellow in colour, and when that from the 
whole of the body is compressed together, it amounts to only as much as a 
jujube-fruit kernel. But as to colour, the skin itself is white; and its whiteness 
becomes evident when the outer cuticle is destroyed by contact with the flame of 
a fire or the impact of a blow and so on. 

94. As to shape, it is the shape of the body in brief. But in detail, the skin of the 
toes is the shape of silkworms' cocoons; the skin of the back of the foot is the 
shape of shoes with uppers; the skin of the calf is the shape of a palm leaf 
wrapping cooked rice; the skin of the thighs is the shape of a long sack full of 
paddy; the skin of the buttocks is the shape of a cloth strainer full of water; the 
skin of the back is the shape of hide streched over a plank; the skin of the belly is 
the shape of the hide stretched over the body of a lute; the skin of the chest is more or 
less square; the skin of both arms is the shape of the hide stretched over a quiver; the 
skin of the backs of the hands is the shape of a razor box, or the shape of a comb case; 
the skin of the fingers is the shape of a key box; the skin of the neck is the shape of a 
collar for the throat; the skin of the face [252] is the shape of an insects' nest full of 
holes; the skin of the head is the shape of a bowl bag. 

95. The meditator who is discerning the skin should first define the inner skin 
that covers the face, working his knowledge over the face beginning with the 
upper lip. Next, the inner skin of the frontal bone. Next, he should define the 
inner skin of the head, separating, as it were, the inner skin's connection with 
the bone by inserting his knowledge in between the cranium bone and the inner 
skin of the head, as he might his hand in between the bag and the bowl put in 
the bag. Next, the inner skin of the shoulders. Next, the inner skin of the right 
arm forwards and backwards; and then in the same way the inner skin of the left 



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arm. Next, after defining the inner skin of the back, he should define the inner 
skin of the right leg forwards and backwards; then the inner skin of the left leg 
in the same way. Next, the inner skin of the groin, the paunch, the bosom and the 
neck should be successively defined. Then, after defining the inner skin of the 
lower jaw next after that of the neck, he should finish on arriving at the lower lip. 
When he discerns it in the gross in this way, it becomes evident to him more 
subtly too. 

96. As to direction, it lies in both directions. As to location, it covers the whole body 
As to delimitation, it is bounded below by its fixed surface, and above by space . . . 

[Flesh] 

97. There are nine hundred pieces of flesh. As to colour, it is all red, like kimsuka 
flowers. As to shape, the flesh of the calves is the shape of cooked rice in a palm- 
leaf bag. The flesh of the thighs is the shape of a rolling pin. 23 The flesh of the 
buttocks is the shape of the end of an oven. The flesh of the back is the shape of 
a slab of palm sugar. The flesh between each two ribs is the shape of clay mortar 
squeezed thin in a flattened opening. The flesh of the breast is the shape of a 
lump of clay made into a ball and flung down. The flesh of the two upper arms 
is the shape of a large skinned rat and twice the size. When he discerns it 
grossly in this way, it becomes evident to him subtly too. 

98. As to direction, it lies in both directions. As to location, it is plastered over the 
three hundred and odd bones. [253] As to delimitation, it is bounded below by its 
surface, which is fixed on to the collection of bones, and above by the skin, and 
all round each by each other piece . . . 

[Sinews] 

99. There are nine hundred sinews. As to colour, all the sinews are white. As to 
shape, they have various shapes. For five of great sinews that bind the body together 
start out from the upper part of the neck and descend by the front, and five more 
by the back, and then five by the right and five by the left. And of those that bind 
the right hand, five descend by the front of the hand and five by the back; likewise 
those that bind the left hand. And of those that bind the right foot, five descend 
by the front and five by the back; likewise those that bind the left foot. So there are 
sixty great sinews called "body supporters" which descend [from the neck] and 
bind the body together; and they are also called "tendons." They are all the 
shape of yam shoots. But there are others scattered over various parts of the body, 
which are finer than the last-named. They are the shape of strings and cords. 
There are others still finer, the shape of creepers. Others still finer are the shape 
of large lute strings. Yet others are the shape of coarse thread. The sinews in the 
backs of the hands and feet are the shape of a bird's claw. The sinews in the head 
are the shape of children's head nets. The sinews in the back are the shape of a 

23. Nisadapota — "rolling pin": (= sila-puttaka — Vism-mht 250) What is meant is probably 
the stone roller, thicker in the middle than at the ends, with which curry spices, etc., are 
normally rolled by hand on a small stone slab in Sri Lanka today. 

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wet net spread out in the sun. The rest of the sinews, following the various limbs, 
are the shape of a net jacket fitted to the body. 

100. As to direction, they lie in the two directions. As to location, they are to be 
found binding the bones of the whole body together. As to delimitation, they are 
bounded below by their surface, which is fixed on to the three hundred bones, 
and above by the portions that are in contact with the flesh and the inner skin, 
and all round by each other . . . 

[Bones] 

101. Excepting the thirty- two teeth bones, these consist of the remaining sixty- 
four hand bones, sixty-four foot bones, sixty-four soft bones dependent on the 
flesh, two heel bones; then in each leg two ankle bones, two shin bones, one knee 
bone and one thigh bone; then two hip bones, eighteen spine bones, [254] twenty- 
four rib bones, fourteen breast bones, one heart bone (sternum), two collar bones, two 
shoulder blade bones, 24 two upper-arm bones, two pairs of forearm bones, two neck 
bones, two jaw bones, one nose bone, two eye bones, two ear bones, one frontal bone, 
one occipital bone, nine sincipital bones. So there are exactly three hundred bones. 
As to colour, they are all white. As to shape, they are of various shapes. 

102. Herein, the end bones of the toes are the shape of kataka seeds. Those next 
to them in the middle sections are the shape of jackfruit seeds. The bones of the 
base sections are the shape of small drums. The bones of the back of the foot are 
the shape of a bunch of bruised yarns. The heel bone is the shape of the seed of 
a single-stone palmyra fruit. 

103. The ankle bones are the shape of [two] play balls bound together. The 
shin bones, in the place where they rest on the ankle bones, are the shape of a 
sindi shoot without the skin removed. The small shin bone is the shape of a[toy] 
bow stick. The large one is the shape of a shrivelled snake's back. The knee bone 
is the shape of a lump of froth melted on one side. Herein, the place where the 
shin bone rests on it is the shape of a blunt cow's horn. The thigh bone is the 
shape of a badly-pared 25 handle for an axe or hatchet. The place where it fits into 
the hip bone is the shape of a play ball. The place in the hip bone where it is set 
is the shape of a big punnaga fruit with the end cut off. 

104. The two hip bones, when fastened together, are the shape of the ring- 
fastening of a smith's hammer. The buttock bone on the end [of them] is the 
shape of an inverted snake's hood. It is perforated in seven or eight places. The 
spine bones are internally the shape of lead-sheet pipes put one on top of the 
other; externally they are the shape of a string of beads. They have two or three 
rows of projections next to each other like the teeth of a saw. 

24. Kotthatthtni — "shoulder-blade bones": for kottha (= flat) cf. kotthalika §97; the 
meaning is demanded by the context, otherwise no mention would be made of these 
two bones, and the description fits. PED under this ref. has "stomach bone" (?). 
Should one read a-tikhina (blunt) or ati-khina (very sharp)? 

25. Duttacchita — "badly pared": tacchita, pp. of tacchati to pare (e.g. with an adze); not 
in PED; see M I 31,124; III 166. 

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105. Of the twenty-four rib bones, the incomplete ones are the shape of incomplete 
sabres, [255] and the complete ones are the shape of complete sabres; all together 
they are like the outspread wings of a white cock. The fourteen breast bones are the 
shape of an old chariot frame. 26 The heart bone (sternum) is the shape of the bowl of 
a spoon. The collar bones are the shape of small metal knife handles. The shoulder- 
blade bones are the shape of a Sinhalese hoe worn down on one side. 

106. The upper-arm bones are the shape of looking glass handles. The forearm 
bones are the shape of a twin palm's trunks. The wrist bones are the shape of 
lead-sheet pipes stuck together. The bones of the back of the hand are the shape 
of a bundle of bruised yams. As to the fingers, the bones of the base sections are 
the shape of small drums; those of the middle sections are the shape of immature 
jackfruit seeds; those of the end sections are the shape of kataka seeds. 

107. The seven neck bones are the shape of rings of bamboo stem threaded one 
after the other on a stick. The lower jawbone is the shape of a smith's iron 
hammer ring-fastening. The upper one is the shape of a knife for scraping [the 
rind off sugarcanes]. The bones of the eye sockets and nostril sockets are the 
shape of young palmyra seeds with the kernels removed. The frontal bone is the 
shape of an inverted bowl made of a shell. The bones of the ear-holes are the 
shape of barbers' razor boxes. The bone in the place where a cloth is tied [round 
the head] above the frontal bone and the ear holes is the shape of a piece of 
curled-up toffee flake. 27 The occipital bone is the shape of a lopsided coconut 
with a hole cut in the end. The sincipital bones are the shape of a dish made of 
an old gourd held together with stitches. 

108. As to direction, they lie in both directions. As to location, they are to be found 
indiscriminately throughout the whole body. But in particular here, the head bones 
rest on the neck bones, the neck bones on the spine bones, the spine bones on the hip 
bones, the hip bones on the thigh bones, the thigh bones on the knee bones, the knee 
bones on the shin bones, the shin bones on the ankle bones, the ankle bones on the 
bones of the back of the foot. As to delimitation, they are bounded inside by the bone 
marrow, above by the flesh, at the ends and at the roots by each other . . . 

[Bone Marrow] 

109. This is the marrow inside the various bones. As to colour, it is white. As to 
shape, [256] that inside each large bone is the shape of a large cane shoot moistened 
and inserted into a bamboo tube. That inside each small bone is the shape of a 
slender cane shoot moistened and inserted in a section of bamboo twig. As to 
direction, it lies in both directions. As to location, it is set inside the bones. As to 
delimitation, it is delimited by the inner surface of the bones . . . 



26. Panjara — "frame": not quite in this sense in PED. 

27. Sankutitaghatapunnapatalakhanda — "a piece of curled-up toffee flake." The Sinhalese 
translation suggests the following readings and resolution: sankuthita (thickened or 
boiled down (?), rather than sankutita, curled up); ghata-punna ([toffee?] "full of ghee"); 
patala (flake or slab); khanda (piece). 



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[Kidney] 

110. This is two pieces of flesh with a single ligature. As to colour, it is dull red, 
the colour of palibhaddaka (coral tree) seeds. As to shape, it is the shape of a pair 
of child's play balls; or it is the shape of a pair of mango fruits attached to a 
single stalk. As to direction, it lies in the upper direction. As to location, it is to be 
found on either side of the heart flesh, being fastened by a stout sinew that starts out 
with one root from the base of the neck and divides into two after going a short way 
As to delimitation, the kidney is bounded by what appertains to kidney . . . 

[Heart] 

111. This is the heart flesh. As to colour, it is the colour of the back of a red-lotus 
petal. As to shape, it is the shape of a lotus bud with the outer petals removed and 
turned upside down; it is smooth outside, and inside it is like the interior of a 
kosataki (loofah gourd). In those who possess understanding it is a little 
expanded; in those without understanding it is still only a bud. Inside it there is 
a hollow the size of a punnaga seed's bed where half a pasata measure of blood is 
kept, with which as their support the mind element and mind-consciousness 
element occur. 

112. That in one of greedy temperament is red; that in one of hating 
temperament is black; that in one of deluded temperament is like water that meat 
has been washed in; that in one of speculative temperament is like lentil soup in 
colour; that in one of faithful temperament is the colour of [yellow] kanikara 
flowers; that in one of understanding temperament is limpid, clear, unturbid, 
bright, pure, like a washed gem of pure water, and it seems to shine. 

113. As to direction, it lies in the upper direction. As to location, it is to be found 
in the middle between the two breasts, inside the body. As to delimitation, it is 
bounded by what appertains to heart . . . [257] 

[Liver] 

114. This is a twin slab of flesh. As to colour, it is a brownish shade of red, the 
colour of the not-too-red backs of white water-lily petals. As to shape, with its 
single root and twin ends, it is the shape of a kovilara leaf. In sluggish people it 
is single and large; in those possessed of understanding there are two or three 
small ones. As to direction, it lies in the upper direction. As to location, it is to be 
found on the right side, inside from the two breasts. As to delimitation, it is 
bounded by what appertains to liver . . . 

[Midriff] 28 

115. This is the covering of the flesh, which is of two kinds, namely, the concealed 
and the unconcealed. As to colour, both kinds are white, the colour of dnkula 
(muslin) rags. As to shape, it is the shape of its location. As to direction, the 

28. Kilomaka — "midriff": the rendering is obviously quite inadequate for what is 
described here, but there is no appropriate English word. 

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concealed midriff lies in the upper direction, the other in both directions. As to 
location, the concealed midriff is to be found concealing the heart and kidney; 
the unconcealed is to be found covering the flesh under the inner skin throughout 
the whole body. As to delimitation, it is bounded below by the flesh, above by the 
inner skin, and all round by what appertains to midriff . . . 

[Spleen] 

116. This is the flesh of the belly's "tongue." As to colour, it is blue, the colour of 
niggundi flowers. As to shape, it is seven fingers in size, without attachments, and 
the shape of a black calf's tongue. As to direction, it lies in the upper direction. As 
to location, it is to be found near the upper side of the belly to the left of the heart. 
When it comes out through a wound a being's life is terminated. As to delimitation, 
it is bounded by what appertains to spleen . . . 

[Lungs] 

117. The flesh of the lungs is divided up into two or three pieces of flesh. As to 
colour, it is red, the colour of not very ripe udumbara fig fruits. As to shape, it is the 
shape of an unevenly cut thick slice of cake. Inside, it is insipid and lacks nutritive 
essence, like a lump of chewed straw, because it is affected by the heat of the 
kamma-born fire [element] that springs up when there is need of something to 
eat and drink. As to direction, it lies in the upper direction. As to location, it is to 
be found inside the body between the two breasts, hanging above the heart [258] 
and liver and concealing them. As to delimitation, it is bounded by what 
appertains to lungs ... 

[Bowel] 

118. This is the bowel tube; it is looped 29 in twenty-one places, and in a man it 
is thirty-two hands long, and in a woman, twenty-eight hands. As to colour, it is 
white, the colour of lime [mixed] with sand. As to shape, it is the shape of a 
beheaded snake coiled up and put in a trough of blood. As to direction, it lies in 
the two directions. As to location, it is fastened above at the gullet and below to 
the excrement passage (rectum), so it is to be found inside the body between the 
limits of the gullet and the excrement passage. As to delimitation, it is bounded 
by what pertains to bowel . . . 

[Entrails (Mesentery)] 

119. This is the fastening in the places where the bowel is coiled. As to colour, 
it is white, the colour of dakasitalika 30 (white edible water lily) roots. As to shape, it is 
the shape of those roots too. As to direction, it lies in the two directions. As to 
location, it is to be found inside the twenty-one coils of the bowel, like the strings 

29. Obhagga — "looped": not in this sense in PED; see obhanjati (XI. 64 and PED). 

30. Dakasitalika: not in PED; rendered in Sinhalese translation by helmaeli (white edible 
water lily). 

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to be found inside rope-rings for wiping the feet on, sewing them together, and 
it fastens the bowel's coils together so that they do not slip down in those working 
with hoes, axes, etc., as the marionette-strings do the marionette's wooden [limbs] 
at the time of the marionette's being pulled along. As to delimitation, it is bounded 
by what appertains to entrails ... 

[Gorge] 

120. This is what has been eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted, and is present in the 
stomach. As to colour, it is the colour of swallowed food. As to shape, it is the shape of 
rice loosely tied in a cloth strainer. As to direction, it is in the upper direction. As to 
location, it is in the stomach. 

121. What is called the "stomach" is [a part of] the bowel-membrane, which is 
like the swelling [of air] produced in the middle of a length of wet cloth when it 
is being [twisted and] wrung out from the two ends. It is smooth outside. Inside, 
it is like a balloon of cloth 31 soiled by wrapping up meat refuse; or it can be said 
to be like the inside of the skin of a rotten jack fruit. It is the place where worms 
dwell seething in tangles: the thirty-two families of worms, such as round worms, 
boil-producing worms, "palm-splinter" worms, needle-mouthed worms, tape- 
worms, thread worms, and the rest. 32 When there is no food and drink, [259] etc., 
present, they leap up shrieking and pounce upon the heart's flesh; and when 
food and drink, etc., are swallowed, they wait with uplifted mouths and scramble 
to snatch the first two or three lumps swallowed. It is these worms' maternity 
home, privy, hospital and charnel ground. Just as when it has rained heavily in 
a time of drought and what has been carried by the water into the cesspit at the 
gate of an outcaste village — the various kinds of ordure 33 such as urine, excrement, 
bits of hide and bones and sinews, as well as spittle, snot, blood, etc. — gets 
mixed up with the mud and water already collected there; and after two or three 
days the families of worms appear, and it ferments, warmed by the energy of the 
sun's heat, frothing and bubbling on the top, quite black in colour, and so utterly 
stinking and loathsome that one can scarcely go near it or look at it, much less 
smell or taste it, so too, [the stomach is where] the assortment of food, drink, etc., 
falls after being pounded up by the tongue and stuck together with spittle and 

31. Mamsaka-sambupali-vethana-kilittha-pavara-pupphaka-sadisa: this is rendered into 
Sinhalese by kunu mas kasala velu porona kadek pup ("an inflated piece (or bag) of cloth, 
which has wrapped rotten meat refuse"). In PED pavara is given as "cloak, mantle" 
and (this ref.) as "the mango tree"; but there seems to be no authority for the rendering 
"mango tree," which has nothing to do with this context. Pupphaka (balloon) is not in 
PED (cf. common Burmese spelling of bubbula (bubble) as pupphula). 

32. It would be a mistake to take the renderings of these worms' names too literally. 
Ganduppada (boil-producing worm?) appears only as "earth worm" in PED, which will 
not do here. The more generally accepted reading seems to take patatantuka and 
suttaka (tape-worm and thread-worm) as two kinds rather than patatantusuttaka; neither 
is in PED. 

33. Kunapa — "ordure"; PED only gives the meaning "corpse," which does not fit the 
meaning either here or, e.g., at XI.21, where the sense of a dead body is inappropriate. 

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saliva, losing at that moment its virtues of colour, smell, taste, etc., and taking on 
the appearance of weavers' paste and dogs' vomit, then to get soused in the bile 
and phlegm and wind that have collected there, where it ferments with the 
energy of the stomach-fire's heat, seethes with the families of worms, frothing 
and bubbling on the top, till it turns into utterly stinking nauseating muck, even 
to hear about which takes away any appetite for food, drink, etc., let alone to see 
it with the eye of understanding. And when the food, drink, etc., fall into it, they 
get divided into five parts: the worms eat one part, the stomach-fire bums up 
another part, another part becomes urine, another part becomes excrement, and 
one part is turned into nourishment and sustains the blood, flesh and so on. 

122. As to delimitation, it is bounded by the stomach lining and by what 
appertains to gorge ... 

[Dung] 

123. This is excrement. As to colour, it is mostly the colour of eaten food. As to 
shape, it is the shape of its location. As to direction, it is in the lower direction. As 
to location, it is to be found in the receptacle for digested food (rectum). 

124. The receptacle for digested food is the lowest part at the end of the bowel, 
between the navel and the root of the spine. [260] It measures eight fingerbreadths 
in height and resembles a bamboo tube. Just as when rain water falls on a higher 
level it runs down to fill a lower level and stays there, so too, the receptacle for 
digested food is where any food, drink, etc., that have fallen into the receptacle 
for undigested food, have been continuously cooked and simmered by the 
stomach-fire, and have got as soft as though ground up on a stone, run down to 
through the cavities of the bowels, and it is pressed down there till it becomes 
impacted like brown clay pushed into a bamboo joint, and there it stays. 

125. As to delimitation, it is bounded by the receptacle for digested food and by 
what appertains to dung ... 

[Brain] 

126. This is the lumps of marrow to be found inside the skull. As to colour, it is 
white, the colour of the flesh of a toadstool; it can also be said that it is the colour 
of turned milk that has not yet become curd. As to shape, it is the shape of its 
location. As to direction, it belongs to the upper direction. As to location, it is to be 
found inside the skull, like four lumps of dough put together to correspond 
with the [skull's] four sutured sections. As to delimitation, it is bounded by the 
skull's inner surface and by what appertains to brain ... 

[Bile] 

127. There are two kinds of bile: local bile and free bile. Herein as to colour, the 
local bile is the colour of thick madhuka oil; the free bile is the colour of faded 
akull flowers. As to shape, both are the shape of their location. As to direction, the 
local bile belongs to the upper direction; the other belongs to both directions. As 
to location, the free bile spreads, like a drop of oil on water, all over the body 

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except for the fleshless parts of the head hairs, body hairs, teeth, nails, and the 
hard dry skin. When it is disturbed, the eyes become yellow and twitch, and 
there is shivering and itching 34 of the body. The local bile is situated near the 
flesh of the liver between the heart and the lungs. It is to be found in the bile 
container (gall bladder), which is like a large kosatakl (loofah) gourd pip. When 
it is disturbed, beings go crazy and become demented, they throw off conscience 
and shame and do the undoable, speak the unspeakable, and think the 
unthinkable. As to delimitation, it is bounded by what appertains to bile ... [261] 

[Phlegm] 

128. The phlegm is inside the body and it measures a bowlful. As to colour, it is 
white, the colour of the juice of nagabala leaves. As to shape, it is the shape of its 
location. As to direction, it belongs to the upper direction. As to location, it is to be 
found on the stomach's surface. Just as duckweed and green scum on the surface 
of water divide when a stick or a potsherd is dropped into the water and then 
spread together again, so too, at the time of eating and drinking, etc., when the 
food, drink, etc., fall into the stomach, the phlegm divides and then spreads 
together again. And if it gets weak the stomach becomes utterly disgusting with 
a smell of ordure, like a ripe boil or a rotten hen's egg, and then the belchings 
and the mouth reek with a stench like rotting ordure rising from the stomach, so 
that the man has to be told, "Go away, your breath smells." But when it grows 
plentiful it holds the stench of ordure beneath the surface of the stomach, acting like 
the wooden lid of a privy As to delimitation, it is bounded by what appertains to 
phlegm ... 

[Pus] 

129. Pus is produced by decaying blood. As to colour, it is the colour of bleached 
leaves; but in a dead body it is the colour of stale thickened gruel. As to shape, it 
is the shape of its location. As to direction, it belongs to both directions. As to 
location, however, there is no fixed location for pus where it could be found 
stored up. Wherever blood stagnates and goes bad in some part of the body 
damaged by wounds with stumps and thorns, by burns with fire, etc., or where 
boils, carbuncles, etc., appear, it can be found there. As to delimitation, it is bounded 
by what appertains to pus ... 

[Blood] 

130. There are two kinds of blood: stored blood and mobile blood. Herein, as to 
colour, stored blood is the colour of cooked and thickened lac solution; mobile blood 
is the colour of clear lac solution. As to shape, both are the shape of their locations. As 
to direction, the stored blood belongs to the upper direction; the other belongs to both 
directions. As to location, except for the fleshless parts of the head hairs, body hairs, 
teeth, nails, and the hard dry skin, the mobile blood permeates the whole of the 
clung-to (kammically-acquired) 35 body by following the network of veins. The 

34. Kanduyati — "to itch": the verb is not in PED; see kandu. 

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stored blood fills the lower part of the liver's site [262] to the extent of a 
bowlful, and by its splashing little by little over the heart, kidney and lungs, 
it keeps the kidney, heart, liver and lungs moist. For it is when it fails to 
moisten the kidney, heart, etc., that beings become thirsty. As to delimitation, 
it is bounded by what appertains to blood ... 

[Sweat] 

131. This is the water element that trickles from the pores of the body hairs, and 
so on. As to colour, it is the colour of clear sesame oil. As to shape, it is the shape 
of its location. As to direction, it belongs to both directions. As to location, there is 
no fixed location for sweat where it could always be found like blood. But if the 
body is heated by the heat of a fire, by the sun's heat, by a change of temperature, 
etc., then it trickles from all the pore openings of the head hairs and body hairs, 
as water does from a bunch of unevenly cut lily-bud stems and lotus stalks 
pulled up from the water. So its shape should also be understood to correspond 
to the pore-openings of the head hairs and body hairs. And the meditator who 
discerns sweat should only give his attention to it as it is to be found filling the 
pore-openings of the head hairs and body hairs. As to delimitation, it is bounded 
by what appertains to sweat ... 

[Fat] 

132. This is a thick unguent. As to colour, it is the colour of sliced turmeric. As 
to shape, firstly in the body of a stout man it is the shape of turmeric-coloured 
dukula (muslin) rags placed between the inner skin and the flesh. In the body of 
a lean man it is the shape of turmeric-coloured dukula (muslin) rags placed in 
two or three thicknesses on the shank flesh, thigh flesh, back flesh near the 
spine, and belly-covering flesh. As to direction, it belongs to both directions. As 
to location, it permeates the whole of a stout man's body; it is to be found on a 
lean man's shank flesh, and so on. And though it was described as "unguent" 
above, still it is neither used as oil on the head nor as oil for the nose, etc., because 
of its utter disgustingness. As to delimitation, it is bounded below by the flesh, 
above by the inner skin, and all round by what appertains to fat ... 

[Tears] 

133. These are the water element that trickles from the eye. As to colour, they are 
the colour of clear sesame oil. As to shape, they are the shape of their location. 
[263] As to direction, they belong to the upper direction. As to location, they are to 
be found in the eye sockets. But they are not stored in the eye sockets all the while 
as the bile is in the bile container. But when beings feel joy and laugh uproariously, 
or feel grief and weep and lament, or eat particular kinds of wrong food, or 
when their eyes are affected by smoke, dust, dirt, etc., then being originated by 
the joy, grief, wrong food, or temperature, they fill up the eye sockets or trickle 
out. And the meditator who discerns tears should discern them only as they are 

35. Upadinna — "clung-to": see Ch. XIV note 23. 

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to be found filling the eye sockets. As to delimitation, they are bounded by what 
appertains to tears ... 

[Grease] 

134. This is a melted unguent. As to colour, it is the colour of coconut oil. Also 
it can be said to be the colour of oil sprinkled on gruel. As to shape, it is a film the 
shape of a drop of unguent spread out over still water at the time of bathing. As 
to direction, it belongs to both directions. As to location, it is to be found mostly on 
the palms of the hands, backs of the hands, soles of the feet, backs of the feet, tip 
of the nose, forehead, and points of the shoulders. And it is not always to be 
found in the melted state in these locations, but when these parts get hot with the 
heat of a fire, the sun's heat, upset of temperature or upset of elements, then it 
spreads here and there in those places like the film from the drop of unguent on 
the still water at the time of bathing. As to delimitation, it is bounded by what 
appertains to grease ... 

[Spittle] 

135. This is water element mixed with froth inside the mouth. As to colour, it is 
white, the colour of the froth. As to shape, it is the shape of its location, or it can be 
called "the shape of froth." As to direction, it belongs to the upper direction. As 
to location, it is to be found on the tongue after it has descended from the cheeks 
on both sides. And it is not always to be found stored there; but when beings see 
particular kinds of food, or remember them, or put something hot or bitter or 
sharp or salty or sour into their mouths, or when their hearts are faint, or nausea 
arises on some account, then spittle appears and runs down from the cheeks on 
both sides to settle on the tongue. It is thin at the tip of the tongue, and thick at 
the root of the tongue. It is capable, without getting used up, of wetting unhusked 
rice or husked rice or anything else chewable that is put into the mouth, like the 
water in a pit scooped out in a river sand bank. [264] As to delimitation, it is 
bounded by what appertains to spittle . . . 

[Snot] 

136. This is impurity that trickles out from the brain. As to colour, it is the 
colour of a young palmyra kernel. As to shape, it is the shape of its location. As to 
direction, it belongs to the upper direction. As to location, it is to be found filling 
the nostril cavities. And it is not always to be found stored there; but rather, just 
as though a man tied up curd in a lotus leaf, which he then pricked with a thorn 
underneath, and whey oozed out and dripped, so too, when beings weep or 
suffer a disturbance of elements produced by wrong food or temperature, then 
the brain inside the head turns into stale phlegm, and it oozes out and comes 
down by an opening in the palate, and it fills the nostrils and stays there or 
trickles out. And the meditator who discerns snot should discern it only as it is 
to be found filling the nostril cavities. As to delimitation, it is bounded by what 
appertains to snot ... 



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[Oil of the Joints] 

137. This is the slimy ordure inside the joints in the body. As to colour, it is the 
colour of kanikara gum. As to shape, it is the shape of its location. As to direction, 
it belongs to both directions. As to location, it is to be found inside the hundred 
and eighty joints, serving the function of lubricating the bones' joints. If it is 
weak, when a man gets up or sits down, moves forward or backward, bends or 
stretches, then his bones creak, and he goes about making a noise like the 
snapping of fingers, and when he has walked only one or two leagues' distance, 
his air element gets upset and his limbs pain him. But if a man has plenty of it, his 
bones do not creak when he gets up, sits down, etc., and even when he has walked 
a long distance, his air element does not get upset and his limbs do not pain him. As 
to delimitation, it is bounded by what appertains to oil of the joints . . . 

[Urine] 

138. This is the urine solution. As to colour, it is the colour of bean brine. As to 
shape, it is the shape of water inside a water pot placed upside down. As to 
direction, it belongs to the lower direction. As to location, it is to be found inside 
the bladder. For the bladder sack is called the bladder. Just as when a porous pot 
with no mouth is put into a cesspool, [265] then the solution from the cesspool 
gets into the porous pot with no mouth even though no way of entry is evident, 
so too, while the urinary secretion from the body enters the bladder its way of 
entry is not evident. Its way of exit, however, is evident. And when the bladder is 
full of urine, beings feel the need to make water. As to delimitation, it is delimited 
by the inside of the bladder and by what is similar to urine. This is the delimitation 
by the similar. But its delimitation by the dissimilar is like that for the head hairs 
(see note at end of §90). 

[The Arising of Absorption] 

139. When the meditator has defined the parts beginning with the head hairs 
in this way by colour, shape, direction, location and delimitation (§58), and he 
gives his attention in the ways beginning with "following the order, not too 
quickly" (§61) to their repulsiveness in the five aspects of colour, shape, smell, 
habitat, and location (§84f.), then at last he surmounts the concept (§66). Then 
just as when a man with good sight is observing a garland of flowers of thirty- 
two colours knotted on a single string and all the flowers become evident to him 
simultaneously, so too, when the meditator observes this body thus, "There are in 
this body head hairs," then all these things become evident to him, as it were, 
simultaneously. Hence it was said above in the explanation of skill in giving 
attention: "For when a beginner gives his attention to head hairs, his attention 
carries on till it arrives at the last part, that is, urine, and stops there" (§67). 

140. If he applies his attention externally as well when all the parts have become 
evident in this way, then human beings, animals, etc., as they go about are 
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when drink, food, etc., is being swallowed by them, it appears as though it were 
being put in among the assemblage of parts. 

141. Then, as he gives his attention to them again and again as "Repulsive, 
repulsive," employing the process of "successive leaving," etc. (§67), eventually 
absorption arises in him. Herein, the appearance of the head hairs, etc., as to 
colour, shape, direction, location, and delimitation is the learning sign; their 
appearance as repulsive in all aspects is the counterpart sign. 

As he cultivates and develops that counterpart sign, absorption arises in him, 
but only of the first jhana, in the same way as described under foulness as a 
meditation subject (VI.64f.). And it arises singly in one to whom only one part 
has become evident, or who has reached absorption in one part and makes no 
further effort about another. 

142. But several first jhanas, according to the number of parts, are produced in 
one to whom several parts have become evident, or who has reached jhana in 
one and also makes further effort about another. As in the case of the Elder 
Mallaka. [266] 

The elder, it seems, took the Elder Abhaya, the Digha reciter, by the hand, 36 
and after saying "Friend Abhaya, first learn this matter," he went on: "The Elder 
Mallaka is an obtainer of thirty-two jhanas in the thirty-two parts. If he enters 
upon one by night and one by day, he goes on entering upon them for over a 
fortnight; but if he enters upon one each day, he goes on entering upon them for 
over a month." 

143. And although this meditation is successful in this way with the first 
jhana, it is nevertheless called "mindfulness occupied with the body" because it 
is successful through the influence of the mindfulness of the colour, shape, and 
so on. 

144. And the bhikkhu who is devoted to this mindfulness occupied with the 
body "is a conqueror of boredom and delight, and boredom does not conquer 
him; he dwells transcending boredom as it arises. He is a conqueror of fear and 
dread, and fear and dread do not conquer him; he dwells transcending fear and 
dread as they arise. He is one who bears cold and heat . . . who endures . . . arisen 
bodily feelings that are . . . menacing to life" (M III 97); he becomes an obtainer of 
the four jhanas based on the colour aspect of the head hairs, 37 etc.; and he comes 
to penetrate the six kinds of direct-knowledge (see MN 6). 

So let a man, if he is wise, 
Untiringly devote his days 
To mindfulness of body which 
Rewards him in so many ways. 



36. Reference is sometimes made to the "hand-grasping question" (hattha-gahaka 
panha). It may be to this; but there is another mentioned at the end of the commentary 
to the Dhatu-Vibhariga. 

37. The allusion seems to be to the bases of mastery (abhibhayatana — or better, 
bases for transcendence); see M II 13 and M-a III 257f.; but see §60. 

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This is the section dealing with mindfulness occupied with the body in the 
detailed treatise. 

[(9) Mindfulness of Breathing] 

145. Now comes the description of the development of mindfulness of breathing 
as a meditation subject. It has been recommended by the Blessed One thus: 
"And, bhikkhus, this concentration through mindfulness of breathing, when 
developed and practiced much, is both peaceful and sublime, it is an 
unadulterated blissful abiding, and it banishes at once and stills evil unprofitable 
thoughts as soon as they arise" (S V 321; Vin III 70). 

[Text] 

It has been described by the Blessed One as having sixteen bases thus: "And 
how developed, bhikkhus, how practiced much, is concentration through 
mindfulness of breathing both peaceful and sublime, an unadulterated blissful 
abiding, banishing at once and stilling evil unprofitable thoughts as soon as 
they arise? 

"Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or to an 
empty place, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, 
established mindfulness in front of him, [267] ever mindful he breathes in, 
mindful he breathes out. 

"(i) Breathing in long, he knows: T breathe in long;' or breathing out long, he 
knows: 'I breathe out long.' (ii) Breathing in short, he knows: T breathe in short;' 
or breathing out short, he knows: T breathe out short.' (iii) He trains thus: 1 shall 
breathe in experiencing the whole body;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out 
experiencing the whole body' (iv) He trains thus: T shall breathe in tranquilizing 
the bodily formation;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily 
formation.' 

"(v) He trains thus: T shall breathe in experiencing happiness;' he trains 
thus: T shall breathe out experiencing happiness.' (vi) He trains thus: T shall 
breathe in experiencing bliss;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out experiencing 
bliss.' (vii) He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in experiencing the mental formation;' 
he trains thus: T shall breathe out experiencing the mental formation.' (viii) He 
trains thus: 'I shall breathe in tranquilizing the mental formation;' he trains 
thus: T shall breathe out tranquilizing the mental formation.' 

"(ix) He trains thus: T shall breathe in experiencing the [manner of] 
consciousness;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out experiencing the [manner of] 
consciousness.' (x) He trains thus: T shall breathe in gladdening the [manner 
of] consciousness;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out gladdening the [manner 
of] consciousness.' (xi) He trains thus: T shall breathe in concentrating the 
[manner of] consciousness;' he trains thus: 1 shall breathe out concentrating the 
[manner of] consciousness.' (xii) He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in liberating the 
[manner of] consciousness;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out liberating the 
[manner of] consciousness.' 



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"(xiii) He trains thus: T shall breathe in contemplating impermanence;' he 
trains thus: 'I shall breathe out contemplating impermanence.' (xiv) He trains 
thus: 'I shall breathe in contemplating fading away;' he trains thus: 'I shall 
breathe out contemplating fading away.' (xv) He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in 
contemplating cessation;' he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out contemplating 
cessation.' (xvi) He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in contemplating relinquishment;' 
he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out contemplating relinquishment' (S V 321-22). 

146. The description [of development] is complete in all respects, however, 
only if it is given in due course after a commentary on the text. So it is given here 
(§186) introduced by a commentary on the [first part of the] text. 

[Word Commentary] 

And how developed, bhikkhus, how practiced much, is concentration through 
mindfulness of breathing: here in the first place how is a question showing desire 
to explain in detail the development of concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing in its various forms. Developed, bhikkhus, ... is concentration through 
mindfulness of breathing: this shows the thing that is being asked about out of 
desire to explain it in its various forms. How practiced much ...as soon as they 
arise?: here too the same explanation applies. 

147. Herein, developed means aroused or increased, concentration through 
mindfulness of breathing (lit. "breathing-mindfulness concentration") is either 
concentration associated with mindfulness that discerns breathing, or it is 
concentration on mindfulness of breathing. Practiced much: practiced again and again. 

148. Both peaceful and sublime (santo c' eva panlto ca): it is peaceful in both 
ways and sublime in both ways; the two words should each be understood as 
governed by the word "both" (eva). What is meant? Unlike foulness, which as 
a meditation subject is peaceful and sublime only by penetration, but is 
neither («' eva) peaceful nor sublime in its object since its object [in the learning 
stage] is gross, and [after that] its object is repulsiveness — unlike that, this is 
not unpeaceful or unsublime in any way, but on the contrary it is peaceful, 
stilled and quiet both on account of the peacefulness of its object and on 
account of the peacefulness of that one of its factors called penetration. And 
it is sublime, something one cannot have enough of, both on account of the 
sublimeness of its object and on [268] account of the sublimeness of the 
aforesaid factor. Hence it is called "both peaceful and sublime." 

149. It is an unadulterated blissful abiding: it has no adulteration, thus it is 
unadulterated; it is unalloyed, unmixed, particular, special. Here it is not a 
question of peacefulness to be reached through preliminary work [as with the 
kasinas] or through access [as with foulness, for instance]. It is peaceful and 
sublime in its own individual essence too starting with the very first attention 
given to it. But some 38 say that it is "unadulterated" because it is unalloyed, 



38. "'Some' is said with reference to the inmates of the Uttara (Northern) monastery 
[in Anuradhapura]" (Vism-mht 256). 



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possessed of nutritive value and sweet in its individual essence too. So it should 
be understood to be "unadulterated" and a "blissful abiding" since it leads to 
the obtaining of bodily and mental bliss with every moment of absorption. 

150. As soon as they arise: whenever they are not suppressed. Evil: bad. 
Unprofitable (akusala) thoughts: thoughts produced by unskilfulness (akosalla). It 
banishes at once: it banishes, suppresses, at that very moment. Stills (vupasameti): 
it thoroughly calms (sutthu upasameti); or else, when eventually brought to 
fulfilment by the noble path, it cuts off, because of partaking of penetration; it 
tranquilizes, is what is meant. 

151. In brief, however, the meaning here is this: "Bhikkhus, in what way, in 
what manner, by what system, is concentration through mindfulness of breathing 
developed, in what way is it practiced much, that it is both peaceful ... as soon as 
they arise?" 

152. He now said, "Here, bhikkhus," etc., giving the meaning of that in detail. 
Herein, here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu means: bhikkhus, in this dispensation a 

bhikkhu. For this word here signifies the [Buddha's] dispensation as the 
prerequisite for a person to produce concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing in all its modes, 39 and it denies that such a state exists in any other 
dispensation. For this is said: "Bhikkhus, only here is there an ascetic, here a 
second ascetic, here a third ascetic, here a fourth ascetic; other dispensations are 
devoid of ascetics" (M I 63; A II 238) . 40 That is why it was said above "in this 
dispensation a bhikkhu." 

153. Gone to the forest ... or to an empty place: this signifies that he has found an 
abode favourable to the development of concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing. For this bhikkhu's mind has long been dissipated among visible 
data, etc., as its object, and it does not want to mount the object of concentration- 
through-mindfulness-of-breathing; it runs off the track like a chariot harnessed 
to a wild ox. 41 Now, suppose a cowherd [269] wanted to tame a wild calf that had 
been reared on a wild cow's milk, he would take it away from the cow and tie it 
up apart with a rope to a stout post dug into the ground; then the calf might 
dash to and fro, but being unable to get away, it would eventually sit down or lie 
down by the post. So too, when a bhikkhu wants to tame his own mind which 
has long been spoilt by being reared on visible data, etc., as object for its food 
and drink, he should take it away from visible data, etc., as object and bring it 
into the forest or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and tie it up there to the 
post of in-breaths and out-breaths with the rope of mindfulness. And so his 
mind may then dash to and fro when it no longer gets the objects it was formerly 



39. "The words 'in all its aspects' refer to the sixteen bases; for these are only found 
in total in this dispensation. When outsiders know mindfulness of breathing they 
only know the first four modes" (Vism-mht 257). 

40. "'The ascetic' is a stream-enterer, the 'second ascetic' is a once-returner, the 
'third ascetic' is a non-returner, the 'fourth ascetic' is an Arahant" (M-a II 4). 

41. Kuta — "wild": PED, this ref. gives "useless," which misses the point. Cf. M-a II 82; 
IV 198. 



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used to, but being unable to break the rope of mindfulness and get away, it sits 
down, lies down, by that object under the influence of access and absorption. 
Hence the Ancients said: 

154. "Just as a man who tames a calf 
Would tie it to a post, so here 
Should his own mind by mindfulness 
Be firmly to the object tied." 

This is how an abode is favourable to his development. Hence it was said 
above: "This signifies that he has found an abode favourable to the development 
of concentration through mindfulness of breathing." 

155. Or alternatively, this mindfulness of breathing as a meditation subject — 
which is foremost among the various meditation subjects of all Buddhas, [some] 
Paccekabuddhas and [some] Buddhas' disciples as a basis for attaining 
distinction and abiding in bliss here and now — is not easy to develop without 
leaving the neighbourhood of villages, which resound with the noises of women, 
men, elephants, horses, etc., noise being a thorn to jhana (see A V 135), whereas 
in the forest away from a village a meditator can at his ease set about discerning 
this meditation subject and achieve the fourth jhana in mindfulness of breathing; 
and then, by making that same jhana the basis for comprehension of formations 
[with insight] (XX. 2f.), he can reach Arahantship, the highest fruit. That is why 
the Blessed One said "gone to the forest," etc., in pointing out a favourable 
abode for him. 

156. For the Blessed One is like a master of the art of building sites (see D I 9, 
12; II 87). [270] As the master of the art of building sites surveys the proposed 
site for a town, thoroughly examines it, and then gives his directions, "Build the 
town here," and when the town is safely finished, he receives great honour from 
the royal family, so the Blessed One examines an abode as to its suitability for the 
meditator, and he directs, "Devote yourself to the meditation subject here," and 
later on, when the meditator has devoted himself to the meditation subject and 
has reached Arahantship and says, "The Blessed One is indeed fully 
enlightened," the Blessed One receives great honour. 

157. And this bhikkhu is compared to a leopard. For just as a great leopard 
king lurks in a grass wilderness or a jungle wilderness or a rock wilderness in 
the forest and seizes wild beasts — the wild buffalo, wild ox, boar, etc. — so too, 
the bhikkhu who devotes himself to his meditation subject in the forest, etc., 
should be understood to seize successively the paths of stream-entry once-return, 
non-return, and Arahantship; and the noble fruitions as well. Hence the Ancients 
said: 

"For as the leopard by his lurking [in the forest] seizes beasts 
So also will this Buddhas' son, with insight gifted, 

strenuous, 
By his retreating to the forest seize the highest fruit 

of all" (Mil 369). 



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So the Blessed One said "gone to the forest," etc., to point out a forest abode as 
a place likely to hasten his advancement. 

158. Herein, gone to the forest is gone to any kind of forest possessing the bliss 
of seclusion among the kinds of forests characterized thus: "Having gone out 
beyond the boundary post, all that is forest" (Patis 1 176; Vibh 251), and "A forest 
abode is five hundred bow lengths distant" (Vin IV 183). To the root of a tree: gone 
to the vicinity of a tree. To an empty place: gone to an empty, secluded space. And 
here he can be said to have gone to an "empty place" if he has gone to any of the 
remaining seven kinds of abode (resting place). 42 [271] 

159. Having thus indicated an abode that is suitable to the three seasons, 
suitable to humour and temperament, 43 and favourable to the development of 
mindfulness of breathing, he then said sits down, etc., indicating a posture that 
is peaceful and tends neither to idleness nor to agitation. Then he said having 
folded his legs crosswise, etc., to show firmness in the sitting position, easy occurrence 
of the in-breaths and out-breaths, and the means for discerning the object. 

160. Herein, crosswise is the sitting position with the thighs fully locked. Folded: 
having locked. Set his body erect: having placed the upper part of the body erect 
with the eighteen backbones resting end to end. For when he is seated like this, 
his skin, flesh and sinews are not twisted, and so the feelings that would arise 
moment by moment if they were twisted do not arise. That being so, his mind 
becomes unified, and the meditation subject, instead of collapsing, attains to 
growth and increase. 

161. Established mindfulness in front of him (parimukham satim upatthapetva) = 
having placed (thapayitva) mindfulness {satim) facing the meditation subject 
(kammatthanabhimukham). Or alternatively, the meaning can be treated here too 
according to the method of explanation given in the Patisambhida, which is 
this: Pari has the sense of control (pariggaha), mukham (lit. mouth) has the sense 
of outlet (niyyana), sati has the sense of establishment (upatthana); that is why 
parimukham satim ('mindfulness as a controlled outlet') is said" (Patis 1 176). The 
meaning of it in brief is: Having made mindfulness the outlet (from opposition, 
forgetfulness being thereby] controlled. 44 

162. Ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out: having seated himself 
thus, having established mindfulness thus, the bhikkhu does not abandon that 
mindfulness; ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out; he is a mindful 
worker, is what is meant. 



42. The nine kinds of abode (resting place) are the forest and the root of a tree 
already mentioned, and a rock, a hill cleft, a mountain cave, a charnel ground, a jungle 
thicket, an open space, a heap of straw (M I 181). 

43. "In the hot season the forest is favourable, in the cold season the root of a tree, 
in the rainy season an empty place. For one of phlegmatic humour, phlegmatic by 
nature, the forest is favourable, for one of bilious humour the root of a tree, for one of 
windy humour an empty place. For one of deluded temperament the forest, for one 
of hating temperament the root of a tree, for one of greedy temperament an empty 
place" (Vism-mht 258). 



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[Word Commentary Continued — First Tetrad] 

163. (i) Now, breathing in long, etc., is said in order to show the different ways in 
which he is a mindful worker. For in the Patisambhida, in the exposition of the 
clause, "Ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out," this is said: "He 
is a mindful worker in thirty-two ways: (1) when he knows unification of mind 
and non-distraction by means of a long in-breath, mindfulness is established in 
him; owing to that mindfulness and that knowledge he is a mindful worker. (2) 
When he knows unification of mind and non-distraction by means of a long 
out-breath ... (31) by means of breathing in contemplating relinquishment ... 
(32) When he knows unification of mind and non-distraction by means of 
breathing out contemplating relinquishment, mindfulness is established in him; 
owing to that mindfulness and that knowledge he is a mindful worker" (Patis I 
176). 

164. Herein, breathing in long (assasanto) is producing a long in-breath. [272] 
"Assasa is the wind issuing out; passasa is the wind entering in" is said in the 
Vinaya Commentary. But in the Suttanta Commentaries it is given in the opposite 
sense. Herein, when any infant comes out from the mother's womb, first the 
wind from within goes out and subsequently the wind from without enters in 
with fine dust, strikes the palate and is extinguished [with the infant's sneezing]. 
This, firstly, is how assasa and passasa should be understood. 

165. But their length and shortness should be understood by extent (addhana). 
For just as water or sand that occupies an extent of space is called a "long water," 
a "long sand," a "short water," a "short sand," so in the case of elephants' and 
snakes' bodies the in-breaths and out-breaths regarded as particles 45 slowly fill 
the long extent, in other words, their persons, and slowly go out again. That is 
why they are called "long." They rapidly fill a short extent, in other words, the 
person of a dog, a hare, etc., and rapidly go out again. That is why they are 
called "short." 

166. And in the case of human beings some breathe in and breathe out long, by 
extent of time, as elephants, snakes, etc., do, while others breathe in and breathe 
out short in that way as dogs, hares, etc., do. Of these, therefore, the breaths that 
travel over a long extent in entering in and going out are to be understood as 
long in time; and the breaths that travel over a little extent in entering in and 
going out, as short in time. 

167. Now, this bhikkhu knows "I breathe in, I breathe out, long" while breathing 
in and breathing out long in nine ways. And the development of the foundation 
of mindfulness consisting in contemplation of the body should be understood 
to be perfected in one aspect in him who knows thus, according as it is said in 
the Patisambhida: 



44. The amplification is from Vism-mht 258. 

45. "'Regarded as particles': as a number of groups (kalapa)" (Vism-mht 259). This 
conception of the occurrence of breaths is based on the theory of motion as "successive 
arisings in adjacent locations" (desantaruppatti); see note 54 below. For "groups" see 
XX.2f. 



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168. "How, breathing in long, does he know: 'I breathe in long,' breathing out 
long, does he know: 'I breathe out long?' (1) He breathes in a long in-breath 
reckoned as an extent. (2) He breathes out a long out-breath reckoned as an 
extent. (3) He breathes in and breathes out long in-breaths and out-breaths 
reckoned as an extent. As he breathes in and breathes out long in-breaths and 
out-breaths reckoned as an extent, zeal arises. 46 (4) Through zeal he breathes in 
a long in-breath more subtle than before reckoned as an extent. (5) Through zeal 
he breathes out a long out-breath more subtle than before reckoned as an extent. 
(6) Through zeal he breathes in and breathes out long in-breaths and out-breaths 
more subtle than before reckoned as an extent. As, through zeal, he breathes in 
and breathes out long in-breaths and out-breaths more subtle than before 
reckoned as an extent, gladness arises. [273] (7) Through gladness he breathes 
in a long in-breath more subtle than before reckoned as an extent. (8) Through 
gladness he breathes out a long out-breath more subtle than before reckoned as 
an extent. (9) Through gladness he breathes in and breathes out long in-breaths 
and out-breaths more subtle than before reckoned as an extent. As, through 
gladness, he breathes in and breathes out long in-breaths and out-breaths more 
subtle than before reckoned as an extent, his mind turns away from the long in- 
breaths and out-breaths and equanimity is established. 

"Long in-breaths and out-breaths in these nine ways are a body. The 
establishment (foundation) 47 is mindfulness. The contemplation is knowledge. 



46. '"Zeal arises': additional zeal, which is profitable and has the characteristic of 
desire to act, arises due to the satisfaction obtained when the meditation has brought 
progressive improvement. 'More subtle than before': more subtle than before the 
already-described zeal arose; for the breaths occur more subtly owing to the 
meditation's influence in tranquilizing the body's distress and disturbance. 'Gladness 
arises': fresh happiness arises of the kinds classed as minor, etc., which is the gladness 
that accompanies the consciousness occupied with the meditation and is due to the 
fact that the peacefulness of the object increases with the growing subtlety of the 
breaths and to the fact that the meditation subject keeps to its course. 'The mind turns 
away': the mind turns away from the breaths, which have reached the point at which 
their manifestation needs investigating (see §177) owing to their gradually increasing 
subtlety. But some say (see Patis-a Ce, p. 351): 'It is when the in-breaths and out- 
breaths have reached a subtler state owing to the influence of the meditation and the 
counterpart sign; for when that has arisen, the mind turns away from the normal 
breaths.' 'Equanimity is established': when concentration, classed as access and 
absorption, has arisen in that counterpart sign, then, since there is no need for further 
interest to achieve jhana, onlooking (equanimity) ensues, which is specific neutrality" 
(Vism-mht 260). 

47. "Tn these nine ways': that occur in the nine ways just described. 'Long in-breaths 
and out-breaths are a body': the in-breaths and out-breaths, which exist as particles 
though they have the aspect of length, constitute a 'body' in the sense of a mass. And 
here the sign that arises with the breaths as its support is also called 'in-breath and 
out-breath.' (cf. e.g. §206) 'The establishment (foundation) is mindfulness': mindfulness 
is called 'establishment (foundation) — (upatthana)' since it approaches (upagantva) the 
object and remains (titthati) there. 'The contemplation is knowledge': contemplation 

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The body is the establishment (foundation), but it is not the mindfulness. 
Mindfulness is both the establishment (foundation) and the mindfulness. By 
means of that mindfulness and that knowledge he contemplates that body. 
That is why 'development of the foundation (establishment) of mindfulness 
consisting in contemplation of the body as a body' (see D II 290) is said" (Patis 
I 177). 

169. (ii) The same method of explanation applies also in the case of short 
breaths. But there is this difference. While in the former case "a long in-breath 
reckoned as an extent" is said, here "a short in-breath reckoned as a little 



of the sign by means of serenity, and contemplation of mentality-materiality by defining 
with insight the in-breaths and out-breaths and the body, which is their support, as 
materiality, and the consciousness and the states associated with it as the immaterial 
(mentality), are knowledge, in other words, awareness of what is actually there (has 
actually become). 'The body is the establishment (foundation)': there is that body, and 
mindfulness approaches it by making it its object and remains there, thus it is called 
'establishment.' And the words 'the body is the establishment' include the other (the 
mental) kind of body too since the above-mentioned comprehension by insight is 
needed here too. 'But it is not the mindfulness': that body is not called 'mindfulness' 
[though it is called 'the establishment']. 'Mindfulness is both the establishment 
(foundation) and the mindfulness,' being so both in the sense of remembering (sarana) 
and in the sense of establishing (upatitthana) . 'By means of that mindfulness': by 
means of that mindfulness already mentioned. 'And that knowledge': and the 
knowledge already mentioned. 'That body': that in-breath-and-out-breath body and 
that material body which is its support. 'He contemplates (anupassati)' ': he keeps re- 
seeing (anu anil passati) with jhana knowledge and with insight knowledge. 'That is 
why "Development of the foundation (establishment) of mindfulness consisting in 
contemplation of the body as a body" is said': in virtue of that contemplation this is 
said to be development of the foundation (establishment) of mindfulness consisting 
in contemplation of the body as a body of the kind already stated. What is meant is 
this: the contemplation of the body as an in-breath-and-out-breath body as stated and 
of the physical body that is its [material] support, which is not contemplation of 
permanence, etc., in a body whose individual essence is impermanent, etc. — like the 
contemplation of a waterless mirage as water — but which is rather contemplation of 
its essence as impermanent, painful, not-self, and foul, according as is appropriate, or 
alternatively, which is contemplation of it as a mere body only, by not contemplating it 
as containing anything that can be apprehended as T or 'mine' or 'woman' or 'man' — 
all this is 'contemplation of the body' The mindfulness associated with that 
contemplation of the body, which mindfulness is itself the establishment, is the 
'establishment.' The development, the increase, of that is the 'development of the 
foundation (establishment) of mindfulness consisting in contemplation of the body.'" 
(Vism-mht 261) 

The compound satipatthana is derived by the Patisambhida from sati (mindfulness) 
and upatthana (establishment — Patis I 182), but in the Commentaries the resolution 
into sati and patthana (foundation) is preferred. (M-a I 237-38) In the 118th Sutta of the 
Majjhima Nikaya the first tetrad is called development of the first foundation of 
mindfulness, or contemplation of the body. (MN 10; DN 22) The object of the 
Patisambhida passage quoted is to demonstrate this. 



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[duration]" (Patis I 182) is given. So it must be construed as "short" as far as the 
phrase "That is why 'development of the foundation (establishment) of 
mindfulness consisting in contemplation of the body as a body' is said" (Patis I 
183). 

170. So it should be understood that it is when this bhikkhu knows in-breaths 
and out-breaths in these nine ways as "a [long] extent" and as "a little [duration]" 
that "breathing in long, he knows T breathe in long;' ... breathing out short, he 
knows 'I breathe out short' is said of him. And when he knows thus: 

"The long kind and the short as well, 
The in-breath and the out-breath too, 
Such then are the four kinds that happen 
At the bhikkhu's nose tip here." 

171. (iii) He trains thus: "I shall breathe in ... I shall breathe out experiencing the 
whole body": he trains thus: "I shall breathe in making known, making plain, 
the beginning, middle and end 48 of the entire in-breath body. I shall breathe out 
making known, making plain, the beginning, middle and end of the entire out- 
breath body," thus he trains. Making them known, making them plain, in this 
way he both breathes in and breathes out with consciousness associated with 
knowledge. That is why it is said, "He trains thus: 1 shall breathe in ... shall 
breathe out ...'" 

172. To one bhikkhu the beginning of the in-breath body or the out-breath 
body, distributed in particles, [that is to say, regarded as successive arisings (see 
note 45)] is plain, but not the middle or the end; he is only able to discern the 
beginning and has difficulty with the middle and the end. To another the middle 
is plain, not the beginning or the end; he is only able to discern the middle and 
has difficulty with the beginning and the end. To another the end is plain, not 
the beginning or the middle; he is only able to discern the end [274] and has 
difficulty with the beginning and the middle. To yet another all stages are plain; 
he is able to discern them all and has no difficulty with any of them. Pointing out 
that one should be like the last-mentioned bhikkhu, he said: "He trains thus: T 
shall breathe in ... shall breathe out experiencing the whole body'" 

173. Herein, he trains: he strives, he endeavours in this way. Or else the restraint 
here in one such as this is training in the higher virtue, his consciousness is 
training in the higher consciousness, and his understanding is training in the 
higher understanding (see Patis I 184). So he trains in, repeats, develops, 
repeatedly practices, these three kinds of training, on that object, by means of 
that mindfulness, by means of that attention. This is how the meaning should be 
regarded here. 



48. The beginning, middle and end are described in §197, and the way they should 
be treated is given in §199-201. What is meant is that the meditator should know what 
they are and be aware of them without his mindfulness leaving the tip of the nose to 
follow after the breaths inside the body or outside it, speculating on what becomes of 
them. 



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174. Herein, in the first part of the system (nos. i and ii) 49 he should only 
breathe in and breathe out and not do anything else at all, and it is only afterwards 
that he should apply himself to the arousing of knowledge, and so on. 
Consequently the present tense is used here in the text, "He knows: 'I breathe in' 
... he knows: 'I breathe out.'" But the future tense in the passage beginning "I 
shall breathe in experiencing the whole body" should be understood as used in 
order to show that the aspect of arousing knowledge, etc., has to be undertaken 
from then on. 

175. (iv) He trains thus: "I shall breathe in ... shall breathe out tranquilizing 
the bodily formation;" he trains thus: "I shall breathe in, shall breathe out 
tranquilizing, completely tranquilizing, stopping, stilling, the gross bodily 
formation 50 ". 

176. And here both the gross and subtle state and also [progressive] 
tranquilizing should be understood. For previously, at the time when the bhikkhu 
has still not discerned [the meditation subject], his body and his mind are 
disturbed and so they are gross. And while the grossness of the body and the 
mind has still not subsided the in-breaths and out-breaths are gross. They get 
stronger; his nostrils become inadequate, and he keeps breathing in and out 
through his mouth. But they become quiet and still when his body and mind 
have been discerned. When they are still then the in-breaths and out-breaths 
occur so subtly that he has to investigate whether they exist or not. 

177. Suppose a man stands still after running, or descending from a hill, or 
putting down a big load from his head, then his in-breaths and out-breaths are 
gross, his nostrils become inadequate, and he keeps on breathing in and out 
through his mouth. But when he has rid himself of his fatigue and has bathed 
and drunk [275] and put a wet cloth on his heart, and is lying in the cool shade, 
then his in-breaths and out-breaths eventually occur so subtly that he has to 
investigate whether they exist or not; so too, previously, at the time when the 
bhikkhu has still not discerned, ... he has to investigate whether they exist or not. 

1 78. Why is that? Because previously, at the time when he has still not discerned, 
there is no concern in him, no reaction, no attention, no reviewing, to the effect 
that "I am [progressively] tranquilizing each grosser bodily formation." But 
when he has discerned, there is. So his bodily formation at the time when he has 

49. "'In the first part of the system': in the first part of the system of development; 
in the first two bases, is what is intended. Of course, arousing of knowledge must be 
admitted to take place here too because of the presence of awareness of the length 
and shortness of the breaths as they actually are (as they actually become); and it is 
not hard to do that, for it is merely the taking account of them as they occur. That is 
why it is put in the present tense here. But what follows is as hard as for a man to walk 
on a razor's edge; which is why the future tense is used for the subsequent stages in 
order to indicate the need for exceptional prior effort" (Vism-mht 263). 

50. "'Bodily formation': the in-breath and out-breath (see M I 301). For although it is 
consciousness-originated, it is nevertheless called 'bodily formation' since its existence 
is bound up with the kamma-born body and it is formed with that as the means" 
(Vism-mht 263). 

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discerned is subtle in comparison with that at the time when he has not. Hence 
the Ancients said: 

"The mind and body are disturbed, 
And then in excess it occurs; 
But when the body is undisturbed, 
Then it with subtlety occurs." 

179. In discerning [the meditation subject the formation] is gross, and it is subtle 
[by comparison] in the first-jhana access; also it is gross in that, and subtle [by 
comparison] in the first jhana; in the first jhana and second-jhana access it is gross, 
and in the second jhana subtle; in the second jhana and third-jhana access it is 
gross, and in the third jhana subtle; in the third jhana and fourth-jhana access it is 
gross, and in the fourth jhana it is so exceedingly subtle that it even reaches cessation. 
This is the opinion of the Digha and Samyutta reciters. But the Majjhima reciters 
have it that it is subtler in each access than in the jhana below too in this way: In the 
first jhana it is gross, and in the second-jhana access it is subtle [by comparison, and 
so on]. It is, however, the opinion of all that the bodily formation occurring before the 
time of discerning becomes tranquilized at the time of discerning, and the bodily 
formation at the time of discerning becomes tranquilized in the first-jhana access . . . 
and the bodily formation occurring in the fourth-jhana access becomes tranquilized 
in the fourth jhana. This is the method of explanation in the case of serenity 

180. But in the case of insight, the bodily formation occurring at the time of not 
discerning is gross, and in discerning the primary elements it is [by comparison] 
subtle; that also is gross, and in discerning derived materiality it is subtle; that 
also is gross, and in discerning all materiality it is subtle; that also is gross, and 
in discerning the immaterial it is subtle; that also is gross, and in discerning the 
material and immaterial it is subtle; that also is gross, and in discerning conditions 
it is subtle; that also is gross, and in seeing mentality-materiality with its 
conditions it is subtle; that also is gross, and in insight that has the characteristics 
[of impermanence, etc.,] as its object it is subtle; that also is gross in weak insight 
while in strong insight it is subtle. 

Herein, the tranquilizing should be understood as [the relative tranquillity] 
of the subsequent compared with the previous. Thus should the gross and subtle 
state, and the [progressive] tranquilizing, be understood here. [276] 

181. But the meaning of this is given in the Patisambhida together with the 
objection and clarification thus: 

"How is it that he trains thus: 'I shall breathe in ... shall breathe out 
tranquilizing the bodily formation? What are the bodily formations? Long in- 
breaths . . . out-breaths [experiencing the whole body] belong to the body; these 
things, being bound up with the body, are bodily formations;' he trains in 
tranquilizing, stopping, stilling, those bodily formations. 

"When there are such bodily formations whereby there is bending backwards, 
sideways in all directions, and forwards, and perturbation, vacillation, moving 
and shaking of the body, he trains thus: T shall breathe in tranquilizing the 
bodily formation;' he trains thus: T shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily 



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formation.' When there are such bodily formations whereby there is no bending 
backwards, sideways in all directions, and forwards, and no perturbation, 
vacillation, moving and shaking of the body, quietly, subtly, he trains thus: 'I 
shall breathe in tranquilizing the bodily formation;' he trains thus: 'I shall breathe 
out tranquilizing the bodily formation.' 

182. "[Objection:] So then, he trains thus: 'I shall breathe in tranquilizing the 
bodily formation;' he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily 
formation': that being so, there is no production of awareness of wind, and there 
is no production of in-breaths and out-breaths, and there is no production of 
mindfulness of breathing, and there is no production of concentration through 
mindfulness of breathing, and consequently the wise neither enter into nor 
emerge from that attainment. 

183. "[Clarification:] So then, he trains thus: 'I shall breathe in tranquilizing 
the bodily formation;' he trains thus: 'I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily 
formation': that being so, there is production of awareness of wind, and there is 
production of in-breaths and out-breaths, and there is production of mindfulness 
of breathing, and there is production of concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing, and consequently the wise enter into and emerge from that attainment. 

184. "Like what? Just as when a gong is struck. At first gross sounds occur 
and consciousness [occurs] because the sign of the gross sounds is well 
apprehended, well attended to, well observed; and when the gross sounds have 
ceased, then afterwards faint sounds occur and [consciousness occurs] because 
the sign of the faint sounds is well apprehended, well attended to, well observed; 
and when the faint sounds have ceased, then [277] afterwards consciousness 
occurs because it has the sign of the faint sounds as its object 51 — so too, at first 
gross in-breaths and out-breaths occur and [consciousness does not become 
distracted] because the sign of the gross in-breaths and out-breaths is well 
apprehended, well attended to, well observed; and when the gross in-breaths 
and out-breaths have ceased, then afterwards faint in-breaths and out-breaths 
occur and [consciousness does not become distracted] because the sign of the 
faint in-breaths and out-breaths is well apprehended, well attended to, well 
observed; and when the faint in-breaths and out-breaths have ceased, then 
afterwards consciousness does not become distracted because it has the sign of 
the faint in-breaths and out-breaths as its object. 

"That being so, there is production of awareness of wind, and there is 
production of in-breaths and out-breaths, and there is production of mindfulness 
of breathing, and there is production of concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing, and consequently the wise enter into and emerge from that attainment. 



51. "The faint sound itself as a sign is the 'sign of the faint sounds'; it has that as its 
object. What is meant? Of course, the faint sounds have ceased too then; but the sign 
of the sounds has been well apprehended and so consciousness occurs with the sign 
of fainter sounds as its object. For as from the outset he ascertains with undistracted 
consciousness the sign of each sound as it ceases, eventually his consciousness occurs 
in the end with the sign of ultra-subtle sounds too as its object" (Vism-mht 266). 



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185. "In-breaths and out-breaths tranquilizing the bodily formation are a body. 
The establishment (foundation) is mindfulness. The contemplation is knowledge. 
The body is the establishment (foundation), but it is not the mindfulness. 
Mindfulness is both the establishment (foundation) and the mindfulness. By 
means of that mindfulness and that knowledge he contemplates that body. That 
is why 'development of the foundation (establishment) of mindfulness consisting 
in contemplation of the body as a body' is said" (Patis I 184-186). 

This, in the first place, is the consecutive word commentary here on the first 
tetrad, which deals with contemplation of the body. 

[Method of Development] 

186. The first tetrad is set forth as a meditation subject for a beginner; 52 but the 
other three tetrads are [respectively] set forth as the contemplations of feeling, of 
[the manner of] consciousness, and of mental objects, for one who has already 
attained jhana in this tetrad. So if a clansman who is a beginner wants to develop 
this meditation subject, and through insight based on the fourth jhana produced 
in breathing, to reach Arahantship together with the discriminations, he should 
first do all the work connected with the purification of virtue, etc., in the way 
already described, after which he should learn the meditation subject in five 
stages from a teacher of the kind already described. 

187. Here are the five stages: learning, questioning, establishing, absorption, 
characteristic. 

Herein, learning is learning the meditation subject. Questioning is questioning 
about the meditation subject. Establishing is establishing the meditation subject. 
Absorption [278] is the absorption of the meditation subject. Characteristic is the 
characteristic of the meditation subject; what is meant is that it is the ascertaining 
of the meditation subject's individual essence thus: "This meditation subject 
has such a characteristic." 

188. Learning the meditation subject in the five stages in this way, he neither 
tires himself nor worries the teacher. So in giving this meditation subject 
consisting in mindfulness of breathing attention, he can live either with the 
teacher or elsewhere in an abode of the kind already described, learning the 
meditation subject in the five stages thus, getting a little expounded at a time 
and taking a long time over reciting it. He should sever the minor impediments. 
After finishing the work connected with the meal and getting rid of any 
dizziness due to the meal, he should seat himself comfortably. Then, making 
sure he is not confused about even a single word of what he has learned from 
the teacher, he should cheer his mind by recollecting the special qualities of 
the Three Jewels. 



52. "As a meditation subject for a beginner" is said with reference to the serenity 
(i.e. jhana) meditation subject; but the insight meditation subject applies to the other 
tetrads too" (Vism-mht 266). 



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189. Here are the stages in giving attention to it: (1) counting, (2) connection, 
(3) touching, (4) fixing, (5) observing, (6) turning away, (7) purification, and (8) 
looking back on these. 

Herein, counting is just counting, connection is carrying on, touching is the 
place touched [by the breaths], fixing is absorption, observing is insight, turning 
away is the path, purification is fruition, looking back on these is reviewing. 

190. 1. Herein, this clansman who is a beginner should first give attention to 
this meditation subject by counting. And when counting, he should not stop 
short of five or go beyond ten or make any break in the series. By stopping short 
of five his thoughts get excited in the cramped space, like a herd of cattle shut in 
a cramped pen. By going beyond ten his thoughts take the number [rather than 
the breaths] for their support. By making a break in the series he wonders if the 
meditation subject has reached completion or not. So he should do his counting 
without those faults. 

191. When counting, he should at first do it slowly [that is, late] as a grain 
measurer does. For a grain measurer, having filled his measure, says "One," and 
empties it, and then refilling it, he goes on saying "'One, one" while removing 
any rubbish he may have noticed. And the same with "Two, two" and so on. So, 
taking the in-breath or the out-breath, whichever appears [most plainly], he 
should begin with "One, one" [279] and count up to "Ten, ten," noting each as 
it occurs. 

192. As he does his counting in this way, the in-breaths and out-breaths become 
evident to him as they enter in and issue out. Then he can leave off counting 
slowly (late), like a grain measurer, and he can count quickly [that is, early] as a 
cowherd does. For a skilled cowherd takes pebbles in his pocket and goes to the 
cow pen in the morning, whip in hand; sitting on the bar of the gate, prodding 
the cows in the back, he counts each one as it reaches the gate, saying "One, 
two," dropping a pebble for each. And the cows of the herd, which have been 
spending the three watches of the night uncomfortably in the cramped space, 
come out quickly in parties, jostling each other as they escape. So he counts 
quickly (early) "Three, four, five" and so up to ten. In this way the in-breaths and 
out-breaths, which had already become evident to him while he counted them in 
the former way, now keep moving along quickly. 

193. Then, knowing that they keep moving along quickly, not apprehending 
them either inside or outside [the body], but apprehending them just as they 
reach the [nostril] door, he can do his counting quickly (early): "One, two, three, 
four, five; one, two, three, four, five, six ... seven ... eight ... nine ... ten." For as 
long as the meditation subject is connected with counting it is with the help of 
that very counting that the mind becomes unified, just as a boat in a swift current 
is steadied with the help of a rudder. 

194. When he counts quickly, the meditation subject becomes apparent to him 
as an uninterrupted process. Then, knowing that it is proceeding uninterruptedly, 
he can count quickly (early) in the way just described, not discerning the wind 
either inside or outside [the body]. For by bringing his consciousness inside 
along with the incoming breath, it seems as if it were buffeted by the wind inside 

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or filled with fat. 53 By taking his consciousness outside along with the outgoing 
breath, it gets distracted by the multiplicity of objects outside. However, his 
development is successful when he fixes his mindfulness on the place touched 
[by the breaths]. That is why it was said above: "He can count quickly (early) in 
the way just described, not discerning the wind either inside or outside." 

195. But how long is he to go on counting? Until, without counting, [280] 
mindfulness remains settled on the in-breaths and out-breaths as its object. For 
counting is simply a device for setting mindfulness on the in-breaths and out- 
breaths as object by cutting off the external dissipation of applied thoughts. 

196. 2. Having given attention to it in this way by counting, he should now do 
so by connection. Connection is the uninterrupted following of the in-breaths and 
out-breaths with mindfulness after counting has been given up. And that is not 
by following after the beginning, the middle and the end. 54 

197. The navel is the beginning of the wind issuing out, the heart is its middle 
and the nose-tip is its end. The nose-tip is the beginning of the wind entering in, 
the heart is its middle and the navel is its end. And if he follows after that, his 
mind is distracted by disquiet and perturbation according as it is said: "When 
he goes in with mindfulness after the beginning, middle, and end of the in- 
breath, his mind being distracted internally, both his body and his mind are 
disquieted and perturbed and shaky. When he goes out with mindfulness after 
the beginning, middle and end of the out-breath, his mind being distracted 
externally, both his body and his mind are disquieted and perturbed and shaky" 
(Patis I 165). 

3-4. So when he gives his attention to it by connection, he should do so not by 
the beginning, middle and end, but rather by touching and by fixing. 

198. There is no attention to be given to it by touching separate from fixing as 
there is by counting separate from connection. But when he is counting the 
breaths in the place touched by each, he is giving attention to them by counting 

53. "'Buffeted by wind': if he gives much attention to the wind that has gone inside, 
that place seems to him as if it were buffeted by the wind, as if filled with fat" (Vism- 
mht 268). No further explanation is given. 

54. "'Following (anugamana)' is occurring along with (anu anu pavattana), going after 
(anugacchana), by means of mindfulness through making the breaths the object as 
they occur, Hence he said, 'And that is not by following after the beginning, middle 
and end.' 'The navel is the beginning' because of their first arising there. For the 
notion of a beginning (adi cinta) is here in the sense of first arising, not in the sense of 
just arising [once only]. For they actually go on arising throughout [the whole length] 
from the navel to the nose-tip; and wherever they arise, there in that same place they 
dissolve, because there is no going (movement) of dhammas. The ordinary term 
'motion' (gatisamanna) refers to successive arisings in adjacent locations 
(desantaruppatti) according to conditions. 'The heart is the middle': near the heart, just 
above it is the middle. 'The nose tip is the end': the place where the nostrils are is the 
end; that is the limit of the application of the ordinary term 'in-breaths and out- 
breaths,' for it is accordingly that they are called 'consciousness-originated,' there 
being no production externally of what is consciousness-originated" (Vism-mht 268). 

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and touching. When he has given up counting and is connecting them by 
means of mindfulness in that same place and fixing consciousness by means of 
absorption, then he is said to be giving his attention to them by connection, 
touching and fixing. And the meaning of this may be understood through the 
similes of the man who cannot walk and the gatekeeper given in the 
commentaries, and through the simile of the saw given in the Patisambhida. 

199. Here is the simile of the man who cannot walk: Just as a man unable to 
walk, who is rocking a swing for the amusement of his children and their mother, 
sits at the foot of the swing post and sees both ends and the middle of the swing 
plank successively coming and going, [281] yet does not move from his place in 
order to see both ends and the middle, so too, when a bhikkhu places himself 
with mindfulness, as it were, at the foot of the post for anchoring [mindfulness] 
and rocks the swing of the in-breaths and out-breaths; he sits down with 
mindfulness on the sign at that same place, and follows with mindfulness the 
beginning, middle and end of the in-breaths and out-breaths at the place touched 
by them as they come and go; keeping his mind fixed there, he then sees them 
without moving from his place in order to see them. This is the simile of the man 
who cannot walk. 

200. This is the simile of the gatekeeper: Just as a gatekeeper does not examine 
people inside and outside the town, asking, "Who are you? Where have you 
come from? Where are you going? What have you got in your hand?" — for those 
people are not his concern — but he does examine each man as he arrives at the 
gate, so too, the incoming breaths that have gone inside and the outgoing breaths 
that have gone outside are not this bhikkhu's concern, but they are his concern 
each time they arrive at the [nostril] gate itself. 

201. Then the simile of the saw should be understood from its beginning. For 
this is said: 

"Sign, in-breath, out-breath, are not object 

Of a single consciousness; 

By one who knows not these three things 

Development is not obtained. 

"Sign, in-breath, out-breath, are not object 

Of a single consciousness; 

By one who does know these three things 

Development can be obtained." 

202. "How is it that these three things are not the object of a single 
consciousness, that they are nevertheless not unknown, that the mind does not 
become distracted, that he manifests effort, carries out a task, and achieves an 
effect? 

"Suppose there were a tree trunk placed on a level piece of ground, and a man 
cut it with a saw. The man's mindfulness is established by the saw's teeth where 
they touch the tree trunk, without his giving attention to the saw's teeth as they 
approach and recede, though they are not unknown to him as they do so; and he 
manifests effort, carries out a task, and achieves an effect. As the tree trunk 
placed on the level piece of ground, so the sign for the anchoring of mindfulness. 

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As the saw's teeth, so the in-breaths and out-breaths. As the man's mindfulness, 
established by the saw's teeth where they touch the tree trunk, without his 
giving attention to the saw's teeth as they approach and recede, though they are 
not unknown to him as they do so, and so he manifests effort, carries out a task, 
and achieves an effect, [282] so too, the bhikkhu sits, having established 
mindfulness at the nose tip or on the upper lip, without giving attention to the 
in-breaths and out-breaths as they approach and recede, though they are not 
unknown to him as they do so, and he manifests effort, carries out a task, and 
achieves an effect. 

203. "'Effort': what is the effort? The body and the mind of one who is energetic 
become wieldy — this is the effort. What is the task? Imperfections come to be 
abandoned in one who is energetic, and his applied thoughts are stilled — this is 
the task. What is the effect? Fetters come to be abandoned in one who is energetic, 
and his inherent tendencies come to be done away with — this is the effect. 

"So these three things are not the object of a single consciousness, and they 
are nevertheless not unknown, and the mind does not become distracted, and he 
manifests effort, carries out a task, and achieves an effect. 

"Whose mindfulness of breathing in 
And out is perfect, well developed, 
And gradually brought to growth 
According as the Buddha taught, 
'Tis he illuminates the world 
Just like the full moon free from cloud" 55 

This is the simile of the saw: But here it is precisely his not giving attention [to 
the breaths] as [yet to] come and [already] gone 56 that should be understood as 
the purpose. 

204. When someone gives his attention to this meditation subject, sometimes it 
is not long before the sign arises in him, and then the fixing, in other words, 
absorption adorned with the rest of the jhana factors, is achieved. 

205. After someone has given his attention to counting, then just as when a 
body that is disturbed sits down on a bed or chair, the bed or chair sags down 
and creaks and the cover gets rumpled, but when a body that is not disturbed 
sits down, the bed or chair neither sags down nor creaks, the cover does not get 
rumpled, and it is as though filled with cotton wool — why? because a body that 
is not disturbed is light — so too, after he has given his attention to counting, 
when the bodily disturbance has been stilled by the gradual cessation of gross 
in-breaths and out-breaths, then both the body and the mind become light: the 
physical body is as though it were ready to leap up into the air. [283] 

206. When his gross in-breaths and out breaths have ceased, his consciousness 
occurs with the sign of the subtle in-breaths and out-breaths as its object. And 
when that has ceased, it goes on occurring with the successively subtler signs 
as its object. How? 

55. Pa tis 1 170-72; last line Dhp 172; whole verse Th 548. 

56. Reading agata-gata-vasena with Vism-mht 271. 

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207. Suppose a man stuck a bronze bell with a big iron bar and at once a loud 
sound arose, his consciousness would occur with the gross sound as its object; 
then, when the gross sound had ceased, it would occur afterwards with the sign 
of the subtle sound as its object; and when that had ceased, it would go on 
occurring with the sign of the successively subtler sounds as its object. This is 
how it should be understood. And this is given in detail in the passage 
beginning, "Just as when a metal gong is struck" (§184). 

208. For while other meditation subjects become clearer at each higher stage, this 
one does not: in fact, as he goes on developing it, it becomes more subtle for him at 
each higher stage, and it even comes to the point at which it is no longer manifest. 

However, when it becomes unmanifest in this way, the bhikkhu should not 
get up from his seat, shake out his leather mat, and go away. What should be 
done? He should not get up with the idea "Shall I ask the teacher?" or "Is my 
meditation subject lost?"; for by going away, and so disturbing his posture, the 
meditation subject has to be started anew. So he should go on sitting as he was 
and [temporarily] substitute the place [normally touched for the actual breaths 
as the object of contemplation]. 57 

209. These are the means for doing it. The bhikkhu should recognize the 
unmanifest state of the meditation subject and consider thus: "Where do these 
in-breaths and out-breaths exist? Where do they not? In whom do they exist? In 
whom not?" Then, as he considers thus, he finds that they do not exist in one 
inside the mother's womb, or in those drowned in water, or likewise in unconscious 
beings, 58 or in the dead, or in those attained to the fourth jhana, or in those born 
into a fine-material or immaterial existence, or in those attained to cessation [of 
perception and feeling]. So he should apostrophize himself thus: "You with all 
your wisdom are certainly not inside a mother's womb or drowned in water or in 
the unconscious existence or dead or attained to the fourth jhana or born into 
the fine-material or immaterial existence or attained to cessation. Those in-breaths 
and out-breath are actually existent in you, only you are not able to discern them 
because your understanding is dull." Then, fixing his mind on the place 
normally touched [by the breaths], he should proceed to give his attention to 
that. 

210. These in-breaths and out-breaths occur striking the tip of the nose in a 
long-nosed man [284] and the upper lip in a short-nosed man. So he should fix 
the sign thus: "This is the place where they strike." This was why the Blessed 
One said: "Bhikkhus, I do not say of one who is forgetful, who is not fully aware, 
[that he practices] development of mindfulness of breathing" (M III 84). 



57. The point made here is that if the breaths themselves get temporarily too faint to 
be observed, he should carry on by observing the tip of the nose where they normally 
touch until they become apparent again. He brings the meditation back to mind for 
the moment, "as the place (desato)" where they were last noticed, instead of "as 
breaths," which have temporarily vanished. 

58. Those born in the world of unconscious beings in the fine-material Brahma 
world (D I 28). 



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211. Although any meditation subject, no matter what, is successful only in 
one who is mindful and fully aware, yet any meditation subject other than this 
one gets more evident as he goes on giving it his attention. But this mindfulness 
of breathing is difficult, difficult to develop, a field in which only the minds of 
Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and Buddhas' sons are at home. It is no trivial matter, 
nor can it be cultivated by trivial persons. In proportion as continued attention is 
given to it, it becomes more peaceful and more subtle. So strong mindfulness 
and understanding are necessary here. 

212. Just as when doing needlework on a piece of fine cloth a fine needle is 
needed, and a still finer instrument for boring the needle's eye, so too, when 
developing this meditation subject, which resembles fine cloth, both the 
mindfulness, which is the counterpart of the needle, and the understanding 
associated with it, which is the counterpart of the instrument for boring the 
needle's eye, need to be strong. A bhikkhu must have the necessary mindfulness 
and understanding and must look for the in-breaths and out-breaths nowhere 
else than the place normally touched by them. 

213. Suppose a ploughman, after doing some ploughing, sent his oxen free to 
graze and sat down to rest in the shade, then his oxen would soon go into the forest. 
Now, a skilled ploughman who wants to catch them and yoke them again does not 
wander through the forest following their tracks, but rather he takes his rope and 
goad and goes straight to the drinking place where they meet, and he sits or lies 
there. Then after the oxen have wandered about for a part of the day, they come to the 
drinking place where they meet and they bathe and drink, and when he sees that 
they have come out and are standing about, he secures them with the rope, and 
prodding them with the goad, he brings them back, yokes them, and goes on with 
his ploughing. So too, the bhikkhu should not look for the in-breaths and out- 
breaths anywhere else than the place normally touched by them. And he should 
take the rope of mindfulness and the goad of understanding, and fixing his mind 
on the place normally touched by them, he should go on giving his attention to that. 
[285] For as he gives his attention in this way they reappear after no long time, as the 
oxen did at the drinking place where they met. So he can secure them with the rope 
of mindfulness, and yoking them in that same place and prodding them with the 
goad of understanding, he can keep on applying himself to the meditation subject. 

214. When he does so in this way, the sign 59 soon appears to him. But it is not 
the same for all; on the contrary, some say that when it appears it does so to 
certain people producing a light touch like cotton or silk-cotton or a draught. 

215. But this is the exposition given in the commentaries: It appears to some 
like a star or a cluster of gems or a cluster of pearls, to others with a rough touch 
like that of silk-cotton seeds or a peg made of heartwood, to others like a long 
braid string or a wreath of flowers or a puff of smoke, to others like a stretched- 



59. '"The sign' is the learning sign and the counterpart sign, for both are stated here 
together. Herein, the three similes beginning with cotton are properly the learning 
sign, the rest are both. 'Some' are certain teachers. The similes beginning with the 
'cluster of gems' are properly the counterpart sign" (Vism-mht 273). 



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out cobweb or a film of cloud or a lotus flower or a chariot wheel or the moon's 
disk or the sun's disk. 

216. In fact this resembles an occasion when a number of bhikkhus are sitting 
together reciting a suttanta. When a bhikkhu asks, "What does this sutta appear 
like to you?" one says, "It appears to me like a great mountain torrent," another 
"To me it is like a line of forest trees," another "To me it is like a spreading fruit 
tree giving cool shade." For the one sutta appears to them differently because of 
the difference in their perception. Similarly this single meditation subject appears 
differently because of difference in perception. 60 It is born of perception, its source 
is perception, it is produced by perception. Therefore it should be understood 
that when it appears differently it is because of difference in perception. 

217. And here, the consciousness that has in-breath as its object is one, the 
consciousness that has out-breath as its object is another, and the consciousness 
that has the sign as its object is another. For the meditation subject reaches 
neither absorption nor even access in one who has not got these three things 
[clear]. But it reaches access and also absorption in one who has got these three 
things [clear]. For this is said: 

"Sign, in-breath, out-breath, are not object 
Of a single consciousness; 
By one who knows not these three things 
Development is not obtained. 

Sign, in-breath, out-breath, are not object 

Of a single consciousness; 

By one who does know these three things 

Development can be obtained" (Patis I 170). [286] 

218. And when the sign has appeared in this way, the bhikkhu should go to 
the teacher and tell him, "Venerable sir, such and such has appeared to me." But 
[say the Digha reciters] the teacher should say neither "This is the sign" nor 
"This is not the sign"; after saying "It happens like this, friend," he should tell 
him, "Go on giving it attention again and again;" for if he were told "It is the 
sign," he might [become complacent and] stop short at that (see M I 193f.), and 
if he were told "It is not the sign," he might get discouraged and give up; so he 
should encourage him to keep giving it his attention without saying either. So 
the Digha reciters say, firstly. But the Majjhima reciters say that he should be 
told, "This is the sign, friend. Well done. Keep giving attention to it again and 
again." 

219. Then he should fix his mind on that same sign; and so from now on, his 
development proceeds by way of fixing. For the Ancients said this: 

"Fixing his mind upon the sign 
And putting away 61 extraneous aspects, 

60. "'Because of difference in perception': because of the difference in the manner of 
perceiving that occurred before the arising of the sign" (Vism-mht 273). 

61. Vibhavayam can mean "to do away with" or "to explain." Either is applicable here 
according to Vism-mht 274. 

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The clever man anchors his mind 
Upon the breathings in and out." 

220. So as soon as the sign appears, his hindrances are suppressed, his 
defilements subside, his mindfulness is established, and his consciousness is 
concentrated in access concentration. 

221. Then he should not give attention to the sign as to its colour, or review it 
as to its [specific] characteristic. He should guard it as carefully as a king's 
chief queen guards the child in her womb due to become a Wheel-turning 
Monarch, 62 or as a farmer guards the ripening crops; and he should avoid the 
seven unsuitable things beginning with the unsuitable abode and cultivate the 
seven suitable things. Then, guarding it thus, he should make it grow and improve 
with repeated attention, and he should practice the tenfold skill in absorption 
(IV42) and bring about evenness of energy (IV66). 

222. As he strives thus, fourfold and fivefold jhana is achieved by him on that 
same sign in the same way as described under the earth kasina. 

5-8. (See §189) However, when a bhikkhu has achieved the fourfold and 
fivefold jhana and wants to reach purity by developing the meditation subject 
through observing and through turning away, he should make that jhana familiar 
by attaining mastery in it in the five ways (IV131), and then embark upon insight 
by defining mentality-materiality How? 

223. On emerging from the attainment, [287] he sees that the in-breaths and 
out-breaths have the physical body and the mind as their origin; and that just as, 
when a blacksmith's bellows are being blown, the wind moves owing to the bag 
and to the man's appropriate effort, so too, in-breaths and out-breaths are due to 
the body and the mind. 

Next, he defines the in-breaths and out-breaths and the body as "materiality," 
and the consciousness and the states associated with the consciousness as "the 
immaterial [mind] ." This is in brief (cf. M-a 1 249); but the details will be explained 
later in the defining of mentality-materiality (XVIII. 3f.). 

224. Having defined mentality-materiality in this way, he seeks its condition. 
With search he finds it, and so overcomes his doubts about the way of mentality- 
materiality's occurrence in the three divisions of time (Ch. XIX). 

His doubts being overcome, he attributes the three characteristics [beginning 
with that of suffering to mentality and materiality], comprehending [them] by 
groups (XX. 2f.); he abandons the ten imperfections of insight beginning with 
illumination, which arise in the first stages of the contemplation of rise and fall 
(XX.105f.), and he defines as "the path" the knowledge of the way that is free 
from these imperfections (XX.126f.). 

He reaches contemplation of dissolution by abandoning [attention to] arising. 
When all formations have appeared as terror owing to the contemplation of their 
incessant dissolution, he becomes dispassionate towards them (Ch. XXI), his 
greed for them fades away, and he is liberated from them (Ch. XXII). 

62. For the Wheel-turning Monarch (cakkavattin) see DN 26 and MN 129. 

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After he has [thus] reached the four noble paths in due succession and has 
become established in the fruition of Arahantship, he at last attains to the nineteen 
kinds of reviewing knowledge (XXII. 19f.), and he becomes fit to receive the 
highest gifts from the world with its deities. 

225. At this point his development of concentration through mindfulness of 
breathing, beginning with counting and ending with looking back (§189) is 
completed. 

This is the commentary on the first tetrad in all aspects. 

[Word Commentary Continued — Second Tetrad] 

226. Now, since there is no separate method for developing the meditation 
subject in the case of the other tetrads, their meaning therefore needs only to be 
understood according to the word commentary. 

(v) He trains thus: "I shall breathe in ... shall breathe out experiencing happiness," 
that is, making happiness known, making it plain. Herein, the happiness is 
experienced in two ways: (a) with the object, and (b) with non-confusion. 63 

227. (a) How is the happiness experienced with the object? He attains the two 
jhanas in which happiness is present. At the time when he has actually entered 
upon them the happiness is experienced with the object owing to the obtaining 
of the jhana, because of the experiencing of the object, (b) How with non- 
confusion? When, after entering upon and emerging from one of the two jhanas 
accompanied by happiness, [288] he comprehends with insight that happiness 
associated with the jhana as liable to destruction and to fall, then at the actual 
time of the insight the happiness is experienced with non-confusion owing to 
the penetration of its characteristics [of impermanence, and so on]. 

228. For this is said in the Patisambhida: "When he knows unification of mind 
and non-distraction through long in-breaths, mindfulness is established in him. 
By means of that mindfulness and that knowledge that happiness is experienced. 
When he knows unification of mind and non-distraction through long out- 
breaths . . . through short in-breaths . . . through short out-breaths . . . through in- 
breaths ... out-breaths experiencing the whole body ... through in-breaths ... 
out-breaths tranquilizing the bodily formation, mindfulness is established in 



63. "'With the object': under the heading of the object. The happiness included in the 
jhana that has that object is experienced 'because of the experiencing of the object.' 
What is meant? Just as, when a man who is looking for a snake discovers (experiences) 
its abode, the snake is, as it were, already discovered (experienced) and caught, owing 
to the ease with which he will then be able to catch it with charms and spells, so too, 
when the object, which is the abode of the happiness, is experienced (discovered), 
then the happiness itself is experienced (discovered) too, owing to the ease with which 
it will be apprehended in its specific and general characteristics. 'By his penetration of 
its characteristics': by penetration of the specific and general characteristics of 
happiness. For when the specific and general characteristics of anything are 
experienced then that thing is experienced according to reality" (Vism-mht 276). 

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him. By means of that mindfulness and that knowledge that happiness is 
experienced. 

"It is experienced by him when he adverts, when he knows, sees, reviews, 
steadies his mind, resolves with faith, exerts energy, establishes mindfulness, 
concentrates his mind, understands with understanding, directly knows what 
is to be directly known, fully understands what is to be fully understood, 
abandons what is to be abandoned, develops what is to be developed, realizes 
what is to be realized. It is in this way that that happiness is experienced" (Patis 
I 187). 

229. (vi-viii) The remaining [three] clauses should be understood in the same 
way as to meaning; but there is this difference here. The experiencing of bliss must 
be understood to be through three jhanas, and that of the mental formation through 
four. The mental formation consists of the two aggregates of feeling and 
perception. And in the case of the clause, experiencing bliss, it is said in the 
Patisambhida in order to show the plane of insight here [as well]: "'Bliss': there 
are two kinds of bliss, bodily bliss and mental bliss" (Patis I 188). Tranquilizing 
the mental formation: tranquilizing the gross mental formation; stopping it, is the 
meaning. And this should be understood in detail in the same way as given 
under the bodily formation (see §§176-85). 

230. Here, moreover, in the "happiness" clause feeling [which is actually being 
contemplated in this tetrad] is stated under the heading of "happiness" [which 
is a formation] but in the "bliss" clause feeling is stated in its own form. In the 
two "mental-formation" clauses the feeling is that [necessarily] associated with 
perception because of the words, "Perception and feeling belong to the mind, 
these things being bound up with the mind are mental formations" (Patis I 188). 
[289] 

So this tetrad should be understood to deal with contemplation of feeling. 

[Word Commentary Continued — Third Tetrad] 

231. (ix) In the third tetrad the experiencing of the [manner of\ consciousness must 
be understood to be through four jhanas. 

(x) Gladdening the [manner of] consciousness: he trains thus: "Making the mind 
glad, instilling gladness into it, cheering it, rejoicing it, I shall breathe in, shall 
breathe out." Herein, there is gladdening in two ways, through concentration 
and through insight. 

How through concentration? He attains the two jhanas in which happiness 
is present. At the time when he has actually entered upon them he inspires the 
mind with gladness, instils gladness into it, by means of the happiness associated 
with the jhana. How through insight? After entering upon and emerging from 
one of the two jhanas accompanied by happiness, he comprehends with insight 
that happiness associated with the jhana as liable to destruction and to fall; thus 
at the actual time of insight he inspires the mind with gladness, instils gladness 
into it, by making the happiness associated with the jhana the object. It is of one 



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progressing in this way that the words, "He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in ... 
shall breathe out gladdening the [manner of] consciousness,'" are said. 

232. (xi) Concentrating (samadaham) the [manner of] consciousness: evenly (samarn) 
placing (adahanto) the mind, evenly putting it on its object by means of the first 
jhana and so on. Or alternatively, when, having entered upon those jhanas and 
emerged from them, he comprehends with insight the consciousness associated 
with the jhana as liable to destruction and to fall, then at the actual time of 
insight momentary unification of the mind 64 arises through the penetration of 
the characteristics [of impermanence, and so on]. Thus the words, "He trains 
thus: T shall breathe in ... shall breathe out concentrating the [manner of] 
consciousness,'" are said also of one who evenly places the mind, evenly puts it 
on its object by means of the momentary unification of the mind arisen thus. 

233. (xii) Liberating the [manner of] consciousness: he both breathes in and breathes 
out delivering, liberating, the mind from the hindrances by means of the first 
jhana, from applied and sustained thought by means of the second, from 
happiness by means of the third, from pleasure and pain by means of the fourth. 
Or alternatively, when, having entered upon those jhanas and emerged from 
them, he comprehends with insight the consciousness associated with the jhana 
as liable to destruction and to fall, then at the actual time of insight he delivers, 
liberates, the mind from the perception of permanence by means of the 
contemplation of impermanence, from the perception of pleasure by means of 
the contemplation of pain, from the perception of self by means of the 
contemplation of not self, from delight by means of the contemplation of 
dispassion, from greed by means of the contemplation of fading away, from 
arousing by means of the contemplation of cessation, from grasping by means 
of the contemplation of relinquishment. Hence it is said: [290] "He trains thus: 1 
shall breathe in . . . shall breathe out liberating the [manner of] consciousness. 65 
'" So this tetrad should be understood to deal with contemplation of mind. 

64. "'Momentary unification of the mind': concentration lasting only for a moment. 
For that too, when it occurs uninterruptedly on its object in a single mode and is not 
overcome by opposition, fixes the mind immovably, as if in absorption" (Vism-mht 
278). 

65. "'Delivering': secluding, separating, by means of deliverance consisting in 
suppression; abandoning the hindrances, is the meaning. 'At the actual time of 
insight': at the time of contemplation of dissolution. For dissolution is the furthest 
extreme of impermanence. So the meditator who is contemplating dissolution by 
its means sees under the heading of consciousness the whole field of formations 
as impermanent, not as permanent; and because of the suffering inherent in what 
is impermanent, and because of the absence of self in what is painful, he sees that 
same whole field of formations as painful, not as pleasant, and as not-self, not as 
self. But since what is impermanent, painful, and not-self is not something to 
delight in, and what is not something to delight in is not something to be greedy 
for, consequently he becomes dispassionate towards that whole field of formations 
when it is seen in the light of dissolution as impermanent, painful, not-self, he 
does not delight in it, and his greed for it fades away, does not dye him. Now, as he 
thus becomes dispassionate and his greed fades away, it is firstly by means of 

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[Word Commentary Continued — Fourth Tetrad] 

234. (xiii) But in the fourth tetrad, as to contemplating impermanence, here firstly, 
the impermanent should be understood, and impermanence, and the 
contemplation of impermanence, and one contemplating impermanence. 

Herein, the five aggregates are the impermanent. Why? Because their essence 
is rise and fall and change. Impermanence is the rise and fall and change in those 
same aggregates, or it is their non-existence after having been; the meaning is, it 
is the breakup of produced aggregates through their momentary dissolution 
since they do not remain in the same mode. Contemplation of impermanence is 
contemplation of materiality, etc., as "impermanent" in virtue of that 
impermanence. One contemplating impermanence possesses that contemplation. 
So it is when one such as this is breathing in and breathing out that it can be 
understood of him: "He trains thus: 'I shall breathe in ... shall breathe out 
contemplating impermanence.'" 66 

mundane knowledge only that he causes greed to cease and does not arouse it. The 
meaning is that he does not bring about its arising. Or alternatively his greed having 
thus faded away, he causes by means of his own knowledge the cessation of the 
unseen field of formations just as that of the seen, he does not arouse it; the meaning 
is that he brings about only its cessation, he does not bring about its arising. Having 
entered on this way, he relinquishes, he does not grasp. What is meant? It is that this 
contemplation of impermanence, etc., is called relinquishment as giving up and 
relinquishment as entering into because it gives up defilements along with aggregate- 
producing kamma-formations and because, by seeing the flaws in what is formed and 
by inclining towards the opposite of what is formed, namely Nibbana, it enters into 
that Nibbana. Consequently the meditator who has that contemplation gives up 
defilements and enters into Nibbana in the way stated. Herein, the contemplation of 
what is impermanent as only impermanent is 'contemplation of impermanence'; this 
is a name for insight that occurs by taking formations of the three [mundane] planes 
[and leaving aside the supramundane] as impermanent. 'From the perception of 
permanence': from the wrong perception that occurs perceiving formed things as 
permanent, eternal; also the various views should be regarded as included under the 
heading of perception. Likewise with the perception of pleasure and so on. 'By means 
of the contemplation of dispassion': by means of the contemplation that occurs in the 
mode of dispassion for formations. 'From delight': from craving accompanied by 
happiness. 'By means of the contemplation of fading away': by means of the 
contemplation that occurs similarly in the mode of fading away; hence 'delivering 
from greed' is said. 'By means of the contemplation of cessation': by means of the 
successive seeing of formations' cessation. Or contemplating cessation is contemplation 
such that formations cease only and do not arise with future renewal. For this is 
knowledge of desire for deliverance grown strong. Hence he said, 'delivering from 
arousing.' Contemplation that occurs in the mode of relinquishing is 'contemplation 
of relinquishment.' 'From grasping': from taking as permanent, etc.; or the meaning 
can also here be regarded as 'from grasping rebirth-linking.' (Vism-mht 279) See 
Chapters XX and XXI. 

66. "What is called 'permanent' is what is lasting, eternal, like Nibbana. What is 
called 'impermanent' is what is not permanent, and is possessed of rise and fall. He 
said 'The five aggregates are "the impermanent,'" signifying that they are formed 



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235. (xiv) Contemplating fading away: there are two kinds of fading away, that is, 
fading away as destruction, and absolute fading away 67 Herein, "fading away 
as destruction" is the momentary dissolution of formations. "Absolute fading 
away" is Nibbana. Contemplation of fading away is insight and it is the path, 
which occurs as the seeing of these two. It is when he possesses this twofold 
contemplation that it can be understood of him: "He trains thus: 'I shall breathe 
in ... shall breathe out contemplating fading away'" 

(xv) The same method of explanation applies to the clause, contemplating 
cessation. 

236. (xvi) Contemplating relinquishment: relinquishment is of two kinds too, that 
is to say, relinquishment as giving up, and relinquishment as entering into. 
Relinquishment itself as [a way of] contemplation is "contemplation of 
relinquishment." For insight is called both "relinquishment as giving up" and 
"relinquishment as entering into" since [firstly], through substitution of opposite 
qualities, it gives up defilements with their aggregate-producing kamma 
formations, and [secondly], through seeing the wretchedness of what is formed, 
it also enters into Nibbana by inclining towards Nibbana, which is the opposite 
of the formed (XI. 18). Also the path is called both "relinquishment as giving up" 
and "relinquishment as entering into" since it gives up defilements with their 
aggregate-producing kamma-formations by cutting them off, and it enters into 
Nibbana by making it its object. Also both [insight and path knowledge] are 
called contemplation (anupassana) because of their re-seeing successively (anu 
anu passana) each preceding kind of knowledge. 68 [291] It is when he possesses 

dhammas as to meaning. Why? 'Because their essence is rise and fall and change': the 
meaning is that their individual essences have rise and fall and change. Herein, formed 
dhammas' arising owing to cause and condition, their coming to be after non-existence, 
their acquisition of an individual self (attalabha), is 'rise.' Their momentary cessation 
when arisen is 'fall.' 

67. "'Destruction' is the vanishing of formations; it is the act of those formations' 
fading away, their disintegration, that is 'fading away' Destruction itself as fading away 
is 'fading away as destruction'; this is momentary cessation. Formations fade away 
absolutely here when this has been reached, thus it is 'absolute fading away;' this is 
Nibbana" (Vism-mht 280). 

68. "The act of relinquishing as the act of giving up by means of substituting for 
what should be abandoned its opposite quality or by cutting it off, is 'relinquishment 
as giving up.' Likewise the act of relinquishing of self that takes place in non-formation 
of kamma, which is the relinquishing of all substrata (circumstances) of becoming, 
being the entering into that [Nibbana] either by inclination towards it [in insight] or by 
having it as object [in the path] is 'relinquishment as entering into.' 'Through 
substitution of opposite qualities': here contemplation of impermanence, firstly, gives 
up perception of permanence by abandoning through substitution of the opposite 
[e.g. substituting perception of impermanence for that of permanence in the case of all 
formed things] . And the giving up in this way is in the form of inducing non-occurrence. 
For all kamma-formations that are rooted in defilements due to apprehending 
(formations) as permanent, and the kamma-resultant aggregates rooted in both which 
might arise in the future, are abandoned by causing their non-occurrence. Likewise in 

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this twofold contemplation that it can be understood of him: "He trains thus: 'I 
shall breathe in ... shall breathe out contemplating relinquishment.'" 

237. This tetrad deals only with pure insight while the previous three deal 
with serenity and insight. This is how the development of mindfulness of 
breathing with its sixteen bases in four tetrads should be understood. 

[Conclusion] 

This mindfulness of breathing with its sixteen bases thus is of great fruit, of 
great benefit. 

238. Its great beneficialness should be understood here as peacefulness both 
because of the words, "And, bhikkhus, this concentration through mindfulness 
of breathing, when developed and much practiced, is both peaceful and sublime" 
(S V 321), etc., and because of its ability to cut off applied thoughts; for it is 
because it is peaceful, sublime, and an unadulterated blissful abiding that it cuts 
off the mind's running hither and thither with applied thoughts obstructive to 
concentration, and keeps the mind only on the breaths as object. Hence it is said: 
"Mindfulness of breathing should be developed in order to cut off applied 
thoughts" (A IV 353). 

239. Also its great beneficialness should be understood as the root condition 
for the perfecting of clear vision and deliverance; for this has been said by the 
Blessed One: "Bhikkhus, mindfulness of breathing, when developed and much 
practiced, perfects the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of 
mindfulness, when developed and much practiced, perfect the seven 
enlightenment factors. The seven enlightenment factors, when developed and 
much practiced, perfect clear vision and deliverance" (M III 82). 

240. Again its great beneficialness should be understood to reside in the fact 
that it causes the final in-breaths and out-breaths to be known; for this is said by 
the Blessed One: "Rahula, when mindfulness of breathing is thus developed, 
thus practiced much, the final in-breaths and out-breaths, too, are known as they 
cease, not unknown" (M I 425f.). 

241. Herein, there are three kinds of [breaths that are] final because of cessation, 
that is to say, final in becoming, final in jhana, and final in death. For, among the 
various kinds of becoming (existence), in-breaths and out-breaths occur in the 
sensual-sphere becoming, not in the fine-material and immaterial kinds of 
becoming. That is why there are final ones in becoming. In the jhanas they occur 

the case of perception of pain, and so on. 'Through seeing the wretchedness of what 
is formed': through seeing the fault of impermanence, etc., in the formed three-plane 
field of formations. It is 'the opposite of the formed' owing to its permanence, and so 
on. When defilements are given up by the path, then kamma-formations are called 
'given up' through producing (apadana) in them the nature of not causing result, and 
aggregates rooted in them are called 'given up' through their being rendered fit for 
non-arising. So the path gives up all these, is what is meant" (Vism-mht 281). The 
word pakkhandana (rendered by "entering into") is used to define the act of faith, and 
can also be rendered by "launching out into" or by "leap." 

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in the first three but not in the fourth. That is why there are final ones in jhana. 
Those that arise along with the sixteenth consciousness preceding the death 
consciousness [292] cease together with the death consciousness. They are called 
"final in death." It is these last that are meant here by "final." 

242. When a bhikkhu has devoted himself to this meditation subject, it seems, 
if he adverts, at the moment of arising of the sixteenth consciousness before the 
death consciousness, to their arising, then their arising is evident to him; if he 
adverts to their presence, then their presence is evident to him; if he adverts to 
their dissolution, then their dissolution is evident to him; and it is so because he 
has thoroughly discerned in-breaths and out-breaths as object. 

243. When a bhikkhu has attained Arahantship by developing some other 
meditation subject than this one, he may be able to define his life term or not. But 
when he has reached Arahantship by developing this mindfulness of breathing 
with its sixteen bases, he can always define his life term. He knows, "My vital 
formations will continue now for so long and no more." Automatically he performs 
all the functions of attending to the body, dressing and robing, etc., after which 
he closes his eyes, like the Elder Tissa who lived at the Kotapabbata Monastery, 
like the Elder Maha Tissa who lived at the Maha Karanjiya Monastery, like the 
Elder Tissa the alms-food eater in the kingdom of Devaputta, like the elders who 
were brothers and lived at the Cittalapabbata monastery. 

244. Here is one story as an illustration. After reciting the Patimokkha, it seems, 
on the Uposatha day of the full moon, one of the two elders who were brothers 
went to his own dwelling place surrounded by the Community of Bhikkhus. As 
he stood on the walk looking at the moonlight he calculated his own vital 
formations, and he said to the Community of Bhikkhus, "In what way have you 
seen bhikkhus attaining Nibbana up till now?" Some answered, "Till now we 
have seen them attain Nibbana sitting in their seats." Others answered, "We 
have seen them sitting cross-legged in the air." The elder said, "I shall now 
show you one attaining Nibbana while walking." He then drew a line on the 
walk, saying, "I shall go from this end of the walk to the other end and return; 
when I reach this line I shall attain Nibbana." So saying, he stepped on to the 
walk and went to the far end. On his return he attained Nibbana in the same 
moment in which he stepped on the line. [293] 

So let a man, if he is wise, 
Untiringly devote his days 
To mindfulness of breathing, which 
Rewards him always in these ways. 

This is the section dealing with mindfulness of breathing in the detailed 
explanation. 

[(10) Recollection of Peace] 

245. One who wants to develop the recollection of peace mentioned next to 
mindfulness of breathing (III. 105) should go into solitary retreat and recollect 
the special qualities of Nibbana, in other words, the stilling of all suffering, as 
follows: 

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"Bhikkhus, in so far as there are dhammas, whether formed or unformed, 
fading away is pronounced the best of them, that is to say, the disillusionment of 
vanity, the elimination of thirst, the abolition of reliance, the termination of the 
round, the destruction of craving, fading away, cessation, Nibbana" (A II 34). 

246. Herein in so far as means as many as. Dhammas [means] individual 
essences. 69 Whether formed or unformed: whether made by conditions going 

69. "In such passages as 'Dhammas that are concepts' (Dhs p. 1, §1308) even a non- 
entity (abhava) is thus called a 'dhamma' since it is borne (dharlyati) and affirmed 
(avadharlyati) by knowledge. That kind of dhamma is excluded by his saying, 'Dhammas 
[means] individual essences.' The act of becoming (bhavana), which constitutes existing- 
ness (vijjamanata) in the ultimate sense, is essence (bhava); it is with essence (saha 
bhavena), thus it is an individual essence (sabhava); the meaning is that it is possible 
(labbhamanarupa) in the true sense, in the ultimate sense. For these are called 'dhammas 
(bearers)' because they bear (dharana) their own individual essences (sabhava), and 
they are called 'individual essences' in the sense already explained" (Vism-mht 282; 
cf. Ch. VII, n. 1). 

In the Pitakas the word sabhava seems to appear only once (Patis II 178). It next 
appears in the Netti (p.79), the Milindapanha (pp. 90, 164, 212, 360). It is extensively 
used for exegetical purposes in the Visuddhimagga and main commentaries and likewise 
in the subcommentaries. As has just been shown, it is narrower than dhamma (see 
also Ch. XXIII. n. 18). It often roughly corresponds to dhatu (element — see e.g. Dhs-a 
263) and to lakkhana (characteristic — see below), but less nearly to the vaguer and (in 
Pali) untechnical pakati (nature), or to rasa (function — see 1.21). The Atthasalini observes: 
"It is the individual essence, or the generality of such and such dhammas that is called 
their characteristic" (Dhs-a 63); on which the Mula Tika comments: "The individual 
essence consisting in, say hardness as that of earth, or touching as that of contact, is 
not common to all dhammas. The generality is the individual essence common to all 
consisting in impermanence, etc.; also in this context (i.e. Dhs §1) the characteristic of 
being profitable may be regarded as general because it is the individual essence 
common to all that is profitable; or alternatively it is their individual essence because it 
is not common to the unprofitable and indeterminate [kinds of consciousness]" (Dhs- 
a 63). The individual essence of any formed dhamma is manifested in the three instants 
of its existence (atthita, vijjamanata), namely arising, presence (= aging) and dissolution. 
It comes from nowhere and goes nowhere (XV15) and is borne by the mind. Dhammas 
without individual essence (asabhavadhamma) include the attainment of cessation (see 
Ch. XXIII, n. 18) and some concepts. Space and time belong to the last-mentioned. Of 
space (akasa) the Majjhima Nikaya Tika says: "Space, which is quite devoid of individual 
essence, is called empty" (commenting on MN 106), while of time (kala) the Mula Tika 
says: "Though time is determined by the kind of consciousness [e.g. as specified in 
the first paragraph of the Dhammasanganl] and is non-existent (avijjamana) as to 
individual essence, yet as the non-entity (abhava) before and after the moment in 
which those [conascent and co-present] dhammas occur, it is called the 'container 
(adhikarana)' ; it is perceived (symbolized) only as the state of a receptacle (adhara-bhava) 
(Dhs-a 62). Of Nibbana (for which see XVI.46ff.), which has its own individual essence, the 
Mula Tika says "Nibbana is not like other dhammas; because of its extreme profundity it 
cannot be made an object of consciousness (alambitum) by one who has not realized it. 
That is why it has to be realized by change-of-lineage. It has profundity surpassing any 
individual essence belonging to the three periods of time" (Vibh-a 38). 

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together, coming together, or not so made.™ Fading away is pronounced the best of 
them: of these formed and unformed dhammas, fading away is pronounced the 
best, is called the foremost, the highest. 

247. Herein fading away is not mere absence of greed, but rather it is that 
unformed dhamma which, while given the names "disillusionment of vanity," 
etc., in the clause, "that is to say, the disillusionment of vanity, ... Nibbana," is 
treated basically as fading away. 71 It is called disillusionment of vanity because on 
coming to it all kinds of vanity (intoxication), such as the vanity of conceit, and 
vanity of manhood, are disillusioned, undone, done away with. 72 And it is called 
elimination of thirst because on coming to it all thirst for sense desires is eliminated 
and quenched. But it is called abolition of reliance because on coming to its 
reliance on the five cords of sense desire is abolished. It is called termination of the 
round because on coming to it the round of the three planes [of existence] is 
terminated. It is called destruction of craving because on coming to it craving is 



Sabhava has not the extreme vagueness of its parent bhava, which can mean anything 
between "essence" (see e.g. Dhs-a 61) and "-ness" (e.g. natthibhava = non-existingness — 
X.35). This may be remembered when sabhava is defined as above thus: "It is with 
essence (sahabhavena) , thus it is individual essence (sabhava)" (Vism-mht 282), and 
when it is defined again thus: "A dhamma's own essence or its existing essence (sako 
va bhavo samano va bhavo) is its individual essence (sabhava)" (Vism-mht 433). Sabhava 
can also be the basis of a wrong view, if regarded as the sole efficient cause or 
condition of any formed thing (Ch. XVI, n.23). The Sanskrit equivalent, svabhava, had 
a great vogue and checkered history in philosophical discussions on the Indian 
mainland. 

This (unlike the word, dhamma, which has many "referents") is an instance in which 
it is of first importance to stick to one rendering. The word is a purely exegetical one; 
consequently vagueness is undesirable. "Individual essence" has been chosen 
principally on etymological grounds, and the word "essence" (an admittedly slippery 
customer) must be understood from the contexts in which it is used and not prejudged. 
Strictly it refers here to the triple moment of arising etc., of formed dhammas that can 
have such "existence" in their own right and be experienced as such; and it refers to 
the realizability of Nibbana. We are here in the somewhat magical territory of ontology, 
a subject that is at present undergoing one of its periodical upheavals in Europe, this 
time in the hands of the existentialists. Consequently it is important to approach the 
subject with an open mind. 

70. "'Made' is generated. 'Not so made' is not made by any conditions at all." 
(Vism-mht 281) 

71. "That dhamma possessing individual essence and having the characteristic of 
being not formed is to be treated basically as 'fading away,' since it is there that the 
dhamma of defilement fades away" (Vism-mht 282). 

72. "When they are being abandoned by the noble path, which occurs by making 
Nibbana its object, it is said that they are abandoned by reaching that [Nibbana] which 
is why he said, 'Because on coming to it,' and so on. Herein, 'vanity of conceit (mana- 
mada)' is conceit (mana) that occurs as conceiving (mannana) T am superior' (Vibh 353). 
'Vanity of manhood' is vanity about being of the male sex. The words 'such as' refer 
to vanity of birth, and so on (Vibh 345)" (Vism-mht 282). 

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Chapter VIII Other Recollections as Meditation Subjects 

entirely destroyed, fades away and ceases. It is called Nibbana (extinction) because 
it has gone away from (nikkhanta), has escaped from (nissata), is dissociated from 
craving, which has acquired in common usage the name "fastening" (vana) 
because, by ensuring successive becoming, craving serves as a joining together, 
a binding together, a lacing together, of the four kinds of generation, five destinies, 
seven stations of consciousness and nine abodes of beings. 73 [294] 

248. This is how peace, in other words, Nibbana, should be recollected 
according to its special qualities beginning with disillusionment of vanity. But 
it should also be recollected according to the other special qualities of peace 
stated by the Blessed One in the suttas beginning with: "Bhikkhus, I shall teach 
you the unformed ... the truth ... the other shore ... the hard-to-see ... the 
undecaying . . . the lasting . . . the undiversified . . . the deathless . . . the auspicious 
. . . the safe . . . the marvellous . . . the intact . . . the unaf flicted . . . the purity . . . the 
island ... the shelter ...." (S IV 360-72). 74 

249. As he recollects peace in its special qualities of disillusionment of vanity, 
etc., in this way, then: "On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed or 
obsessed by hate or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, 
being inspired by peace" (see VII. 65, etc.). So when he has suppressed the 
hindrances in the way already described under the recollection of the 
Enlightened One, etc., the jhana factors arise in a single moment. But owing to 
the profundity of the special qualities of peace, or owing to his being occupied 
in recollecting special qualities of various kinds, the jhana is only access and 
does not reach absorption. And that jhana itself is known as "recollection of 
peace" too because it arises by means of the special qualities of peace. 

250. And as in the case of the six recollections, this also comes to success only 
in a noble disciple. Still, though this is so, it can nevertheless also be brought to 
mind by an ordinary person who values peace. For even by hearsay the mind 
has confidence in peace. 

251. A bhikkhu who is devoted to this recollection of peace sleeps in bliss and 
wakes in bliss, his faculties are peaceful, his mind is peaceful, he has conscience 
and shame, he is confident, he is resolved [to attain] the superior [state], he is 
respected and honoured by his fellows in the life of purity. And even if he 
penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny. 



73. Modern etymology derives the word Nibbana (Skr. nirvana) from the negative 
prefix nir plus the root va (to blow). The original literal meaning was probably 
"extinction" of a fire by ceasing to blow on it with bellows (a smith's fire for example). 
It seems to have been extended to extinction of fire by any means, for example, the 
going out of a lamp's flame (nibbayati — M III 245). By analogy it was extended to the 
extinction of the five-aggregate process on the Arahant's death (see It 38). Nibbana is 
not the "extinction of a self or of a living lasting being," such a mistaken opinion being 
the annihilation view (see e.g. M 1 140, S III 109). 

74. Some texts add lena (another word for shelter). Still others are given in the 
Samyutta text. 



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So that is why a man of wit 
Untiringly devotes his days 
To mind the noble peace, which can 
Reward him in so many ways. 

This is the section dealing with the recollection of peace in the detailed 
explanation. 

The eighth chapter called "The Description of 
Recollections as Meditation Subjects" in the Treatise 
on the Development of Concentration in the Path of 
Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening 
good people. 



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Chapter IX 

The Divine Abidings 
(Brahmavihara-niddesa) 

[(1) Loving-Kindness] 

1. [295] The four divine abidings were mentioned next to the recollections as 
meditation subjects (III. 105). They are loving-kindness, compassion, gladness 
and equanimity. A meditator, who wants to develop firstly loving-kindness 
among these, if he is a beginner, should sever the impediments and learn the 
meditation subject. Then, when he has done the work connected with the meal 
and got rid of any dizziness due to it, he should seat himself comfortably on a 
well-prepared seat in a secluded place. To start with, he should review the 
danger in hate and the advantage in patience. 

2. Why? Because hate has to be abandoned and patience attained in the 
development of this meditation subject, and he cannot abandon unseen dangers 
and attain unknown advantages. 

Now, the danger in hate should be seen in accordance with such suttas as 
this: "Friends, when a man hates, is a prey to hate and his mind is obsessed by 
hate, he kills living things, and ..." (A I 216). And the advantage in patience 
should be understood according to such suttas as these: 

"No higher rule, the Buddhas say, than patience, 

And no Nibbana higher than forbearance" (D II 49; Dhp 184); 

"Patience in force, in strong array: 
'Tis him I call a brahman" (Dhp 399); 

"No greater thing exists than patience" (S I 222). 

3. Thereupon he should embark upon the development of loving-kindness for 
the purpose of secluding the mind from hate seen as a danger and introducing 
it to patience known as an advantage. 

But when he begins, he must know that some persons are of the wrong sort at 
the very beginning and that loving-kindness should be developed towards 
certain kinds of persons and not towards certain other kinds at first. [296] 

4. For loving-kindness should not be developed at first towards the following 
four kinds of persons: an antipathetic person, a very dearly loved friend, a neutral 
person, and a hostile person. Also it should not be developed specifically (see 
§49) towards the opposite sex, or towards a dead person. 

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5. What is the reason why it should not be developed at first towards an 
antipathetic person and the others? To put an antipathetic person in a dear 
one's place is fatiguing. To put a very dearly loved friend in a neutral person's 
place is fatiguing; and if the slightest mischance befalls the friend, he feels like 
weeping. To put a neutral person in a respected one's or a dear one's place is 
fatiguing. Anger springs up in him if he recollects a hostile person. That is why 
it should not be developed at first towards an antipathetic person and the rest. 

6. Then, if he develops it specifically towards the opposite sex, lust inspired by 
that person springs up in him. An elder supported by a family was asked, it 
seems, by a friend's son, "Venerable sir, towards whom should loving-kindness 
be developed?" The elder told him, "Towards a person one loves." He loved his 
own wife. Through developing loving-kindness towards her he was fighting 
against the wall all the night. 1 That is why it should not be developed specifically 
towards the opposite sex. 

7. But if he develops it towards a dead person, he reaches neither absorption 
nor access. A young bhikkhu, it seems, had started developing loving-kindness 
inspired by his teacher. His loving-kindness made no headway at all. He went to 
a senior elder and told him, "Venerable sir, I am quite familiar with attaining 
jhana through loving-kindness, and yet I cannot attain it. What is the matter?" 
The elder said, "Seek the sign, friend, [the object of your meditation]." He did so. 
Finding that his teacher had died, he proceeded with developing loving-kindness 
inspired by another and attained absorption. That is why it should not be 
developed towards one who is dead. 

8. First of all it should be developed only towards oneself, doing it repeatedly 
thus: "May I be happy and free from suffering" or "May I keep myself free from 
enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily." 

9. If that is so, does it not conflict with what is said in the texts? For there is no 
mention of any development of it towards oneself in what is said in the Vibhariga: 
"And how does a bhikkhu dwell pervading one direction with his heart filled 
with loving-kindness? Just as he would feel loving-kindness on seeing a dearly 
loved person, so he pervades all beings with loving-kindness" (Vibh 272); and 
in what is said in the Patisambhida: "In what five ways is the mind-deliverance 
of loving-kindness [practiced] with unspecified pervasion? May all beings be 
free from enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily. May all breathing things 
[297] ... all who are born ... all persons ... all those who have a personality be 
free from enmity, affliction and anxiety and live happily" (Patis II 130); and in 
what is said in the Metta Sutta: "In joy and safety may all beings be joyful at 
heart" (Sn 145). [Does it not conflict with those texts?] 



1. "'Fighting against the wall': having undertaken the precepts of virtue and sat 
down on a seat in his room with the door locked, he was developing loving-kindness. 
Blinded by lust arisen under cover of the loving-kindness, he wanted to go to his wife, 
and without noticing the door he beat on the wall in his desire to get out even by 
breaking the wall down" (Vism-mht 286). 



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10. It does not conflict. Why not? Because that refers to absorption. But this 
[initial development towards oneself] refers to [making oneself] an example. For 
even if he developed loving-kindness for a hundred or a thousand years in this 
way, "I am happy" and so on, absorption would never arise. But if he develops it 
in this way: "I am happy. Just as I want to be happy and dread pain, as I want to 
live and not to die, so do other beings, too," making himself the example, then 
desire for other beings' welfare and happiness arises in him. And this method is 
indicated by the Blessed One's saying: 

I visited all quarters with my mind 

Nor found I any dearer than myself; 

Self is likewise to every other dear; 

Who loves himself will never harm another (S I 75; Ud 47). 

11. So he should first, as example, pervade himself with loving-kindness. Next 
after that, in order to proceed easily, he can recollect such gifts, 2 kind words, etc., 
as inspire love and endearment, such virtue, learning, etc., as inspire respect 
and reverence met with in a teacher or his equivalent or a preceptor or his 
equivalent, developing loving-kindness towards him in the way beginning, "May 
this good man be happy and free from suffering." With such a person, of course, 
he attains absorption. 

12. But if this bhikkhu does not rest content with just that much and wants to 
break down the barriers, he should next, after that, develop loving-kindness 
towards a very dearly loved friend, then towards a neutral person as a very 
dearly loved friend, then towards a hostile person as neutral. And while he does 
so, he should make his mind malleable and wieldy in each instance before 
passing on to the next. 

13. But if he has no enemy, or he is of the type of a great man who does not 
perceive another as an enemy even when the other does him harm, he should 
not interest himself as follows: "Now that my consciousness of loving-kindness 
has become wieldy towards a neutral person, I shall apply it to a hostile one." 
[298] Rather it was about one who actually has an enemy that it was said above 
that he should develop loving-kindness towards a hostile person as neutral. 

[Getting Rid of Resentment] 

14. If resentment arises in him when he applies his mind to a hostile person 
because he remembers wrongs done by that person, he should get rid of the 
resentment by entering repeatedly into loving-kindness [jhana] towards any of 
the first-mentioned persons and then, after he has emerged each time, directing 
loving-kindness towards that person. 

15. But if it does not die out in spite of his efforts, then: 

Let him reflect upon the saw 
With other figures of such kind, 



2. Reading dana-myavacanadini with Ce (see four sahgahavatthuni — A II 32). 

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And strive, and strive repeatedly, 
To leave resentment far behind. 

He should admonish himself in this way: "Now, you who get angry, has not 
the Blessed One said this: 'Bhikkhus, even if bandits brutally severed limb from 
limb with a two-handled saw, he who entertained hate in his heart on that 
account would not be one who carried out my teaching?'" (M I 129). And this: 

"To repay angry men in kind 
Is worse than to be angry first; 
Repay not angry men in kind 
And win a battle hard to win. 

The weal of both he does promote, 

His own and then the other's too, 

Who shall another's anger know 

And mindfully maintain his peace" (S I 162). 

And this: "Bhikkhus, there are seven things gratifying and helpful to an 
enemy that happen to one who is angry, whether woman or man. What seven? 
Here, bhikkhus, an enemy wishes thus for his enemy, 'Let him be ugly!' Why is 
that? An enemy does not delight in an enemy's beauty. Now, this angry person 
is a prey to anger, ruled by anger; though well bathed, well anointed, with hair 
and beard trimmed and clothed in white, yet he is ugly, being a prey to anger. 
This is the first thing gratifying and helpful to an enemy that befalls one who is 
angry, whether woman or man. Furthermore, an enemy wishes thus for his enemy, 
'Let him lie in pain!' ... 'Let him have no fortune!' ... 'Let him not be wealthy!' ... 
'Let him not be famous!' ... 'Let him have no friends!' [299] ... 'Let him not on the 
breakup of the body, after death, reappear in a happy destiny in the heavenly 
world!' 3 Why is that? An enemy does not delight in an enemy's going to a 
happy destiny. Now, this angry person is a prey to anger, ruled by anger; he 
misconducts himself in body, speech and mind. Misconducting himself thus in 
body, speech and mind, on the breakup of the body, after death, he reappears in 
a state of loss, in an unhappy destiny, in perdition, in hell, being a prey to anger" 
(A IV 94).? And this: "As a log from a pyre, burnt at both ends and fouled in the 
middle, serves neither for timber in the village nor for timber in the forest, so is 
such a person as this I say" (A II 95, It 90)?. "If you are angry now, you will be one 
who does not carry out the Blessed One's teaching; by repaying an angry man 
in kind you will be worse than the angry man and not win the battle hard to win; 
you will yourself do to yourself the things that help your enemy; and you will be 
like a pyre log." (Source untraced) 

16. If his resentment subsides when he strives and makes effort in this way, it is 
good. If not, then he should remove irritation by remembering some controlled 
and purified state in that person, which inspires confidence when remembered. 

17. For one person may be controlled in his bodily behaviour with his control 
in doing an extensive course of duty known to all, though his verbal and mental 



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behaviour are not controlled. Then the latter should be ignored and the control 
in his bodily behaviour remembered. 

18. Another may be controlled in his verbal behaviour, and his control known 
to all — he may naturally be clever at welcoming kindly easy to talk with, 
congenial, open-countenanced, deferential in speech, and he may expound the 
Dhamma with a sweet voice and give explanations of Dhamma with well- 
rounded phrases and details — though his bodily and mental behaviour are not 
controlled. Then the latter should be ignored and the control in his verbal 
behaviour remembered. 

19. Another may be controlled in his mental behaviour, and his control in 
worshiping at shrines, etc., evident to all. For when one who is uncontrolled in 
mind pays homage at a shrine or at an Enlightenment Tree or to elders, he does 
not do it carefully, [300] and he sits in the Dhamma-preaching pavilion with 
mind astray or nodding, while one whose mind is controlled pays homage 
carefully and deliberately, listens to the Dhamma attentively, remembering it, 
and evincing the confidence in his mind through his body or his speech. So 
another may be only controlled in his mental behaviour, though his bodily and 
verbal behaviour are not controlled. Then the latter should be ignored and the 
control in his mental behaviour remembered. 

20. But there may be another in whom not even one of these three things is 
controlled. Then compassion for that person should be aroused thus: "Though 
he is going about in the human world now, nevertheless after a certain number 
of days he will find himself in [one of] the eight great hells or the sixteen 
prominent hells. 4 " For irritation subsides too through compassion. In yet another 
all three may be controlled. Then he can remember any of the three in that 
person, whichever he likes; for the development of loving-kindness towards 
such a person is easy. 

21. And in order to make the meaning of this clear the following sutta from the 
Book of Fives should be cited in full: "Bhikkhus, there are five ways of dispelling 
annoyance whereby annoyance arisen in a bhikkhu can be entirely dispelled" 
(A III 186-90). 

22. But if irritation still arises in him in spite of his efforts, then he should 
admonish himself thus: 

Suppose an enemy has hurt 
You now in what is his domain, 
Why try yourself as well to hurt 
Your mind? — That is not his domain. 

In tears you left your family. 

They had been kind and helpful too. 



4. "The eight great hells beginning with that of Sanjiva (see J-a V 266, 270). At each of 
the four doors of the Great Unmitigated (Avici) Hell there are the four beginning with 
the Ember (Kukida) Hell (M III 185), which make up the sixteen prominent hells" 
(Vism-mht 291). 



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So why not leave your enemy 

The anger that brings harm to you? 

This anger that you entertain 
Is gnawing at the very roots 
Of all the virtues that you guard — 
Who is there such a fool as you? 

Another does ignoble deeds, 
So you are angry — How is this? 
Do you then want to copy too 
The sort of acts that he commits? 

Suppose another, to annoy, 
Provokes you with some odious act, 
Why suffer anger to spring up, 
And do as he would have you do? 
If you get angry, then maybe 
You make him suffer, maybe not; 
Though with the hurt that anger brings 
You certainly are punished now. 

If anger-blinded enemies 
Set out to tread the path of woe, 
Do you by getting angry too 
Intend to follow heel to toe? 

If hurt is done you by a foe 
Because of anger on your part, 
Then put your anger down, for why 
Should you be harassed groundlessly? [301] 

Since states last but a moment's time 
Those aggregates, by which was done 
The odious act, have ceased, so now 
What is it you are angry with? 

Whom shall he hurt, who seeks to hurt 
Another, in the other's absence? 
Your presence is the cause of hurt; 
Why are you angry, then, with him? 

23. But if resentment does not subside when he admonishes himself thus, then 
he should review the fact that he himself and the other are owners of their deeds 
(kamma). 

Herein, he should first review this in himself thus: "Now, what is the point of 
your getting angry with him? Will not this kamma of yours that has anger as its 
source lead to your own harm? For you are the owner of your deeds, heir of your 
deeds, having deeds as your parent, deeds as your kin, deeds as your refuge; you 
will become the heir of whatever deeds you do (see A III 186). And this is not the 
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Chapter IX The Divine Abidings 

to the disciple's grade, or to any such position as the status of Brahma or Sakka, 
or the throne of a Wheel-turning Monarch or a regional king, etc.; but rather this 
is the kind of deed to lead to your fall from the Dispensation, even to the status of 
the eaters of scraps, etc., and to the manifold suffering in the hells, and so on. By 
doing this you are like a man who wants to hit another and picks up a burning 
ember or excrement in his hand and so first burns himself or makes himself 
stink." 

24. Having reviewed ownership of deeds in himself in this way, he should 
review it in the other also: "And what is the point of his getting angry with you? 
Will it not lead to his own harm? For that venerable one is owner of his deeds, 
heir of his deeds ... he will become the heir of whatever deeds he does. And this 
is not the kind of deed to bring him to full enlightenment, to undeclared 
enlightenment or to the disciple's grade, or to any such position as the status of 
Brahma or Sakka, or to the throne of a Wheel-turning Monarch or a regional 
king, etc.; but rather this is the kind of deed to lead to his fall from the Dispensation, 
even to the status of the eaters of scraps, etc., and to the manifold suffering in the 
hells, and so on. By doing this he is like a man who wants to throw dust at 
another against the wind and only covers himself with it." For this is said by the 
Blessed One: 

"When a fool hates a man that has no hate, 

Is purified and free from every blemish, [302] 

Such evil he will find comes back on him, 

As does fine dust thrown up against the wind" (Dhp 125). 

25. But if it still does not subside in him when he reviews ownership of deeds 
in this way, then he should review the special qualities of the Master's former 
conduct. 

26. Here is the way of reviewing it: "Now you who have gone forth, is it not a 
fact that when your Master was a Bodhisatta before discovering full 
enlightenment, while he was still engaged in fulfilling the perfections during 
the four incalculable ages and a hundred thousand aeons, he did not allow hate 
to corrupt his mind even when his enemies tried to murder him on various 
occasions? 

27. "For example, in the Sllavant Birth Story (J-a I 261) when his friends rose to 
prevent his kingdom of three hundred leagues being seized by an enemy king 
who had been incited by a wicked minister in whose mind his own queen had 
sown hate for him, he did not allow them to lift a weapon. Again when he was 
buried, along with a thousand companions, up to the neck in a hole dug in the 
earth in a enamel ground, he had no thought of hate. And when, after saving 
his life by a heroic effort helped by jackals scraping away soil when they had 
come to devour the corpses, he went with the aid of a spirit to his own bedroom 
and saw his enemy lying on his own bed, he was not angry but treated him as a 
friend, undertaking a mutual pledge, and he then exclaimed: 

"The brave aspire, the wise will not lose heart; 
I see myself as I had wished to be" (J-a I 267). 



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28. "And in the Khantivadin Birth Story he was asked by the stupid king of 
Kasi (Benares), 'What do you preach, monk?' and he replied, 'I am a preacher of 
patience'; and when the king had him flogged with scourges of thorns and had 
his hands and feet cut off, he felt not the slightest anger (see J-a III 39). 

29. "It is perhaps not so wonderful that an adult who had actually gone forth 
into homelessness should have acted in that way; but also as an infant he did so. 
For in the Cula-Dhammapala Birth Story his hands and feet were ordered to be 
lopped off like four bamboo shoots by his father, King Mahapatapa, and his 
mother lamented over him thus: 

"Oh, Dhammapala's arms are severed 

That had been bathed in sandalwood; 

He was the heir to all the earth: 

O king, my breath is choking me!" (J-a III 181). [303] 

"Then his father, still not satisfied, commanded that his head be cut off as 
well. But even then he had not the least trace of hate, since he had firmly resolved 
thus: 'Now is the time to restrain your mind; now, good Dhammapala, be impartial 
towards these four persons, that is to say, towards your father who is having your 
head cut off, the man who is beheading you, your lamenting mother, and yourself.' 

30. "And it is perhaps not so wonderful that one who had become a human 
being should have acted in that way; but also as an animal he did so. For while 
the Bodhisatta was the elephant called Chaddanta he was pierced in the navel 
by a poisoned shaft. But even then he allowed no hate towards the hunter who 
had wounded him to corrupt his mind, according as it is said: 

The elephant, when struck by the stout shaft, 

Addressed the hunter with no hate in mind: 

What is your aim? What is the reason why 

You kill me thus? What can your purpose be? (J-a V 51). 

"And when the elephant had spoken thus and was told, 'Sir, I have been sent 
by the king of Kasi's queen to get your tusks,' in order to fulfil her wish he cut off 
his own tusks whose gorgeous radiance glittered with the flashes of the six- 
coloured rays and gave them to him. 

31. "And when he was the Great Monkey, the man whom he had pulled out of 
a rocky chasm thought: 

'Now, this is food for human kind 
Like other forest animals, 
So why then should a hungry man 
Not kill the ape to eat? [I ask.] 

I'll travel independently 
Taking his meat as a provision; 
Thus I shall cross the waste, and that 
Will furnish my viaticum' (J-a V 71). 

Then he took up a stone and dashed it on his head. But the monkey looked at 
him with eyes full of tears and said: 



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'Oh, act not so, good sir, or else 

The fate you reap will long deter 

All others from such deeds as this 

That you would do to me today' (J-a V 71). 

And with no hate in his mind and regardless of his own pain he saw to it that 
the man reached his journey's end in safety. 

32. "And while he was the royal naga (serpent) Bhuridatta, [304] when he had 
undertaken the Uposatha precepts and was lying on the top of a termite-mound, 
though he was [caught and] sprinkled with medicinal charms resembling the 
fire that ushers in the end of an aeon, and was put into a box and treated as a 
plaything throughout the whole of Jambudipa, yet he had no trace of hate for 
that brahman, according as it is said: 

'While being put into the coffer 

And being crushed down with his hand, 

I had no hate for Alambana 

Lest I should break my precept vow' (Cp 85). 

33. "And when he was the royal naga Campeyya he let no hate spring up in 
his mind while he was being cruelly treated by a snake charmer, according as it 
is said: 

"While I was living in the Law 
Observing the Uposatha 
A snake charmer took me away 
To play with at the royal gate. 

Whatever hue he might conceive, 
Blue and yellow, and red as well, 
So in accordance with his thought 
I would become what he had wished; 

I would turn dry land into water, 
And water into land likewise. 
Now, had I given way to wrath 
I could have seared him into ash, 

Had I relaxed mind-mastery 
I should have let my virtue lapse; 
And one who lets his virtue lapse 
Cannot attain the highest goal" (Cp 85). 

34. "And when he was the royal naga Sahkhapala, while he was being carried 
along on a carrying pole by the sixteen village boys after they had wounded 
him in eight places with sharp spears and inserted thorn creepers into the 
wounds' orifices, and while, after threading a strong rope through his nose, 
they were causing him great agony by dragging him along bumping his body 
on the surface of the ground, though he was capable of turning those village 
boys to cinders with a mere glance, yet he did not even show the least trace of 
hate on opening his eyes, according as it is said: 



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'On the fourteenth and the fifteenth too, Alara, 
I regularly kept the Holy Day 
Until there came those sixteen village boys 
Bearing a rope and a stout spear as well. 

The hunters cleft my nose, and through the slit 
They passed a rope and dragged me off like that. 
But though I felt such poignant agony, 
I let no hate disturb my Holy Day" (J-a V 172). [305] 

35. "And he performed not only these wonders but also many others too such 
as those told in the Matuposaka Birth Story (J-a IV 90). Now, it is in the highest 
degree improper and unbecoming to you to arouse thoughts of resentment, 
since you are emulating as your Master that Blessed One who reached 
omniscience and who has in the special quality of patience no equal in the 
world with its deities." 

36. But if, as he reviews the special qualities of the Master's former conduct, 
the resentment still does not subside in him, since he has long been used to the 
slavery of defilement, then he should review the suttas that deal with the 
beginninglessness [of the round of rebirths]. Here is what is said: "Bhikkhus, it 
is not easy to find a being who has not formerly been your mother . . . your father 
... your brother ... your sister ... your son ... your daughter" (S II 189-90). 
Consequently he should think about that person thus: "This person, it seems, as 
my mother in the past carried me in her womb for ten months and removed from 
me without disgust, as if it were yellow sandalwood, my urine, excrement, spittle, 
snot, etc., and played with me in her lap, and nourished me, carrying me about 
on her hip. And this person as my father went by goat paths and paths set on 
piles, 5 etc., to pursue the trade of merchant, and he risked his life for me by going 
into battle in double array, by sailing on the great ocean in ships and doing other 
difficult things, and he nourished me by bringing back wealth by one means or 
another thinking to feed his children. And as my brother, sister, son, daughter, 
this person gave me such and such help. So it is unbecoming for me to harbour 
hate for him in my mind." 

37. But if he is still unable to quench that thought in this way, then he should 
review the advantages of loving-kindness thus: "Now, you who have gone forth 
into homelessness, has it not been said by the Blessed One as follows: 'Bhikkhus, 
when the mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is cultivated, developed, much 
practiced, made the vehicle, made the foundation, established, consolidated, 
and properly undertaken, eleven blessings can be expected. What are the eleven? 
A man sleeps in comfort, wakes in comfort, and dreams no evil dreams, he is 
dear to human beings, he is dear to non-human beings, deities guard him, fire 
and poison and weapons do not affect him, his mind is easily concentrated, the 
expression of his face is serene, he dies unconfused, if he penetrates no higher 



5. Saiiku-patha — "set on piles": Vism-mht (p. 294) says: "Sahkn laggapetva te alambhitva 
gamanamaggo sankupatho." This disagrees with PED for this ref. 

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he will be reborn in the Brahma-world' (A V 342). [306] If you do not stop this 
thought, you will be denied these advantages." 

38. But if he is still unable to stop it in this way he should try resolution into 
elements. How? "Now, you who have gone forth into homelessness, when you 
are angry with him, what is it you are angry with? Is it head hairs you are angry 
with? Or body hairs? Or nails? ... Or is it urine you are angry with? Or 
alternatively, is it the earth element in the head hairs, etc., you are angry with? Or 
the water element? Or the fire element? Or is it the air element you are angry 
with? Or among the five aggregates or the twelve bases or the eighteen elements 
with respect to which this venerable one is called by such and such a name, 
which then, is it the materiality aggregate you are angry with? Or the feeling 
aggregate, the perception aggregate, the formations aggregate, the consciousness 
aggregate you are angry with? Or is it the eye base you are angry with? Or the 
visible-object base you are angry with? ... Or the mind base you are angry with? 
Or the mental-object base you are angry with? Or is it the eye element you are 
angry with? Or the visible-object element? Or the eye-consciousness element? . . . 
Or the mind element? Or the mental-object element? Or the mind-consciousness 
element you are angry with?" For when he tries the resolution into elements, his 
anger finds no foothold, like a mustard seed on the point of an awl or a painting 
on the air. 

39. But if he cannot effect the resolution into elements, he should try the giving 
of a gift. It can either be given by himself to the other or accepted by himself from 
the other. But if the other's livelihood is not purified and his requisites are not 
proper to be used, it should be given by oneself. And in the one who does this the 
annoyance with that person entirely subsides. And in the other even anger that 
has been dogging him from a past birth subsides at the moment, as happened to 
the senior elder who received a bowl given to him at the Cittalapabbata 
Monastery by an almsfood-eater elder who had been three times made to move 
from his lodging by him, and who presented it with these words: "Venerable sir, 
this bowl worth eight ducats was given me by my mother who is a lay devotee, 
and it is rightly obtained; let the good lay devotee acquire merit." So efficacious 
is this act of giving. And this is said: 

A gift for taming the untamed, 
A gift for every kind of good; 
Through giving gifts they do unbend 
And condescend to kindly speech. [307] 

[The Breaking Down of the Barriers — The Sign] 

40. When his resentment towards that hostile person has been thus allayed, 
then he can turn his mind with loving-kindness towards that person too, just as 
towards the one who is dear, the very dear friend, and the neutral person. Then 
he should break down the barriers by practicing loving-kindness over and over 
again, accomplishing mental impartiality towards the four persons, that is to 
say, himself, the dear person, the neutral person and the hostile person. 



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41. The characteristic of it is this. Suppose this person is sitting in a place with 
a dear, a neutral, and a hostile person, himself being the fourth; then bandits 
come to him and say, "Venerable sir, give us a bhikkhu," and on being asked 
why, they answer, "So that we may kill him and use the blood of his throat as an 
offering;" then if that bhikkhu thinks, "Let them take this one, or this one," he 
has not broken down the barriers. And also if he thinks, "Let them take me but 
not these three," he has not broken down the barriers either. Why? Because he 
seeks the harm of him whom he wishes to be taken and seeks the welfare of the 
other only. But it is when he does not see a single one among the four people to 
be given to the bandits and he directs his mind impartially towards himself and 
towards those three people that he has broken down the barriers. Hence the 
Ancients said: 

42. When he discriminates between 
The four, that is himself, the dear, 
The neutral, and the hostile one, 
Then "skilled" is not the name he gets, 
Nor "having amity at will," 

But only "kindly towards beings." 
Now, when a bhikkhu's barriers 
Have all the four been broken down, 
He treats with equal amity 
The whole world with its deities; 
Far more distinguished than the first 
Is he who knows no barriers. 

43. Thus the sign and access are obtained by this bhikkhu simultaneously 
with the breaking down of the barriers. But when breaking down of the barriers 
has been effected, he reaches absorption in the way described under the earth 
kasina without trouble by cultivating, developing, and repeatedly practicing 
that same sign. 

At this point he has attained the first jhana, which abandons five factors, 
possesses five factors, is good in three ways, is endowed with ten characteristics, 
and is accompanied by loving-kindness. And when that has been obtained, 
then by cultivating, developing, and repeatedly practicing that same sign, he 
successively reaches the second and third jhanas in the fourfold system, and the 
second, third and fourth in the fivefold system. [308] 

[Texts and Commentary] 

44. Now, it is by means of one of these jhanas beginning with the first that he 
"Dwells pervading (intent upon) one direction with his heart endued with loving- 
kindness, likewise the second direction, likewise the third direction, likewise 
the fourth direction, and so above, below, and around; everywhere and equally 
he dwells pervading the entire world with his heart endued with loving- 
kindness, abundant, exalted, measureless, free from enmity, and free from 
affliction" (Vibh 272; D I 250). For this versatility comes about only in one whose 
consciousness has reached absorption in the first jhana and the rest. 

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45. And here endued with loving-kindness means possessing loving-kindness. 
With his heart (cetasa): with his mind (cittena). One direction: this refers to anyone 
direction in which a being is first discerned and means pervasion of the beings 
included in that one direction. Pervading: touching, making his object. He dwells 
(viharati): he causes the occurrence of an abiding (vihara — dwelling or 
continuation) in postures that is devoted to the divine abidings (see IV103). 
Likewise the second: just as he dwells pervading anyone direction among those 
beginning with the eastern one, so he does with the next one, and the third and 
the fourth, is the meaning. 

46. So above: in that same way in the upper direction is what is meant. Below, 
around: so too the lower direction and the direction all round. Herein, below is 
underneath, and around is in the intermediate directions. So he sends his heart 
full of loving-kindness back and forth in all directions like a horse in a circus 
ground. Up to this point specified pervasion with loving-kindness is shown in 
the discernment of each direction separately. 

47. Everywhere, etc., is said for the purpose of showing unspecified pervasion. 
Herein, everywhere means in all places. Equally (sabbattataya): to all classed as 
inferior, medium, superior, friendly, hostile, neutral, etc., just as to oneself (attata); 
equality with oneself (atta-samata) without making the distinction, "This is 
another being," is what is meant. Or alternatively, equally (sabbattataya) is with 
the whole state of the mind; not reserving even a little, is what is meant. [309] 
Entire (sabbavant): possessing all beings (sabbasattavant); associated with all 
beings, is the meaning. World is the world of beings. 

48. Endued with loving-kindness is said again here in order to introduce the 
synonyms beginning with abundant. Or alternatively, endued with loving-kindness 
is repeated because the word likewise or the word so is not repeated here as it was 
in the case of the [preceding] specified pervasion. Or alternatively, it is said as a 
way of concluding. And abundant should be regarded here as abundance in 
pervading. But it is exalted in plane [from the sensual-sphere plane to the fine- 
material-sphere plane], measureless through familiarity and through having 
measureless beings as its object, free from enmity through abandonment of ill 
will and hostility, and free from affliction through abandonment of grief; without 
suffering, is what is meant. This is the meaning of the versatility described in the 
way beginning, "With his heart endued with loving-kindness." 

49. And just as this versatility is successful only in one whose mind has reached 
absorption, so too that described in the Patisambhida should be understood to 
be successful only in one whose mind has reached absorption, that is to say: 
"The mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is [practiced] with unspecified 
pervasion in five ways. The mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is [practiced] 
with specified pervasion in seven ways. The mind-deliverance of loving-kindness 
is [practiced] with directional pervasion in ten ways" (Patis II 130). 

50. And herein, the mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is [practiced] with 
unspecified pervasion in these five ways: "May all beings be free from enmity, 
affliction and anxiety, and live happily. May all breathing things ... all creatures 



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... all persons ... all those who have a personality be free from enmity, affliction 
and anxiety and live happily" (Patis II 130). 

51. The mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is [practiced] with specified 
pervasion in these seven ways: "May all women be free from enmity affliction 
and anxiety and live happily. May all men ... all Noble Ones ... all not Noble 
Ones ... all deities ... all human beings ... all in states of loss be free from enmity 
affliction and anxiety and live happily" (Patis II 131). 

52. The mind-deliverance of loving-kindness is [practiced] with directional 
pervasion in these ten ways: "May all beings in the eastern direction be free 
from enmity affliction and anxiety and live happily. May all beings in the western 
direction ... northern direction ... southern direction [310] ... eastern intermediate 
direction ... western intermediate direction ... northern intermediate direction 
. . . southern intermediate direction . . . downward direction . . . upward direction 
be free from enmity affliction and anxiety and live happily. May all breathing 
things in the eastern direction ... May all creatures in the eastern direction ... 
May all persons in the eastern direction ... May all who have a personality in 
the eastern direction ... [etc.] ... in the upward direction be free from enmity 
affliction and anxiety and live happily. May all women in the eastern direction 
... May all men in the eastern direction ... May all Noble Ones in the eastern 
direction . . . May all not Noble Ones in the eastern direction . . . May all deities in 
the eastern direction . . . May all human beings in the eastern direction . . . May 
all those in states of loss in the eastern direction ... [etc.] ... be free from enmity 
affliction and anxiety and live happily" (Patis II 131). 

53. Herein, all signifies inclusion without exception. Beings (satta): they are 
held (satta), gripped (visatta) by desire and greed for the aggregates beginning 
with materiality, thus they are beings (satta). For this is said by the Blessed One: 
"Any desire for matter, Radha, any greed for it, any delight in it, any craving for 
it, has held (satta) it, has gripped (visatta) it, that is why 'a being' (satta) is said" 
(S III 190). But in ordinary speech this term of common usage is applied also to 
those who are without greed, just as the term of common usage "palm fan" 
(talavanta) is used for different sorts of fans [in general] even if made of split 
bamboo. However, [in the world] etymologists (akkhara-cintaka) who do not 
consider meaning have it that it is a mere name, while those who do consider 
meaning have it that a "being" (satta) is so called with reference to the "bright 
principle" (satta). 6 

54. Breathing things (pana): so called because of their state of breathing (pananata); 
the meaning is, because their existence depends on in-breaths and out-breaths. 
Creatures (bhuta): so called because of being (bhutatta = becomeness); the meaning 
is, because of their being fully become (sambhutatta) , because of their being 
generated (abhinibbattatta) . Persons (puggala): "pum" is what hell is called; they 
fall (galanti) into that, is the meaning. Personality (attabhava) is what the physical 

6. Satta — "the bright principle": Skr. sattva; one of the three principles in the Sankhya 
system, the other two being rajas (Pali: rajo) or turbulence and tamas (Pali: tamo) or 
darkness. Not in PED. 



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body is called; or it is just the pentad of aggregates, since it is actually only a 
concept derived from that pentad of aggregates 7 [What is referred to is] included 
(pariyapanna) in that personality thus it "has a personality" (attabhava- 
pariyapanna) . "Included in" is delimited by; "gone into" is the meaning. 

55. And all the remaining [terms] should be understood as synonyms for "all 
beings" used in accordance with ordinary speech as in the case of the term 
"beings." Of course, [311] there are other synonyms too for all "beings," such as 
all "folks," all "souls," etc.; still it is for clarity's sake that "The mind-deliverance 
of loving-kindness is [practiced] with unspecified pervasion in five ways" is 
said and that only these five are mentioned. 

56. Those who would have it that there is not only a mere verbal difference 
between "beings," "breathing things," etc., but also an actual difference in 
meaning, are contradicted by the mention of unspecified pervasion. So instead 
of taking the meaning in that way, the unspecified pervasion with loving- 
kindness is done in any one of these five ways. 

And here, may all beings be free from enmity is one absorption; free from affliction 
is one absorption — free from affliction (abyabajjha) is free from afflictedness 
(byabadha-rahita)f free from anxiety is one absorption — free from anxiety is free 
from suffering; may they live happily is one absorption. Consequently he should 
do his pervading with loving-kindness according to whichever of these phrases 
is clear to him. So with the four kinds of absorption in each of the five ways, there 
are twenty kinds of absorption in unspecified pervasion. 

57. In specified pervasion, with the four kinds of absorption in each of the 
seven ways, there are twenty-eight kinds of absorption. And here "woman" and 
"man" are stated according to sex; "Noble Ones" and "not Noble Ones" 
according to Noble Ones and ordinary people; "deities" and "human beings" 
and "those in states of loss" according to the kind of rebirth. 

58. In directional pervasion, with twenty kinds of absorption in each of the 
directions beginning with "all beings in the eastern direction," there are two 
hundred kinds of absorption; and with twenty-eight kinds in each of the 
directions beginning with "all women in the eastern direction" there are two 
hundred and eighty kinds; so these make four hundred and eighty kinds of 
absorption. Consequently all the kinds of absorption mentioned in the 
Patisambhida amount to five hundred and twenty-eight. 



7. "Here when the aggregates are not fully understood, there is naming (abhidhana) 
of them and of the consciousness of them as self (atta), that is to say, the physical body 
or alternatively the five aggregates. 'Derived from': apprehending, gripping, making a 
support. 'Since it is actually a mere concept': because of presence (sabbhavato) as a 
mere concept in what is called a being, though in the highest sense the 'being' is non- 
existent" (Vism-mht 298). See also Ch. VIII, note 11. 

8. Harvard text reads byapadarahita, which would be renderable as "free from ill 
will." Vism-mht (p. 299) supports a reading byabadha, which seems better. 



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59. So when this meditator develops the mind-deliverance of loving-kindness 
through any one of these kinds of absorption, he obtains the eleven advantages 
described in the way beginning, "A man sleeps in comfort" (§37). 

60. Herein, sleeps in comfort means that instead of sleeping uncomfortably, 
turning over and snoring as other people do, he sleeps comfortably, he falls 
asleep as though entering upon an attainment. 

61. He zvakes in comfort: instead of waking uncomfortably, groaning and 
yawning and turning over as others do, he wakes comfortably without contortions, 
like a lotus opening. [312] 

62. He dreams no evil dreams: when he sees dreams, he sees only auspicious 
ones, as though he were worshipping a shrine, as though he were making an 
offering, as though he were hearing the Dhamma. But he does not see evil 
dreams as others do, as though being surrounded by bandits, as though being 
threatened by wild beasts, as though falling into chasms (see XIV, n. 45). 

63. He is dear to human beings: he is as dear to and beloved by human beings as 
a necklace worn to hang on the chest, as a wreath adorning the head. 

64. He is dear to non-human beings: he is just as dear to non-human beings as he 
is to human beings, as in the Elder Visakha's case. He was a landowner, it 
seems, at Pataliputta (Patna). While he was living there he heard this: "The 
Island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka), apparently, is adorned with a diadem of 
shrines and gleams with the yellow cloth, and there a man can sit or lie wherever 
he likes; there the climate is favourable, the abodes are favourable, the people are 
favourable, the Dhamma to be heard is favourable, and all these favourable things 
are easily obtained there." 

65. He made over his fortune to his wife and children and left his home with 
only a single ducat (kahapana) sewn into the hem of his garment. He stopped for 
one month on the sea coast in expectation of a ship, and meanwhile by his skill 
in trading he made a thousand during the month by buying goods here and 
selling them there in lawful enterprise. 

66. Eventually he came to the Great Monastery [(Mahavihara) at Anuradha- 
pura], and there he asked for the going forth into homelessness. When he was 
being conducted to the chapter house (sima) for the going-forth ceremony, the 
purse containing the thousand pieces dropped out from under his belt. When 
asked "What is that?" he replied, "It is a thousand ducats, venerable sirs." They 
told him, "Lay follower, it is not possible to distribute them after the going forth. 
Distribute them now." Then he said, "Let none who have come to the scene of 
Visakha's going forth depart empty-handed," and opening [the purse] he 
strewed them over the chapter house yard, after which he received the going 
forth and the full admission. 

67. When he had acquired five years' seniority and had become familiar with 
the two Codes (Patimokkha; see III. 31) he celebrated the Pavarana at the end of 
the Rains, took a meditation subject that suited him, and set out to wander, living 
for four months in each monastery and doing the duties on a basis of equality 
with the residents. While he was wandering in this way: 



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The elder halted in a wood 

To scan the tenor of his way; 

He thundered forth this roundelay 

Proclaiming that he found it good: 

So from your full-admission day 

Till in this place you paused and stood 

No stumbling mars your bhikkhuhood; 

Be thankful for such grace, I say. [313] 

68. On his way to Cittalapabbata he came to a road fork and stood wondering 
which turn to take. Then a deity living in a rock held out a hand pointing out the 
road to him. 

69. He came to the Cittalapabbata Monastery. After he had stayed there for 
four months he lay down thinking, "In the morning I depart." Then a deity 
living in a manila tree at the end of the walk sat down on a step of the stair and 
burst into tears. The elder asked, "Who is that?" — "It is I, Maniliya, venerable 
sir." — "What are you weeping for?" — "Because you are going away." — "What 
good does my living here to you?" — "Venerable sir, as long as you live here non- 
human beings treat each other kindly. Now, when you are gone, they will start 
quarrels and loose talk." 9 The elder said, "If my living here makes you live at 
peace, that is good," and so he stayed there another four months. Then he again 
thought of leaving, but the deity wept as before. And so the elder lived on there, 
and it was there that he attained Nibbana. 

This is how a bhikkhu who abides in loving-kindness is dear to non-human 
beings. 

70. Deities guard him: deities guard him as a mother and father guard their 
child. 

71. Fire, poison and weapons do not affect him: they do not affect, do not enter into, 
the body of one who abides in loving-kindness, like the fire in the case of the lay 
woman devotee Uttara (see XII. 34 and Dhp-a III 310), like the poison in the case 
of the Samyutta reciter the Elder Cula-Siva, like the knife in the case of the novice 
Sahkicca (see Dhp-a II 249); they do not disturb the body, is what is meant. 

72. And they tell the story of the cow here too. A cow was giving milk to her 
calf, it seems. A hunter, thinking "I shall shoot her," flourished a long-handled 
spear in his hand and flung it. It struck her body and bounced off like a palm 
leaf — and that was owing neither to access nor to absorption, but simply to the 
strength of her consciousness of love for her calf. So mightily powerful is loving- 
kindness. 

73. His mind is easily concentrated: the mind of one who abides in loving-kindness 
is quickly concentrated, there is no sluggishness about it. [314] 

74. The expression of his face is serene: his face has a serene expression, like a 
palmyra fruit loosed from its stem. 

9. For dutthulla see Ch. W, note 36. Here the meaning is more likely to be "bad" or 
"lewd" than "inert." 



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75. He dies unconfused: there is no dying deluded for one who abides in loving- 
kindness. He passes away undeluded as if falling asleep. 

76. If he penetrates no higher, if he is unable to reach higher than the attainment 
of loving-kindness and attain Arahantship, then when he falls from this life, he 
reappears in the Brahma-world as one who wakes up from sleep. 

This is the detailed explanation of the development of loving-kindness. 

[(2) Compassion] 

77. One who wants to develop compassion should begin his task by reviewing 
the danger in lack of compassion and the advantage in compassion. 

And when he begins it, he should not direct it at first towards the dear, etc., 
persons; for one who is dear simply retains the position of one who is dear, a 
very dear companion retains the position of a very dear companion, one who is 
neutral retains the position of one who is neutral, one who is antipathetic retains 
the position of one who is antipathetic, and one who is hostile retains the position 
of one who is hostile. One of the opposite sex and one who is dead are also not 
the field for it. 

78. In the Vibhariga it is said: "And how does a bhikkhu dwell pervading one 
direction with his heart endued with compassion? Just as he would feel 
compassion on seeing an unlucky, unfortunate person, so he pervades all beings 
with compassion" (Vibh 273). Therefore first of all, on seeing a wretched man, 
unlucky, unfortunate, in every way a fit object for compassion, unsightly, reduced 
to utter misery, with hands and feet cut off, sitting in the shelter for the helpless 
with a pot placed before him, with a mass of maggots oozing from his arms and 
legs, and moaning, compassion should be felt for him in this way: "This being 
has indeed been reduced to misery; if only he could be freed from this suffering!" 

But if he does not encounter such a person, then he can arouse compassion 
for an evil-doing person, even though he is happy, by comparing him to one 
about to be executed. How? 

79. Suppose a robber has been caught with stolen goods, and in accordance 
with the king's command to execute him, the king's men bind him and lead him 
off to the place of execution, giving him a hundred blows in sets of four. Then 
people give him things to chew and eat and also garlands and perfumes, 
unguents and betel leaves. Although [315] he goes along eating and enjoying 
these things as though he were happy and well off, still no one fancies that he is 
really happy and well off. On the contrary people feel compassion for him, 
thinking, "This poor wretch is now about to die; every step he takes brings him 
nearer to the presence of death." So too a bhikkhu whose meditation subject is 
compassion should arouse compassion for an [evil-doing] person even if he is 
happy: "Though this poor wretch is now happy, cheerful, enjoying his wealth, 
still for want of even one good deed done now in any one of the three doors [of 
body, speech and mind] he can come to experience untold suffering in the states 
of loss." 



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80. Having aroused compassion for that person in that way, he should next 
arouse compassion for a dear person, next for a neutral person, and next for a 
hostile person, successively in the same way. 

81. But if resentment towards the hostile person arises in the way already 
described, he should make it subside in the way described under loving-kindness 
(§§14-39). 

And here too when someone has done profitable deeds and the meditator 
sees or hears that he has been overtaken by one of the kinds of ruin beginning 
with ruin of health, relatives, property, etc., he deserves the meditator's 
compassion; and so he does too in any case, even with no such ruin, thus "In 
reality he is unhappy," because he is not exempt from the suffering of the round 
[of becoming]. And in the way already described the meditator should break 
down the barriers between the four kinds of people, that is to say, himself, the 
dear person, the neutral person and the hostile person. Then cultivating that 
sign, developing it and repeatedly practicing it, he should increase the 
absorption by the triple and quadruple jhana in the way already stated under 
loving-kindness. 

82. But the order given in the Ariguttara Commentary is that a hostile person 
should first be made the object of compassion, and when the mind has been 
made malleable with respect to him, next the unlucky person, next the dear 
person, and next oneself. That does not agree with the text, "an unlucky, 
unfortunate person" (§78). Therefore he should begin the development, break 
down the barriers, and increase absorption only in the way stated here. 

83. After that, the versatility consisting in the unspecified pervasion in five 
ways, the specified pervasion in seven ways, and the directional pervasion in ten 
ways, and the advantages described as "He sleeps in comfort," etc., should be 
understood in the same way as given under loving-kindness. 

This is the detailed explanation of the development of compassion. [316] 

[(3) Gladness] 

84. One who begins the development of gladness 10 should not start with the 
dear person and the rest; for a dear person is not the proximate cause of gladness 
merely in virtue of dearness, how much less the neutral and the hostile person. 
One of the opposite sex and one who is dead are also not the field for it. 

85. However, the very dear companion can be the proximate cause for it — one 
who in the commentaries is called a "boon companion," for he is constantly 
glad: he laughs first and speaks afterwards. So he should be the first to be 
pervaded with gladness. Or on seeing or hearing about a dear person being 
happy, cheerful and glad, gladness can be aroused thus: "This being is indeed 
glad. How good, how excellent!" For this is what is referred to in the Vibhariga: 
"And how does a bhikkhu dwell pervading one direction with his heart endued 

10. Mudita — "gladness" as one of the divine abidings is always in the sense of 
gladness at others' success. Sometimes rendered as "altruistic joy" and "sympathetic 
gladness." 

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with gladness? Just as he would be glad on seeing a dear and beloved person, so 
he pervades all beings with gladness" (Vibh 274). 

86. But if his boon companion or the dear person was happy in the past but is 
now unlucky and unfortunate, then gladness can still be aroused by 
remembering his past happiness and apprehending the glad aspect in this 
way: "In the past he had great wealth, a great following and he was always 
glad." Or gladness can be aroused by apprehending the future glad aspect in 
him in this way: "In the future he will again enjoy similar success and will go 
about in gold palanquins, on the backs of elephants or on horseback, and so 
on." 

Having thus aroused gladness with respect to a dear person, he can then 
direct it successively towards a neutral one, and after that towards a hostile one. 

87. But if resentment towards the hostile one arises in him in the way already 
described, he should make it subside in the same way as described under loving- 
kindness (§§14-39). 

He should break down the barriers by means of mental impartiality towards 
the four, that is, towards these three and himself. And by cultivating that sign, 
developing and repeatedly practicing it, he should increase the absorption to 
triple and quadruple jhana in the way already stated under loving-kindness. 

Next, the versatility consisting in unspecified pervasion in five ways, specified 
pervasion in seven ways, and directional pervasion in ten ways, and also the 
advantages described as "He sleeps in comfort," etc., should be understood in 
the same way as stated under loving-kindness. 

This is the detailed explanation of the development of gladness. 

[317] 

[(4) Equanimity] 

88. One who wants to develop equanimity must have already obtained the 
triple or quadruple jhana in loving-kindness, and so on. He should emerge from 
the third jhana [in the fourfold reckoning], after he has made it familiar, and he 
should see danger in the former [three divine abidings] because they are linked 
with attention given to beings' enjoyment in the way beginning "May they be 
happy," because resentment and approval are near, and because their association 
with joy is gross. And he should also see the advantage in equanimity because 
it is peaceful. Then he should arouse equanimity (upekkha) by looking on with 
equanimity (ajjhupekkhitva) at a person who is normally neutral; after that at a 
dear person, and the rest. For this is said: "And how does a bhikkhu dwell 
pervading one direction with his heart endued with equanimity? Just as he 
would feel equanimity on seeing a person who was neither beloved nor unloved, 
so he pervades all beings with equanimity" (Vibh 275). 

89. Therefore he should arouse equanimity towards the neutral person in the 
way already stated. Then, through the neutral one, he should break down the 
barriers in each case between the three people, that is, the dear person, then the 



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boon companion, and then the hostile one, and lastly himself. And he should 
cultivate that sign, develop and repeatedly practice it. 

90. As he does so the fourth jhana arises in him in the way described under the 
earth kasina. 

But how then? Does this arise in one in whom the third jhana has already 
arisen on the basis of the earth kasina, etc.? It does not. Why not? Because of the 
dissimilarity of the object. It arises only in one in whom the third jhana has 
arisen on the basis of loving-kindness, etc., because the object is similar. 

But after that the versatility and the obtaining of advantages should be 
understood in the same way as described under loving-kindness. 

This is the detailed explanation of the development of equanimity. 

[General] 

91. Now, having thus known these divine abidings 
Told by the Divine One (brahma) supremely [wise], 
There is this general explanation too 
Concerning them that he should recognize. 

[Meanings] 

92. Now, as to the meaning firstly of loving-kindness, compassion, gladness 
and equanimity: it fattens (mejjati), thus it is loving-kindness (metta); it is solvent 
(siniyhati) is the meaning. Also: it comes about with respect to a friend (mitta), 
[318] or it is behaviour towards a friend, thus it is loving-kindness (metta). 

When there is suffering in others it causes (karoti) good people's hearts to be 
moved (kampana), thus it is compassion (karuna). Or alternatively, it combats 
(kinati) 11 others' suffering, attacks and demolishes it, thus it is compassion. Or 
alternatively, it is scattered (kiriyati) upon those who suffer, it is extended to them 
by pervasion, thus it is compassion (karuna). 

Those endowed with it are glad (modanti), or itself is glad (modati), or it is the 
mere act of being glad (modana), thus it is gladness (mudita). 

It looks on at (upekkhati), abandoning such interestedness as thinking "May 
they be free from enmity" and having recourse to neutrality, thus it is equanimity 
(upekkha). 

[Characteristic, Etc.] 

93. As to the characteristic, etc., loving-kindness is characterized here as 
promoting the aspect of welfare. Its function is to prefer welfare. It is manifested 
as the removal of annoyance. Its proximate cause is seeing loveableness in beings. 
It succeeds when it makes ill will subside, and it fails when it produces (selfish) 
affection. 

11. Kinati — "it combats": Skr. krnati — to injure or kill. PED gives this ref. under 
ordinary meaning "to buy," which is wrong. 

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94. Compassion is characterized as promoting the aspect of allaying suffering. 
Its function resides in not bearing others' suffering. It is manifested as non- 
cruelty. Its proximate cause is to see helplessness in those overwhelmed by 
suffering. It succeeds when it makes cruelty subside and it fails when it produces 
sorrow. 

95. Gladness is characterized as gladdening (produced by others' success). 12 
Its function resides in being unenvious. It is manifested as the elimination of 
aversion (boredom). Its proximate cause is seeing beings, success. It succeeds 
when it makes aversion (boredom) subside, and it fails when it produces 
merriment. 

96. Equanimity is characterized as promoting the aspect of neutrality towards 
beings. Its function is to see equality in beings. It is manifested as the quieting of 
resentment and approval. Its proximate cause is seeing ownership of deeds 
(kamma) thus: "Beings are owners of their deeds. Whose 13 [if not theirs] is the 
choice by which they will become happy, or will get free from suffering, or will 
not fall away from the success they have reached?" It succeeds when it makes 
resentment and approval subside, and it fails when it produces the equanimity 
of unknowing, which is that [worldly-minded indifference of ignorance] based 
on the house life. 

[Purpose] 

97. The general purpose of these four divine abidings is the bliss of insight 
and an excellent [form of future] existence. That peculiar to each is respectively 
the warding off of ill will, and so on. For here loving-kindness has the purpose 
of warding off ill will, while the others have the respective purposes of warding 
off cruelty, aversion (boredom), and greed or resentment. And this is said too: 
"For this is the escape from ill will, friends, that is to say, the mind-deliverance of 
loving-kindness ... For this is the escape from cruelty, friends, that is to say, the 
mind-deliverance of compassion . . . For this is the escape from boredom, friends, 
that is to say, the mind-deliverance of gladness ... For this is the escape from 
greed, friends, that is to say, the mind-deliverance of equanimity" (D III 248). 

[The Near and Far Enemies] 

98. And here each one has two enemies, one near and one far. 

The divine abiding of loving-kindness [319] has greed as its near enemy 14 
since both share in seeing virtues. Greed behaves like a foe who keeps close by a 
man, and it easily finds an opportunity. So loving-kindness should be well 



12. So Vism-mht 309. 

13. All texts read kassa (whose), which is confirmed in the quotation translated in 
note 20. It is tempting, in view of the context, to read kammassa (kamma's), but there 
is no authority for it. The statement would then be an assertion instead of a question. 

14. "Greed is the near enemy of loving-kindness since it is able to corrupt owing to 
its similarity, like an enemy masquerading as a friend" (Vism-mht 309). 



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protected from it. And ill will, which is dissimilar to the similar greed, is its far 
enemy like a foe ensconced in a rock wilderness. So loving-kindness must be 
practiced free from fear of that; for it is not possible to practice loving-kindness 
and feel anger simultaneously (see D III 247-48). 

99. Compassion has grief based on the home life as its near enemy, since both 
share in seeing failure. Such grief has been described in the way beginning, 
"When a man either regards as a privation failure to obtain visible objects 
cognizable by the eye that are sought after, desired, agreeable, gratifying and 
associated with worldliness, or when he recalls those formerly obtained that are 
past, ceased and changed, then grief arises in him. Such grief as this is called 
grief based on the home life" (M III 218). And cruelty, which is dissimilar to the 
similar grief, is its far enemy. So compassion must be practiced free from fear of 
that; for it is not possible to practice compassion and be cruel to breathing things 
simultaneously. 

100. Gladness has joy based on the home life as its near enemy, since both share 
in seeing success. Such joy has been described in the way beginning, "When a 
man either regards as gain the obtaining of visible objects cognizable by the eye 
that are sought ... and associated with worldliness, or recalls those formerly 
obtained that are past, ceased, and changed, then joy arises in him. Such joy as 
this is called joy based on the home life" (M III 217). And aversion (boredom), 
which is dissimilar to the similar joy, is its far enemy. So gladness should be 
practiced free from fear of that; for it is not possible to practice gladness and be 
discontented with remote abodes and things connected with the higher 
profitableness simultaneously. 

101. Equanimity has the equanimity of unknowing based on the home life as 
its near enemy, since both share in ignoring faults and virtues. Such unknowing 
has been described in the way beginning, "On seeing a visible object with the 
eye equanimity arises in the foolish infatuated ordinary man, in the untaught 
ordinary man who has not conquered his limitations, who has not conquered 
future [kamma] result, who is unperceiving of danger. Such equanimity as this 
does not surmount the visible object. Such equanimity as this is called equanimity 
based on the home life" (M III 219). And greed and resentment, which are 
dissimilar to the similar unknowing, are its far enemies. Therefore equanimity 
must be practiced free from fear of that; [320] for it is not possible to look on with 
equanimity and be inflamed with greed or be resentful 15 simultaneously. 



[The Beginning, Middle and End, Etc.] 

102. Now, zeal consisting in desire to act is the beginning of all these things. 
Suppression of the hindrances, etc., is the middle. Absorption is the end. Their 



15. Patihanfiati — "to be resentful": not in PED; the verb has been needed to correspond 
to "resentment" (patigha), as the verb, "to be inflamed with greed" (rajjati) corresponds 
with "greed" (raga). 



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object is a single living being or many living beings, as a mental object consisting 
in a concept. 

[The Order in Extension] 

103. The extension of the object takes place either in access or in absorption. 
Here is the order of it. Just as a skilled ploughman first delimits an area and then 
does his ploughing, so first a single dwelling should be delimited and loving- 
kindness developed towards all beings there in the way beginning, "In this 
dwelling may all beings be free from enmity." When his mind has become 
malleable and wieldy with respect to that, he can then delimit two dwellings. 
Next he can successively delimit three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, one 
street, half the village, the whole village, the district, the kingdom, one direction, 
and so on up to one world-sphere, or even beyond that, and develop loving- 
kindness towards the beings in such areas. Likewise with compassion and so 
on. This is the order in extending here. 

[The Outcome] 

104. Just as the immaterial states are the outcome of the kasinas, and the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception is the outcome of 
concentration, and fruition attainment is the outcome of insight, and the 
attainment of cessation is the outcome of serenity coupled with insight, so the 
divine abiding of equanimity is the outcome of the first three divine abidings. 
For just as the gable rafters cannot be placed in the air without having first set 
up the scaffolding and built the framework of beams, so it is not possible to 
develop the fourth (jhana in the fourth divine abiding) without having already 
developed the third jhana in the earlier (three divine abidings). 

[Four Questions] 

105. And here it may be asked: But why are loving-kindness, compassion, 
gladness, and equanimity, called divine abidings? And why are they only four? 
And what is their order? And why are they called measureless states in the 
Abhidhamma? 

106. It may be replied: The divineness of the abiding (brahmaviharata) should be 
understood here in the sense of best and in the sense of immaculate. For these 
abidings are the best in being the right attitude towards beings. And just as Brahma 
gods abide with immaculate minds, so the meditators who associate themselves 
with these abidings abide on an equal footing with Brahma gods. So they are called 
divine abidings in the sense of best and in the sense of immaculate. [321] 

107. Here are the answers to the questions beginning with "Why are they only 
four?": 

Their number four is due to paths to purity 
And other sets of four; their order to their aim 
As welfare and the rest. Their scope is found to be 
Immeasurable, so "measureless states" their name. 

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108. For among these, loving-kindness is the way to purity for one who has 
much ill will, compassion is that for one who has much cruelty, gladness is that 
for one who has much aversion (boredom), and equanimity is that for one who 
has much greed. Also attention given to beings is only fourfold, that is to say, as 
bringing welfare, as removing suffering, as being glad at their success, and as 
unconcern, [that is to say, impartial neutrality]. And one abiding in the 
measureless states should practice loving-kindness and the rest like a mother 
with four sons, namely, a child, an invalid, one in the flush of youth, and one 
busy with his own affairs; for she wants the child to grow up, wants the invalid 
to get well, wants the one in the flush of youth to enjoy for long the benefits of 
youth, and is not at all bothered about the one who is busy with his own affairs. 
That is why the measureless states are only four as "due to paths to purity and 
other sets of four." 

109. One who wants to develop these four should practice them towards beings 
first as the promotion of the aspect of welfare — and loving-kindness has the 
promotion of the aspect of welfare as its characteristic; and next, on seeing or 
hearing or judging 16 that beings whose welfare has been thus wished for are at 
the mercy of suffering, they should be practiced as the promotion of the aspect of 
the removal of suffering — and compassion has the promotion of the aspect of 
the removal of suffering as its characteristic; and then, on seeing the success of 
those whose welfare has been wished for and the removal of whose suffering 
has been wished for, they should be practiced as being glad — and gladness has 
the act of gladdening as its characteristic; but after that there is nothing to be 
done and so they should be practiced as the neutral aspect, in other words, the 
state of an onlooker — and equanimity has the promotion of the aspect of 
neutrality as its characteristic; therefore, since their respective aims are the aspect 
of welfare, etc., their order should be understood to correspond, with loving- 
kindness stated first, then compassion, gladness and equanimity. 

110. All of them, however, occur with a measureless scope, for their scope is 
measureless beings; and instead of assuming a measure such as "Loving- 
kindness, etc., should be developed only towards a single being, or in an area of 
such an extent," they occur with universal pervasion. 

That is why it was said: [322] 

Their number four is due to paths to purity 
And other sets of four; their order to their aim 
As welfare and the rest. Their scope is found to be 
Immeasurable, so "measureless states" their name. 

[As Producing Three Jhanas and Four jhanas] 

111. Though they have a single characteristic in having a measureless scope, 
yet the first three are only of triple and quadruple jhana [respectively in the 
fourfold and fivefold reckonings]. Why? Because they are not dissociated from 

16. Sambhavetva — "judging": not in this sense in PED. Vism-mht (p. 313) explains by 
parikappetva (conjecturing). 

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joy. But why are their aims not dissociated from joy? Because they are the escape 
from ill will, etc., which are originated by grief. But the last one belongs only to 
the remaining single jhana. Why? Because it is associated with equanimous 
feeling. For the divine abiding of equanimity that occurs in the aspect of neutrality 
towards beings does not exist apart from equanimous [that is to say, neither- 
painful-nor-pleasant] feeling. 

112. However, someone might say this: "It has been said by the Blessed One in 
the Book of Eights, speaking of the measureless states in general: 'Next, bhikkhu, 
you should develop the concentration with applied thought and sustained 
thought, and you should develop it without applied thought and with sustained 
thought only, and you should develop it without applied thought and without 
sustained thought, and you should develop it with happiness, and you should 
develop it without happiness, and you should develop it accompanied by 
gratification, and you should develop it accompanied by equanimity' (A IV 300). 
Consequently all four measureless states have quadruple and quintuple jhana." 

113. He should be told: "Do not put it like that. For if that were so, then 
contemplation of the body, etc., would also have quadruple and quintuple jhana. 
But there is not even the first jhana in the contemplation of feeling or in the other 
two. 17 So do not misrepresent the Blessed One by adherence to the letter. The 
Enlightened One's word is profound and should be taken as it is intended, 
giving due weight to the teachers." 

114. And the intention here is this: The Blessed One, it seems, was asked to 
teach the Dhamma thus: "Venerable sir, it would be good if the Blessed One 
would teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that, having heard the Blessed One's 
Dhamma, I may dwell alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent and self-exerted" (A 
IV 299). But the Blessed One had no confidence yet in that bhikkhu, since although 
he had already heard the Dhamma he had nevertheless gone on living there 
instead of going to do the ascetic's duties, [and the Blessed One expressed his 
lack of confidence] thus: "So too, some misguided men merely question me, and 
when the Dhamma is expounded [to them], they still fancy that they need not 
follow me" (A IV 299). However, the bhikkhu had the potentiality for the 
attainment of Arahantship, and so he advised him again, [323] saying: "Therefore, 
bhikkhu, you should train thus: 'My mind shall be steadied, quite steadied 
internally, and arisen evil unprofitable things shall not obsess my mind and 

17. For which kinds of body contemplation give which kinds of concentration see 
8.43 and M-a I 247. 

18. "'Mere unification of the mind': the kind of concentrating (samadhana) that is undeveloped 
and just obtained by one in pursuit of development. That is called 'basic concentration/ 
however, since it is the basic reason for the kinds of more distinguished concentration to 
be mentioned later in this connection. This 'mere unification of the mind' is intended as 
momentary concentration as in the passage beginning, T internally settled, steadied, 
unified and concentrated my mind' (M I 116). For the first unification of the mind is 
recognized as momentary concentration here as it is in the first of the two successive 
descriptions: 'Tireless energy was aroused in me ... my mind was concentrated and 
unified' followed by 'Quite secluded from sense desires ...'" (M I 21) (Vism-mht 314). 



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remain.' You should train thus" (A IV 299). But what is stated in that advice is 
basic concentration consisting in mere unification of mind 18 internally in the 
sense of in oneself (see Ch. XIV, n. 75). 

115. After that he told him about its development by means of loving-kindness 
in order to show that he should not rest content with just that much but should 
intensify his basic concentration in this way: "As soon as your mind has become 
steadied, quite steadied internally, bhikkhu, and arisen evil unprofitable things 
do not obsess your mind and remain, then you should train thus: 'The mind- 
deliverance of loving-kindness will be developed by me, frequently practiced, 
made the vehicle, made the foundation, established, consolidated, and properly 
undertaken.' You should train thus, bhikkhu" (A IV 299-300), after which he 
said further: "As soon as this concentration has been thus developed by you, 
bhikkhu, 19 and frequently practiced, then you should develop this concentration 
with applied thought and sustained thought ... and you should develop it 
accompanied by equanimity" (A IV 300). 

116. The meaning is this: "Bhikkhu, when this basic concentration has been 
developed by you by means of loving-kindness, then, instead of resting content 
with just that much, you should make this basic concentration reach quadruple 
and quintuple jhana in other objects by [further] developing it in the way 
beginning 'With applied thought.'" 

117. And having spoken thus, he further said: "As soon as this concentration 
has been thus developed by you, bhikkhu, and frequently practiced, then you 
should train thus: 'The mind-deliverance of compassion will be developed by 
me ...' (A IV 300), etc., pointing out that "you should effect its [further] 
development by means of quadruple and quintuple jhana in other objects, this 
[further] development being preceded by the remaining divine abidings of 
compassion and the rest." 

118. Having thus shown how its [further] development by means of quadruple 
and quintuple jhana is preceded by loving-kindness, etc., and having told him, 
"As soon as this concentration has been developed by you, bhikkhu, and 
frequently practiced, then you should train thus: 'I shall dwell contemplating 
the body as a body'" etc., he concluded the discourse with Arahantship as its 
culmination thus: "As soon as this concentration has been developed by you, 
bhikkhu, completely developed, then wherever you go you will go in comfort, 
wherever you stand you will stand in comfort, wherever [324] you sit you will sit 
in comfort, wherever you make your couch you will do so in comfort" (A IV 301). 
From that it must be understood that the [three] beginning with loving-kindness 
have only triple-quadruple jhana, and that equanimity has only the single 



19. '"Thus developed': just as a fire started with wood and banked up with cowdung, 
dust, etc., although it arrives at the state of a 'cowdung fire,' etc., (cf. M I 259) is 
nevertheless called after the original fire that was started with the wood, so too it is 
the basic concentration that is spoken of here, taking it as banked up with loving- 
kindness, and so on. 'In other objects' means in such objects as the earth kasina" 
(Vism-mht 315). 



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remaining jhana. And they are expounded in the same way in the Abhidhamma 
as well. 

[The Highest Limit of Each] 

119. And while they are twofold by way of the triple-quadruple jhana and the 
single remaining jhana, still they should be understood to be distinguishable in 
each case by a different efficacy consisting in having "beauty as the highest," 
etc. For they are so described in the Haliddavasana Sutta, according as it is said: 
"Bhikkhus, the mind-deliverance of loving-kindness has beauty as the highest, 
I say . . . The mind-deliverance of compassion has the base consisting of boundless 
space as the highest, I say ... The mind-deliverance of gladness has the base 
consisting of boundless consciousness as the highest I say ... The mind- 
deliverance of equanimity has the base consisting of nothingness as the highest, 
I say" (S V 119-21). 20 

120. But why are they described in this way? Because each is the respective 
basic support for each. For beings are unrepulsive to one who abides in loving- 
kindness. Being familiar with the unrepulsive aspect, when he applies his mind 
to unrepulsive pure colours such as blue-black, his mind enters into them without 
difficulty. So loving-kindness is the basic support for the liberation by the beautiful 
(see M II 12; M-a III 256), but not for what is beyond that. That is why it is called 
"having beauty as the highest." 

121. One who abides in compassion has come to know thoroughly the danger 
in materiality, since compassion is aroused in him when he sees the suffering of 
beings that has as its material sign (cause) beating with sticks, and so on. So, 
well knowing the danger in materiality, when he removes whichever kasina 
[concept he was contemplating], whether that of the earth kasina or another, and 
applies his mind to the space [that remains (see X.6)], which is the escape from 
materiality, then his mind enters into that [space] without difficulty. So 
compassion is the basic support for the sphere of boundless space, but not for 
what is beyond that. That is why it is called "having the base consisting of 
boundless space as the highest." 

122. When he abides in gladness, his mind becomes familiar with 
apprehending consciousness, since gladness is aroused in him when he sees 
beings' consciousness arisen in the form of rejoicing over some reason for joy. 
Then when he surmounts the sphere of boundless space that he had already 
attained in due course and applies his mind to the consciousness that had as its 
object the sign of space, [325] his mind enters into it without difficulty. So gladness 
is the basic support for the base consisting of boundless consciousness, but not 
for what is beyond that. That is why it is called "having the sphere of boundless 
consciousness as the highest." 

20. "The beautiful" (sabha) is the third of the eight liberations (vimokkha — see M II 12; 
M-a III 255). 

21. Reading in both cases "avijjamana-gahana-dakkham cittam," not "-dukkham." "'Because 
it has no more concern (abhoga)': because it has no further act of being concerned 

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123. When he abides in equanimity, his mind becomes skilled 21 in appre- 
hending what is (in the ultimate sense) non-existent, because his mind has been 
diverted from apprehension of (what is existent in) the ultimate sense, namely, 
pleasure, (release from) pain, etc., owing to having no further concern such as 
"May beings be happy" or "May they be released from pain" or "May they not 
lose the success they have obtained." Now his mind has become used to being 
diverted from apprehension of [what is existent in] the ultimate sense, and his 
mind has become skilled in apprehending what is non-existent in the ultimate 
sense, (that is to say, living beings, which are a concept), and so when he 
surmounts the base consisting of boundless consciousness attained in due 
course and applies his mind to the absence, which is non-existent as to individual 
essence, of consciousness, which is a reality (is become — see M I 260) in the 
ultimate sense, then his mind enters into that (nothingness, that non-existence) 
without difficulty (see X.32). So equanimity is the basic support for the base 
consisting of nothingness, but not for what is beyond that. That is why it is 
called "having the base consisting of nothingness as the highest." 

124. When he has understood thus that the special efficacy of each resides 
respectively in "having beauty as the highest," etc., he should besides 
understand how they bring to perfection all the good states beginning with 
giving. For the Great Beings' minds retain their balance by giving preference to 
beings' welfare, by dislike of beings' suffering, by desire for the various successes 
achieved by beings to last, and by impartiality towards all beings. And to all 
beings they give gifts, which are a source a pleasure, without discriminating 
thus: "It must be given to this one; it must not be given to this one." And in order 
to avoid doing harm to beings they undertake the precepts of virtue. They practice 
renunciation for the purpose of perfecting their virtue. They cleanse their 
understanding for the purpose of non-confusion about what is good and bad for 
beings. They constantly arouse energy, having beings' welfare and happiness at 
heart. When they have acquired heroic fortitude through supreme energy, they 
become patient with beings' many kinds of faults. They do not deceive when 



(abhujana) by hoping (asimsana) for their pleasure, etc., thus 'May they be happy.' The 
development of loving-kindness, etc., occurring as it does in the form of hope for 
beings' pleasure, etc., makes them its object by directing [the mind] to apprehension 
of [what is existent in] the ultimate sense [i.e. pleasure, etc.]. But development of 
equanimity instead of occurring like that, makes beings its object by simply looking 
on. But does not the divine abiding of equanimity itself too make beings its object by 
directing the mind to apprehension of [what is existent in] the ultimate sense, because 
of the words, 'Beings are owners of their deeds. Whose [if not theirs] is the choice by 
which they will become happy . . .?' (§96) — Certainly that is so. But that is in the prior 
stage of development of equanimity. When it has reached its culmination, it makes 
beings its object by simply looking on. So its occurrence is specially occupied with 
what is non-existent in the ultimate sense [i.e. beings, which are a concept]. And so 
skill in apprehending the non-existent should be understood as avoidance of 
bewilderment due to misrepresentation in apprehension of beings, which avoidance 
of bewilderment has reached absorption" (Vism-mht). 



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promising "We shall give you this; we shall do this for you." They are unshakably 
resolute upon beings' welfare and happiness. Through unshakable loving-kindness 
they place them first [before themselves]. Through equanimity they expect no 
reward. Having thus fulfilled the [ten] perfections, these [divine abidings] then 
perfect all the good states classed as the ten powers, the four kinds of fearlessness, 
the six kinds of knowledge not shared [by disciples], and the eighteen states of 
the Enlightened One. 22 This is how they bring to perfection all the good states 
beginning with giving. 

The ninth chapter called "The Description of the Divine 
Abidings" in the Treatise on the Development of 
Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the 
purpose of gladdening good people. 



22. For the "ten powers" and "four kinds of fearlessness" see MN 12. For the "six 
kinds of knowledge not shared by disciples" see Patis I 121f. For the "eighteen states 
of the Enlightened One" see Cp-a. 



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Chapter X 

The Immaterial States 
(Aruppa-niddesa) 

[(1) The Base Consisting of Boundless Space] 

1. [326] Now, as to the four immaterial states mentioned next to the divine 
abidings (III. 105), one who wants firstly to develop the base consisting of 
boundless space sees in gross physical matter danger through the wielding of 
sticks, etc., because of the words: "'It is in virtue of matter that wielding of sticks, 
wielding of knives, quarrels, brawls and disputes takes place; but that does not 
exist at all in the immaterial state,' and in this expectation he enters upon the 
way to dispassion for only material things, for the fading and cessation of only 
those" (M I 410); and he sees danger in it too through the thousand afflictions 
beginning with eye disease. So, in order to surmount that, he enters upon the 
fourth jhana in any one of the nine kasinas beginning with the earth kasina and 
omitting the limited-space kasina. 

2. Now, although he has already surmounted gross physical matter by means 
of the fourth jhana of the fine-material sphere, nevertheless he still wants also to 
surmount the kasina materiality since it is the counterpart of the former. How 
does he do this? 

3. Suppose a timid man is pursued by a snake in a forest and flees from it as 
fast as he can, then if he sees in the place he has fled to a palm leaf with a streak 
painted on it or a creeper or a rope or a crack in the ground, he is fearful, anxious 
and will not even look at it. Suppose again a man is living in the same village as 
a hostile man who ill-uses him and on being threatened by him with a flogging 
and the burning down of his house, he goes away to live in another village, then 
if he meets another man there of similar appearance, voice and manner, he is 
fearful, anxious and will not even look at him. 

4. Here is the application of the similes. The time when the bhikkhu has the 
gross physical matter as his object is like the time when the men were respectively 
threatened by the snake and by the enemy. [327] The time when the bhikkhu 
surmounts the gross physical matter by means of the fourth jhana of the fine- 
material sphere is like the first man's fleeing as fast as he can and the other 
man's going away to another village. The bhikkhu's observing that even the 
matter of the kasina is the counterpart of that gross physical matter and his 
wanting to surmount that also is like the first man's seeing in the place he had 



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ffled to the palm leaf with a streak painted on it, etc., and the other man's seeing 
the man who resembled the enemy in the village he had left, and their 
unwillingness to look owing to fear and anxiety. 

And here the similes of the dog attacked by a boar and that of the pisaca goblin 
and the timid man 1 should be understood too. 

5. So when he has thus become disgusted with (dispassionate towards) the 
kasina materiality, the object of the fourth jhana, and wants to get away from it, 
he achieves mastery in the five ways. Then on emerging from the now familiar 
fourth jhana of the fine-material sphere, he sees the danger in that jhana in this 
way: "This makes its object the materiality with which I have become disgusted," 
and "It has joy as its near enemy," and "It is grosser than the peaceful liberations." 
There is, however, no [comparative] grossness of factors here [as in the case of the 
four fine-material jhanas]; for the immaterial states have the same two factors as 
this fine-material [jhana]. 

6. When he has seen the danger in that [fine-material fourth jhana] jhana in 
this way and has ended his attachment to it, he gives his attention to the base 
consisting of boundless space as peaceful. Then, when he has spread out the 
kasina to the limit of the world-sphere, or as far as he likes, he removes the kasina 
[materiality] by giving his attention to the space touched by it, [regarding that] 
as "space" or "boundless space." 

7. When he is removing it, he neither folds it up like a mat nor withdraws it like 
a cake from a tin. It is simply that he does not advert to it or give attention to it or 
review it; it is when he neither adverts to it nor gives attention to it nor reviews it, 
but gives his attention exclusively to the space touched by it, [regarding that] as 
"space, space," that he is said to "remove the kasina." 

8. And when the kasina is being removed, it does not roll up or roll away. It is 
simply that it is called "removed" on account of his non-attention to it, his 
attention being given to "space, space." This is conceptualized as the mere 
space left by the removal of the kasina [materiality]. Whether it is called "space 
left by the removal of the kasina" or "space touched by the kasina" or "space 
secluded from the kasina," it is all the same. 

9. He adverts again and again to the sign of the space left by the removal of the 
kasina [328] as "space, space," and strikes at it with thought and applied 
thought. As he adverts to it again and again and strikes at it with thought and 
applied thought, the hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness is established 
and his mind becomes concentrated in access. He cultivates that sign again and 
again, develops and repeatedly practices it. 

10. As he again and again adverts to it and gives attention to it in this way, 
consciousness belonging to the base consisting of boundless space arises in 

1. "A dog, it seems, was attacked in the forest by a boar and fled. When it was dusk 
he saw in the distance a cauldron for boiling rice, and perceiving it as a boar, he fled in 
fear and terror. Again, a man who was afraid of pisaca goblins saw a decapitated palm 
stump at night in a place that was unfamiliar to him, and perceiving it as a pisaca 
goblin, he fell down in his fear, horror and confusion" (Vism-mht 320). 

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absorption with the space [as its object], as the consciousness belonging to the 
fine-material sphere did in the case of the earth kasina, and so on. And here too 
in the prior stage there are either three or four sensual-sphere impulsions 
associated with equanimous feeling, while the fourth or the fifth is of the 
immaterial sphere. The rest is the same as in the case of the earth kasina (IV74). 

11. There is, however, this difference. When the immaterial-sphere conscious- 
ness has arisen in this way, the bhikkhu, who has been formerly looking at the 
kasina disk with the jhana eye finds himself looking at only space after that sign 
has been abruptly removed by the attention given in the preliminary work thus 
"space, space." He is like a man who has plugged an opening in a [covered] 
vehicle, a sack or a pot 2 with a piece of blue rag or with a piece of rag of some 
such colour as yellow, red or white and is looking at that, and then when the rag 
is removed by the force of the wind or by some other agency, he finds himself 
looking at space. 

[Text and Commentary] 

12. And at this point it is said: "With the complete surmounting (samatikkama) 
of perceptions of matter, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, 
with non-attention to perceptions of variety, [aware of] 'unbounded space,' he 
enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless space" (Vibh 245). 

13. Herein, complete is in all aspects or of all [perceptions]; without exception, 
is the meaning. Of perceptions of matter: both (a) of the fine-material jhanas 
mentioned [here] under the heading of "perception," and (b) of those things 
that are their object. For (a) the jhana of the fine-material sphere is called "matter" 
in such passages as "Possessed of visible matter he sees instances of matter" (D 
II 70; M II 12), and (b) it is its object too [that is called "matter"] in such passages 
as "He sees instances of visible matter externally ... fair and ugly" (D II 110; M 
II 13). 3 Consequently, here the words "perception of matter" (rupa-sanna — lit. 
"matter-perceptions"), in the sense of "perceptions about matter," are used (a) 
for fine-material jhana stated thus under the headings of "perceptions." [Also] 
(b) it has the label (sanna) "matter" {rupa), thus it (the jhana's object) is "labelled 
matter" {rilpa-sanna); what is meant is that "matter" is its name. So it should be 
understood that this is also a term for (b) what is classed as the earth kasina, etc., 
which is the object of that [jhana]. 4 [329] 



2. PED, this ref. reads yanaputosa for yanapatoli, taking it as one compound (see 
under yana and mutoll, but this does not fit the context happily. Vism-mht (p. 321) has: 
"'Yanappatolikumbhimukhadlnan' ti ogunthana-sivikadi-yanam mukham = yana-mukham; 
patoliya kuddakadvarassa mukham = patoli-mukham; kumbhi-mukhan ti paccekam mukha- 
saddo sambandhitabbo." This necessitates taking yana separately 

3. These two quotations refer respectively to the first of the eight liberations and 
the first of the eight bases of mastery (See M-a III 255ff.). 

4. This explanation depends on a play on the word sahna as the [subjective] perception 
and as the [objective] sign, signal or label perceived. 



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14. With the surmounting: with the fading away and with the cessation. What is 
meant? With the fading away and with the cessation, both because of the fading 
away and because of the cessation, either in all aspects or without exception, of 
these perceptions of matter, reckoned as jhana, which number fifteen with the 
[five each of the] profitable, resultant and functional, 5 and also of these things 
labelled matter, reckoned as objects [of those perceptions], which number nine 
with the earth kasina, etc., (§1) he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting 
of boundless space. For he cannot enter upon and dwell in that without completely 
surmounting perceptions of matter. 

15. Herein, there is no surmounting of these perceptions in one whose greed 
for the object [of those perceptions] has not faded away; and when the perceptions 
have been surmounted, their objects have been surmounted as well. That is why 
in the Vibhahga only the surmounting of the perceptions and not that of the 
objects is mentioned as follows: "Herein, what are perceptions of matter? They 
are the perception, perceiving, perceivedness, in one who has attained a fine- 
material-sphere attainment or in one who has been reborn there or in one who is 
abiding in bliss there in this present life. These are what are called perceptions 
of matter. These perceptions of matter are passed, surpassed, surmounted. Hence, 
'With the complete surmounting of perceptions of matter' is said" (Vibh 261). 
But this commentary should be understood to deal also with the surmounting 
of the object because these attainments have to be reached by surmounting the 
object; they are not to be reached by retaining the same object as in the first and 
subsequent jhanas. 

16. With the disappearance of perceptions of resistance: perceptions of resistance 
are perceptions arisen through the impact of the physical base consisting of the 
eye, etc., and the respective objects consisting of visible objects etc.; and this is a 
term for perception of visible objects (rttpa) and so on, according as it is said: 
"Here, what are perceptions of resistance? Perceptions of visible objects, 
perceptions of sounds, perceptions of odours, perceptions of flavours, perceptions 
of tangible objects — these are called 'perceptions of resistance'" (Vibh 261); 
with the complete disappearance, the abandoning, the non-arising, of these ten 
kinds of perceptions of resistance, that is to say, of the five profitable-resultant 
and five unprofitable-resultant; 6 causing their non-occurrence, is what is meant. 

17. Of course, these are not to be found in one who has entered upon the first 
jhana, etc., either; for consciousness at that time does not occur by way of the five 
doors. Still [330] the mention of them here should be understood as a 
recommendation of this jhana for the purpose of arousing interest in it, just as in 
the case of the fourth jhana there is mention of the pleasure and pain already 
abandoned elsewhere, and in the case of the third path there is mention of the 
[false] view of personality, etc., already abandoned earlier. 



5. See XIV129, description of perception aggregate, which is classified in the same 
way as the consciousness aggregate. Those referred to here are the fifteen fine- 
material kinds, corresponding to nos. (9-13), (57-61) and (81-85) in Table III. 

6. See XIV96f. nos. (34-38) and (50-54) in Table III. 



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18. Or alternatively, though these are also not to be found in one who has 
attained the fine-material sphere, still their not being there is not due to their 
having been abandoned; for development of the fine-material sphere does not 
lead to fading of greed for materiality, and the occurrence of those [fine-material 
jhanas] is actually dependent on materiality. But this development [of the 
immaterial] does lead to the fading of greed for materiality. Therefore it is allowable 
to say that they are actually abandoned here; and not only to say it, but to 
maintain it absolutely. 

19. In fact it is because they have not been abandoned already before this that 
it was said by the Blessed One that sound is a thorn to one who has the first 
jhana (A V 135). And it is precisely because they are abandoned here that the 
imperturbability (see Vibh 135) of the immaterial attainments and their state of 
peaceful liberation are mentioned (M I 33), and that Alara Kalama neither saw 
the five hundred carts that passed close by him nor heard the sound of them 
while he was in an immaterial attainment (D II 130). 

20. With non-attention to perceptions of variety: either to perceptions occurring with 
variety as their domain or to perceptions themselves various. For "perceptions of 
variety" are so called [for two reasons] : firstly because the kinds of perception included 
along with the mind element and mind-consciousness element in one who has not 
attained — which kinds are intended here as described in the Vibhanga thus: "Herein, 
what are perceptions of variety? The perception, perceiving, perceivedness, in 
one who has not attained and possesses either mind element or mind- 
consciousness element in one who has not attained and possesses either mind 
element or mind-consciousness element: these are called 'perceptions of variety'" 
(Vibh 261) — occur with respect to a domain that is varied in individual essence 
with the variety classed as visible-object, sound, etc.; and secondly, because the 
forty-four kinds of perception — that is to say, eight kinds of sense-sphere 
profitable perception, twelve kinds of unprofitable perception, eleven kinds of 
sense-sphere profitable resultant perception, two kinds of unprofitable-resultant 
perception, and eleven kinds of sense-sphere functional perception — themselves 
have variety, have various individual essences, and are dissimilar from each 
other. With the complete non-attention to, non-adverting to, non-reaction to, 
non-reviewing of, these perceptions of variety; what is meant is that because he 
does not advert to them, give them attention or review them, therefore . . . 

21. And [two things] should be understood: firstly, that their absence is stated 
here in two ways as "surmounting" and "disappearance" because the earlier 
perceptions of matter and perceptions of resistance do not exist even in the kind 
of existence produced by this jhana on rebirth, let alone when this jhana is 
entered upon and dwelt in that existence; [331] and secondly, in the case of 
perceptions of variety, "non-attention" to them is said because twenty-seven 
kinds of perception — that is to say, eight kinds of sense-sphere profitable 
perception, nine kinds of functional perception, and ten kinds of unprofitable 
perception — still exist in the kind of existence produced by this jhana. For when 
he enters upon and dwells in this jhana there too, he does so by non-attention to 
them also, but he has not attained when he does give attention to them. 



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22. And here briefly it should be understood that the abandoning of all fine- 
material-sphere states is signified by the words with the surmounting of perceptions 
of matter, and the abandoning of and non-attention to all sense-sphere 
consciousness and its concomitants is signified by the words with the 
disappearance of perceptions of resistance, with non-attention to perceptions of variety. 

23. Unbounded space: here it is called "unbounded" (ananta, lit. endless) because 
neither its end as its arising nor its end as its fall are made known. 7 It is the space 
left by the removal of the kasina that is called "space." And here unboundedness 
(endlessness) should be understood as [referring to] the attention also, which is 
why it is said in the Vibhariga: "He places, settles his consciousness in that 
space, he pervades unboundedly (anantam), hence 'unbounded (ananto) space' 
is said" (Vibh 262). 

24. He enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless space: it has no 
bound (anta), and thus it is unbounded (ananta). What is spatially unbounded 
(akasam anantam) is unbounded space (akasanantam) . Unbounded space is the 
same as boundless space (akasanancam — lit. space-boundlessness). That 
"boundless space" is a "base" (ayatana) in the sense of habitat for the jhana 
whose nature it is to be associated with it, as the "deities' base" is for deities, 
thus it is the "base consisting of boundless space" (akasanahcayatana). He enters 
and dwells in: having reached that base consisting of boundless space, having 
caused it to be produced, he dwells (viharati) with an abiding (vihara) consisting 
in postures that are in conformity with it. 

This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of boundless space as 
a meditation subject. 

[(2) The Base Consisting of Boundless Consciousness] 

25. When he wants to develop the base consisting of boundless consciousness, 
he must first achieve mastery in the five ways in the attainment of the base 
consisting of boundless space. Then he should see the danger in the base 
consisting of boundless space in this way: "This attainment has fine-material 
jhana as its near enemy, and it is not as peaceful as the base consisting of 
boundless consciousness." So having ended his attachment to that, he should 
give his attention to the base consisting of boundless consciousness as peaceful, 
adverting again and again as "consciousness, consciousness" to the 
consciousness that occurred pervading that space [as its object]. He should give 
it attention, review it, and strike at it with applied and sustained thought; [332] 
but he should not give attention [simply] in this way "boundless, boundless." 8 



7. "A [formed] dhamma with an individual essence is delimited by rise and fall 
because it is produced after having not been, and because after having been it vanishes. 
But space is called boundless since it has neither rise nor fall because it is a dhamma 
without individual essence" (Vism-mht 323). 

8. "He should not give attention to it only as 'Boundless, boundless;' instead of 
developing it thus, he should give attention to it as 'Boundless consciousness, boundless 
consciousness' or as 'Consciousness, consciousness'" (Vism-mht 324). 



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26. As he directs his mind again and again on to that sign in this way, the 
hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness is established, and his mind becomes 
concentrated in access. He cultivates that sign again and again, develops and 
repeatedly practices it. As he does so, consciousness belonging to the base 
consisting of boundless consciousness arises in absorption with the [past] 
consciousness that pervaded the space [as its object], just as that belonging to 
the base consisting of boundless space did with the space [as its object]. But the 
method of explaining the process of absorption should be understood in the 
way already described. 

[Text and Commentary] 

27. And at this point it is said: "By completely surmounting (samatikkamma) 
the base consisting of boundless space, [aware of] 'unbounded consciousness,' 
he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless consciousness" 
(Vibh 245). 

28. Herein, completely is as already explained. By ... surmounting the base 
consisting of boundless space: the jhana is called the "base consisting of boundless 
space" in the way already stated (§24), and its object is so called too. For the 
object, too, is "boundless space" (akasanancam) in the way already stated (§24), 
and then, because it is the object of the first immaterial jhana, it is its "base" in 
the sense of habitat, as the "deities' base" is for deities, thus it is the "base 
consisting of boundless space." Likewise: it is "boundless space," and then, 
because it is the cause of the jhana's being of that species, it is its "base" in the 
sense of locality of the species, as Kamboja is the "base" of horses, thus it is the 
"base consisting of boundless space" in this way also. So it should be understood 
that the words, "By ... surmounting the base consisting of boundless space" 
include both [the jhana and its object] together, since this base consisting of 
boundless consciousness is to be entered upon and dwelt in precisely by 
surmounting, by causing the non-occurrence of, and by not giving attention to, 
both the jhana and its object. 

29. Unbounded consciousness: What is meant is that he gives his attention thus 
"unbounded consciousness" to that same consciousness that occurred in 
pervading [as its object the space] as "unbounded space." Or "unbounded" 
refers to the attention. For when he gives attention without reserve to the 
consciousness that had the space as its object, then the attention he gives to it is 
"unbounded." 

30. For it is said in the Vibhanga: "'Unbounded consciousness': he gives 
attention to that same space pervaded by consciousness, he pervades boundlessly, 
hence 'unbounded consciousness' is said" (Vibh 262). But in that passage (tarn 
yeva akasam vihnanena phutam) the instrumental case "by consciousness" must 
be understood in the sense of accusative; for the teachers of the commentary 
explain its meaning in that way. What is meant by "He pervades boundlessly" is 
that "he gives attention to that same consciousness which had pervaded that 
space" (tarn yeva akasam phutam vinnanam). 



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31. He enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of boundless consciousness: 
[333] it has no bound (anta, lit. end), thus it is unbounded (ananta). What is 
unbounded is boundless (ananca lit. unboundedness), and unbounded 
consciousness is called "boundless consciousness," that is "vinnanancam" [in 
the contracted form] instead of "vinnananancam" [which is the full number of 
syllables]. This is an idiomatic form. That boundless consciousness (vinnananca) 
is the base (ayatana) in the sense of foundation for the jhana whose nature it is to 
be associated with it, as the "deities' base" is for deities, thus it is the "base 
consisting of boundless consciousness" (vinnanancayatana). The rest is the same 
as before. 

This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of boundless 
consciousness as a meditation subject. 

[(3) The Base Consisting of Nothingness] 

32. When he wants to develop the base consisting of nothingness, he must first 
achieve mastery in the five ways in the attainment in the base consisting of 
boundless consciousness. Then he should see the danger in the base consisting 
of boundless consciousness in this way: "This attainment has the base consisting 
of boundless space as its near enemy, and it is not as peaceful as the base 
consisting of nothingness." So having ended his attachment to that, he should 
give his attention to the base consisting of nothingness as peaceful. He should 
give attention to the [present] non-existence, voidness, secluded aspect, of that 
same [past] consciousness belonging to the base consisting of boundless space, 
which became the object of [the consciousness belonging to] the base consisting 
of boundless consciousness. How does he do this? 

33. Without giving [further] attention to that consciousness, he should [now] 
advert again and again in this way, "there is not, there is not," or "void, void," or 
"secluded, secluded," and give his attention to it, review it, and strike at it with 
thought and applied thought. 

34. As he directs his mind on to that sign thus, the hindrances are suppressed, 
mindfulness is established, and his mind becomes concentrated in access. He 
cultivates that sign again and again, develops and repeatedly practices it. As he 
does so, consciousness belonging to the base consisting of nothingness arises 
in absorption, making its object the void, secluded, non-existent state of that 
same [past] exalted consciousness that occurred in pervading the space, just as 
the [consciousness belonging to the] base consisting of boundless consciousness 
did the [then past] exalted consciousness that had pervaded the space. And 
here too the method of explaining the absorption should be understood in the 
way already described. 

35. But there is this difference. Suppose a man sees a community of bhikkhus 
gathered together in a meeting hall or some such place and then goes elsewhere; 
then after the bhikkhus have risen at the conclusion of the business for which 
they had met and have departed, the man comes back, and as he stands in the 
doorway looking at that place again, he sees it only as void, he sees it only as 
secluded, he does not think, "So many bhikkhus have died, so many have left the 

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district," but rather [334] he sees only the non-existence thus, "This is void, 
secluded" — so too, having formerly dwelt seeing with the jhana eye belonging 
to the base consisting of boundless consciousness the [earlier] consciousness 
that had occurred making the space its object, [now] when that consciousness 
has disappeared owing to his giving attention to the preliminary work in the 
way beginning, "There is not, there is not," he dwells seeing only its non- 
existence, in other words, its departedness when this consciousness has arisen 
in absorption. 

[Text and Commentary] 

36. And at this point it is said: "By completely surmounting the base consisting 
of boundless consciousness, [aware that] 'There is nothing,' he enters upon and 
dwells in the base consisting of nothingness" (Vibh 245). 

37. Herein, completely is as already explained. By ... surmounting the base 
consisting of boundless consciousness: here too the jhana is called the "base 
consisting of boundless consciousness" in the way already stated, and its object 
is so-called too. For the object too is "boundless consciousness" (vinnanancam) 
in the way already stated, and then, because it is the object of the second immaterial 
jhana, it is its "base" in the sense of habitat, as the "deities' base" is for deities, 
thus it is the "base consisting of boundless consciousness." Likewise it is 
"boundless consciousness," and then because it is the cause of the jhana's 
being of that species, it is its "base" in the sense of locality of the species, as 
Kamboja is the "base" of horses, thus it is the "base consisting of boundless 
consciousness" in this way also. So it should be understood that the words, "By 
... surmounting the base consisting of boundless consciousness" include both 
[the jhana and its object] together, since this base consisting of nothingness is to 
be entered upon and dwelt in precisely by surmounting, by causing the non- 
occurrence of, by not giving attention to, both jhana and its object. 

38. There is nothing (natthi kind): what is meant is that he gives his attention 
thus, "there is not, there is not," or "void, void," or "secluded, secluded." It is 
said in the Vibhariga: "'There is nothing': he makes that same consciousness 
non-existent, makes it absent, makes it disappear, sees that 'there is nothing', 
hence 'there is nothing' is said" (Vibh 262), which is expressed in a way that 
resembles comprehension [by insight] of liability to destruction, nevertheless 
the meaning should be understood in the way described above. For the words 
"He makes that same consciousness non-existent, makes it absent, makes it 
disappear" are said of one who does not advert to it or gives attention to it or 
review it, and only gives attention to its non-existence, its voidness, its 
secludedness; they are not meant in the other way (Cf. XXI. 17). 

39. He enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of nothingness: it has no owning 
(kihcana) , 9 this it is non-owning {akincana); what is meant is that it has not even 

9. There is a play on the words natthi kihci ("there is nothing") and akincana ("non- 
owning"). At M I 298 there occurs the expression "Rago kho avuso kihcano (greed, 
friend, is an owning)," which is used in connection with this attainment. The 

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the mere act of its dissolution remaining. The state (essence) of non-owning is 
nothingness (akincanna). This is a term for the disappearance of the consciousness 
belonging to the base consisting of boundless space. [335] That nothingness is 
the "base" in the sense of foundation for that jhana, as the "deities' base" is for 
deities, thus it is the "base consisting of nothingness." The rest is as before. 

This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of nothingness as a 
meditation subject. 

[(4) The Base Consisting of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception] 

40. When, however, he wants to develop the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception, he must first achieve mastery in the five ways in 
the attainment of the base consisting of nothingness. Then he should see the 
danger in the base consisting of nothingness and the advantage in what is 
superior to it in this way: "This attainment has the base consisting of boundless 
consciousness as its near enemy, and it is not as peaceful as the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception," or in this way: "Perception is a boil, 
perception is a dart ... this is peaceful, this is sublime, that is to say, neither 
perception nor non-perception" (M II 231). So having ended his attachment to 
the base consisting of nothingness, he should give attention to the base consisting 
of neither perception non non-perception as peaceful. He should advert again 
and again to that attainment of the base consisting of nothingness that has 
occurred making non-existence its object, adverting to it as "peaceful, peaceful," 
and he should give his attention to it, review it and strike at it with thought and 
applied thought. 

41. As he directs his mind again and again on to that sign in this way, the 
hindrances are suppressed, mindfulness is established, and his mind becomes 
concentrated in access. He cultivates that sign again and again, develops and 
repeatedly practices it. As he does so, consciousness belonging to the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception arises in absorption making 
its object the four [mental] aggregates that constitute the attainment of the base 
consisting of nothingness, just as the [consciousness belonging to the] base 
consisting of nothingness did the disappearance of the [previous] consciousness. 
And here too the method of explaining the absorption should be understood in 
the way already described. 

[Text and Commentary] 

42. And at this point it is said: "By completely surmounting the base consisting 
of nothingness he enters upon and dwells in the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception" (Vibh 245). 



commentary (M-a II 354) says "Rago uppajjitva puggalam kincati, maddati, palibujjhati, 
tasma kincano ti vutto (greed having arisen owns, presses, impedes, a person, that is 
why it is called an owning)" (Cf. M-a I 27; also XXI.53 and note 19). Vism-mht (p. 327) 
here says "Kincanan ti kind pi." The word kincati is not in PED. 

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43. Herein, completely is already explained. By ... surmounting the base consisting 
of nothingness: here too the jhana is called the "base consisting of nothingness" 
in the way already stated, and its object is so called too. For the object too is 
"nothingness" (akincannam) in the way already stated, and then because it is the 
object of the third immaterial jhana, it is its "base" in the sense of habitat, as the 
"deities' base" is for deities, thus it is the "base consisting of nothingness." 
Likewise: it is "nothingness," and then, because it is the cause of the jhana's 
being of that species, it is its "base" in the sense of locality of the species, as 
Kamboja is the "base" of horses, thus it is the "base consisting of nothingness" 
in this way also. [336] So it should be understood that the words, "By ... 
surmounting the base consisting of nothingness" include both [the jhana and 
its object] together, since the base consisting of neither perception nor non- 
perception is to be entered upon and dwelt in precisely by surmounting, by 
causing the non-occurrence of, by not giving attention to, both the jhana and its 
object. 

44. Base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception: then there is he who 
so practices that there is in him the perception on account of the presence of 
which this [attainment] is called the "the base consisting of neither perception 
nor non-perception," and in the Vibhariga, in order to point out that [person], 
firstly one specified as "neither percipient nor non-percipient," it is said, "gives 
attention to that same base consisting of nothingness as peaceful, he develops 
the attainment with residual formations, hence 'neither percipient nor non- 
percipient' is said" (Vibh 263). 

45. Herein, he gives attention ...as peaceful, means that he gives attention to it as 
"peaceful" because of the peacefulness of the object thus: "How peaceful this 
attainment is; for it can make even non-existence its object and still subsist!" 

If he brings it to mind as "peaceful" then how does there come to be 
surmounting? Because there is no actual desire to attain it. For although he 
gives attention to it as "peaceful," yet there is no concern in him or reaction or 
attention such as "I shall advert to this" or "I shall attain this" or "I shall resolve 
upon [the duration of] this." Why not? Because the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception is more peaceful and better than the base 
consisting of nothingness. 

46. Suppose a king is proceeding along a city street with the great pomp of 
royalty 10 splendidly mounted on the back of an elephant, and he sees craftsmen 
wearing one cloth tightly as a loin-cloth and another tied round their heads, 
working at the various crafts such as ivory carving, etc., their limbs covered with 
ivory dust, etc.; now while he is pleased with their skill, thinking, "How skilled 
these craft-masters are, and what crafts they practice!" he does not, however, 
think, "Oh that I might abandon royalty and become a craftsman like that!" 
Why not? Because of the great benefits in the majesty of kings; he leaves the 
craftsmen behind and proceeds on his way. So too, though this [meditator] gives 



10. Mahacca (see D I 49 and D-a 1 148); the form is not given in PED; probably a form 
of mahatiya. 



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attention to that attainment as "peaceful," yet there is no concern in him or 
reaction or attention such as "I shall advert to this attainment" or "I shall attain 
this" or "I shall resolve upon [the duration of] it" or "I shall emerge from it" or "I 
shall review it." 

47. As he gives attention to it as "peaceful" in the way already described, [337] 
he reaches the ultra-subtle absorbed perception in virtue of which he is called 
"neither percipient nor non-percipient," and it is said of him that "He develops 
the attainment with residual formations." 

The attainment with residual formations is the fourth immaterial attainment 
whose formations have reached a state of extreme subtlety. 

48. Now, in order to show the meaning of the kind of perception that has been 
reached, on account of which [this jhana] is called the "base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception," it is said: "'Base consisting of neither perception 
nor non-perception': states of consciousness or its concomitants in one who has 
attained the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception or in one 
who has been reborn there or in one who is abiding in bliss there in this present 
life" (Vibh 263). Of these, what is intended here is the states of consciousness 
and its concomitants in one who has attained. 

49. The word meaning here is this: that jhana with its associated states neither 
has perception nor has no perception because of the absence of gross perception 
and the presence of subtle perception, thus it is "neither perception nor non- 
perception" (n' eva-sahha-nasannam). It is "neither perception nor non-perception" 
and it is a "base" (ayatana) because it is included in the mind-base (manayatana) 
and the mental-object base (dhammayatana), thus it is the "base consisting of 
neither perception nor non-perception" (nevasannanasahnayatana). 

50. Or alternatively: the perception here is neither perception, since it is 
incapable of performing the decisive function of perception, nor yet non- 
perception, since it is present in a subtle state as a residual formation, thus it is 
"neither perception nor non-perception." It is "neither perception nor non- 
perception" and it is a "base" in the sense of a foundation for the other states, 
thus it is the "base consisting of neither perception nor non -perception." 

And here it is not only perception that is like this, but feeling as well is 
neither-feeling-nor-non-feeling, consciousness is neither-consciousness-nor- 
non-consciousness, and contact is neither-contact-nor-non-contact, and the same 
description applies to the rest of the associated states; but it should be understood 
that this presentation is given in terms of perception. 

51. And the meaning should be illustrated by the similes beginning with the 
smearing of oil on the bowl. A novice smeared a bowl with oil, it seems, and laid 
it aside. When it was time to drink gruel, an elder told him to bring the bowl. He 
said, "Venerable sir, there is oil in the bowl." But then when he was told, "Bring 
the oil, novice, I shall fill the oil tube," he replied, "There is no oil, venerable sir." 
Herein, just as "There is oil" is in the sense of incompatibility with the gruel 
because it has been poured into [the bowl] and just as "There is no oil" is in the 
sense of filling the oil tube, etc., so too this perception is "neither perception" since 



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it is incapable of performing the decisive function of perception and it is "nor non- 
perception" because it is present in a subtle form as a residual formation. [338] 

52. But in this context what is perception's function? It is the perceiving of the 
object, and it is the production of dispassion if [that attainment and its object 
are] made the objective field of insight. But it is not able to make the function of 
perceiving decisive, as the heat element in tepid 11 water is not able to make the 
function of burning decisive; and it is not able to produce dispassion by treatment 
of its objective field with insight in the way that perception is in the case of the 
other attainments. 

53. There is in fact no bhikkhu capable of reaching dispassion by comprehension 
of aggregates connected with the base consisting of neither perception nor non- 
perception unless he has already done his interpreting with other aggregates (see 
XX. 2f. and XXI. 23). And furthermore, when the venerable Sariputta, or someone very 
wise and naturally gifted with insight as he was, is able to do so, even he has to do 
it by means of comprehension of groups (XX.2) in this way, "So it seems, these states, 
not having been, come to be; having come to be, they vanish" (M III 28), and not by 
means of [actual direct] insight into states one by one as they arise. Such is the 
subtlety that this attainment reaches. 

54. And this meaning should be illustrated by the simile of the water on the 
road, as it was by the simile of the oil-smearing on the bowl. A novice was 
walking in front of an elder, it seems, who had set out on a journey. He saw a 
little water and said, "There is water, venerable sir, remove your sandals." Then 
the elder said, "If there is water, bring me the bathing cloth and let us bathe," but 
the novice said, "There is none, venerable sir." Herein, just as "There is water" is 
in the sense of mere wetting of the sandals, and "There is none" is in the sense 
of bathing, so too, this perception is "neither perception" since it is incapable of 
performing the decisive function of perception, and it is "nor non-perception" 
because it is present in a subtle form as a residual formation. 

55. And this meaning should be illustrated not only by these similes but by 
other appropriate ones as well. 

Enters upon and dwells in is already explained. 

This is the detailed explanation of the base consisting of neither perception 
nor non-perception as a meditation subject. 

[General] 

56. Thus has the Peerless Helper told 
The fourfold immaterial state; 

To know these general matters too 
Will not be inappropriate. 

57. For these immaterial states: 

While reckoned by the surmounting of 



11. Sukhodaka — "tepid water": see Monier Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary; this meaning 
of sukha not given in PED. 

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The object they are four, the wise 
Do not admit surmounting of 
Factors that one can recognize. 

58. Of these [four], the first is due to surmounting signs of materiality, the 
second is due to surmounting space, the third is due to surmounting the 
consciousness that occurred with that space as its object, and the fourth is due to 
surmounting the disappearance of the consciousness that occurred with that 
space as its object. So they should be understood as four in number with the 
surmounting of the object in each case. [339] But the wise do not admit any 
surmounting of [jhana] factors; for there is no surmounting of factors in them as 
there is in the case of the fine-material-sphere attainments. Each one has just the 
two factors, namely equanimity and unification of mind. 

59. That being so: 

They progress in refinement; each 

Is finer than the one before. 

Two figures help to make them known; 

The cloth lengths, and each palace floor. 

60. Suppose there were a four-storied palace: on its first floor the five objects of 
sense pleasure were provided in a very fine form as divine dancing, singing and 
music, and perfumes, scents, garlands, food, couches, clothing, etc., and on the 
second they were finer than that, and on the third finer still, and on the fourth 
they were finest of all; yet they are still only palace floors, and there is no difference 
between them in the matter of their state (essence) as palace floors; it is with the 
progressive refinement of the five objects of sense pleasure that each one is finer 
than the one below; — again suppose there were lengths of cloth of quadruple, 
triple, double and single thickness, and [made] of thick, thin, thinner, and very 
thin thread spun by one woman, all the same measure in width and breadth; 
now although these lengths of cloth are four in number, yet they measure the 
same in width and breadth, there is no difference in their measurement; but in 
softness to the touch, fineness, and costliness each is finer than the one before; — 
so too, although there are only the two factors in all four [immaterial states], that 
is to say, equanimity and unification of mind, still each one should be understood 
as finer than the one before with the progressive refinement of factors due to 
successful development. 

61. And for the fact that each one of them is finer than the last [there is this 
figure:] 

One hangs upon a tent that stands 
On filth; on him another leans. 
Outside a third not leaning stands, 
Against the last another leans. 
Between the four men and these states 
The correspondence then is shown, 
And so how each to each relates 
Can by a man of wit be known. 



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62. This is how the meaning should be construed. There was a tent in a dirty 
place, it seems. Then a man arrived, and being disgusted with the dirt, he rested 
himself on the tent with his hands and remained as if hung or hanging on to it. 
Then another man came and leant upon the man hanging on to the tent. Then 
another man came and thought, "The one who is hanging on to the tent and the 
one who is leaning upon him are both badly off, and if the tent falls they will 
certainly fall. I think I shall stand outside." [340] So instead of leaning upon the 
one leaning upon the first, he remained outside. Then another arrived, and 
taking account of the insecurity of the one hanging on to the tent and the one 
leaning upon him, and fancying that the one standing outside was well placed, 
he stood leaning upon him. 

63. Herein, this is how it should be regarded. The space from which the kasina 
has been removed is like the tent in the dirty place. The [consciousness of the] 
base consisting of boundless space, which makes space its object owing to 
disgust with the sign of the fine-material, is like the man who hangs on to the 
tent owing to disgust with the dirt. The [consciousness of the] base consisting of 
boundless consciousness, the occurrence of which is contingent upon [the 
consciousness of] the base consisting of boundless space whose object is space, 
is like the man who leans upon the man who hangs on to the tent. The 
[consciousness of the] base consisting of nothingness, which instead of making 
[the consciousness of the] base consisting of boundless space its object has the 
non-existence of that as its object, is like the man who, after considering the 
insecurity of those two, does not lean upon the one hanging on to the tent, but 
stands outside. The [consciousness of the] base consisting of neither perception 
nor non-perception, the occurrence of which is contingent upon [the 
consciousness of] the base consisting of nothingness, which stands in a place 
outside, in other words, in the non-existence of [the past] consciousness, is like 
the man who stands leaning upon the last-named, having considered the 
insecurity of the one hanging on to the tent and the one leaning upon him, and 
fancying that the one standing outside is well placed. 

64. And while occurring in this way: 
It takes this for its object since 
There is no other one as good, 
As men depend upon a king, 
Whose fault they see, for livelihood. 

65. For although this [consciousness of the] base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception has seen the flaw in the base consisting of 
nothingness in this way, "This attainment has the base consisting of boundless 
consciousness as its near enemy," notwithstanding that fact it takes it as its 
object in the absence of any other. Like what? As men for the sake of livelihood 
depend on kings whose faults they see. For just as, for the sake of livelihood and 
because they cannot get a livelihood elsewhere, people put up with some king, 
ruler of all quarters, who is unrestrained, and harsh in bodily, verbal, and mental 
behaviour, though they see his faults thus, "He is harshly behaved," so too the 
[consciousness of the] base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception 



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takes that base consisting of nothingness as its object in spite of seeing its faults 
in this way, and it does so since it cannot find another [better] object. 

66. As one who mounts a lofty stair 

Leans on its railings for a prop, 
As one who climbs an airy peak 
Leans on the mountain's very top, 
As one who stands on a crag's edge 
Leans for support on his own knees — 
Each jhana rests on that below; 
For so it is with each of these. 

The tenth chapter called "The Description of the 
Immaterial States" in the treatise on the Development of 
Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the 
purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter XI 

Concentration — Conclusion: 
Nutriment and the Elements 

(Samadhi-niddesa) 

[Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment] 

1. [341] Now comes the description of the development of the perception of 
repulsiveness in nutriment, which was listed as the "one perception" 1 next to 
the immaterial states (III. 105). 

Herein, it nourishes (aharati, lit. "brings on"), thus it is nutriment (ahara, lit. 
"bringing on"). That is of four kinds as: physical nutriment, nutriment consisting 
of contact, nutriment consisting of mental volition, and nutriment consisting of 



1. "The word 'perception' (sanna) is used for the dhamma with the characteristic of 
perceiving (sanjanana), as in the case of 'perception of visible objects,' 'perception of 
sound,' etc.; and it is used for insight, as in the case of 'perception of impermanence,' 
'perception of suffering,' etc.; and it is used for serenity, as in the passage, 'Perception 
of the bloated and perception of visible objects, have these one meaning or different 
meanings, Sopaka?' (Source untraced. Cf. III. Ill), and so on. Here, however, it should 
be understood as the preliminary work for serenity; for it is the apprehending of the 
repulsive aspect in nutriment, or the access jhana produced by means of that, that is 
intended here by, 'perception of repulsiveness in nutriment'" (Vism-mht 334-35). 

2. A more detailed exposition of nutriment is given at M-a I 107ff. "'It nourishes' 
(aharati)": the meaning is that it leads up, fetches, produces, its own fruit through its 
state as a condition for the fruit's arising or presence, which state is called "nutriment 
condition." It is made into a mouthful (kabalam karlyati), thus it is physical (kabalihkara). 
In this way it gets its designation from the concrete object; but as to characteristic, it 
should be understood to have the characteristic of nutritive essence (oja). It is physical 
and it is nutriment in the sense stated, thus it is physical nutriment; so with the rest. 
It touches (phusati), thus it is contact (phassa); for although this is an immaterial state, 
it occurs also as the aspect of touching on an object (arammana — lit. "what is to be 
leaned on"), which is why it is said to have the characteristic of touching. It wills 
(cetayati), thus it is volition (cetana); the meaning is that it arranges (collects) itself 
together with associated states upon the object. Mental volition is volition occupied 
with the mind. It cognizes (vijanati) by conjecturing about rebirth (see XVII. 303), thus 
it is consciousness (vinnana = cognition) (Vism-mht 335). 

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2. But what is it here that nourishes (brings on) what? Physical nutriment 
(kabalihkarahara) nourishes (brings on) the materiality of the octad that has 
nutritive essence as eighth: 3 contact as nutriment nourishes (brings on) the 
three kinds of feeling; mental volition as nutriment nourishes (brings on) rebirth- 
linking in the three kinds of becoming; consciousness as nutriment nourishes 
(brings on) mentality-materiality at the moment of rebirth-linking. 

3. Now, when there is physical nutriment there is attachment, which brings 
peril; when there is nutriment as contact there is approaching, which brings 
peril; when there is nutriment as mental volition there is rebirth-linking, which 
brings peril. 4 And to show how they bring fear thus, physical nutriment should 
be illustrated by the simile of the child's flesh (S II 98), contact as nutriment by 
the simile of the hideless cow (S II 99), mental volition as nutriment by the simile 
of the pit of live coals (S II 99), and consciousness as nutriment by the simile of 
the hundred spears (S II 100). 

4. But of these four kinds of nutriment it is only physical nutriment, classed as 
what is eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted, that is intended here as "nutriment" 
in this sense. The perception arisen as the apprehension of the repulsive aspect 
in that nutriment is, "perception of repulsiveness in nutriment." 

3. For the "octad with nutritive essence as eighth" (ojatthamaka), see XVIII. 5ff. and 
XX.27ff. 

4. Vism-mht (p. 355) explains attachment here as craving which is "perilous because 
it brings harm" (see e.g. D II 58-59), or in other words, "greed for the five aggregates 
(lust after five-aggregate experience)." It cites the following: "Bhikkhus, when there is 
physical nutriment, there is greed (lust), there is delighting, there is craving; 
consciousness being planted therein grows. Wherever consciousness being planted 
grows, there is the combination of mind-and-matter. Wherever there is the combination 
of mind-and-matter, there is ramification of formations. Wherever there is ramification 
of formations, there is production of further becoming in the future. Wherever there 
is production of further becoming in the future, there is future birth, aging and death. 
Wherever there is future birth, aging and death, bhikkhus, the end is sorrow, I say 
with woe and despair" (S II 101; cf. S II 66). Approaching is explained as "meeting, 
coinciding, with unabandoned perversions [of perception] due to an object [being 
perceived as permanent, etc., when it is not]." That is, "perilous since it is not free 
from the three kinds of suffering." The quotation given is: "Bhikkhus, due to contact 
of the kind to be felt as pleasant, pleasant feeling arises. With that feeling as condition 
there is craving, . . . thus there is the arising of this whole mass of suffering" (cf. S IV 
215). Reappearance is "rebirth in some kind of becoming or other. Being flung into a 
new becoming is perilous because there is no immunity from the risks rooted in 
reappearance." The following is quoted: "Not knowing, bhikkhus, a man forms the 
formation of merit, and his [rebirth] consciousness accords with the merit [tie 
performed]; he forms the formation of demerit; ... he forms the formation of the 
imperturbable ..." (S II 82) . Rebirth-linking is the actual linking with the next becoming, 
which "is perilous since it is not immune from the suffering due to the signs of [the 
impending] rebirth-linking." The quotation given is: "Bhikkhus, when there is 
consciousness as nutriment there is greed (lust), there is delighting ..." (S II 102 — 
complete as above). 



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5. One who wants to develop that perception of repulsiveness in nutriment 
should learn the meditation subject and see that he has no uncertainty about 
even a single word of what he has learnt. Then he should go into solitary retreat 
and [342] review repulsiveness in ten aspects in the physical nutriment classified 
as what is eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted, that is to say, as to going, seeking, 
using, secretion, receptacle, what is uncooked (undigested), what is cooked 
(digested), fruit, outflow, and smearing. 

6. 1. Herein, as to going: even when a man has gone forth in so mighty a 
dispensation, still after he has perhaps spent all night reciting the Enlightened 
One's word or doing the ascetic' s work, after he has risen early to do the duties 
connected with the shrine terrace and the Enlightenment-tree terrace, to set out 
the water for drinking and washing, to sweep the grounds and to see to the 
needs of the body, after he has sat down on his seat and given attention to his 
meditation subject twenty or thirty times 5 and got up again, then he must take 
his bowl and [outer] robe, he must leave behind the ascetics' woods that are not 
crowded with people, offer the bliss of seclusion, possess shade and water, and 
are clean, cool, delightful places, he must disregard the Noble Ones' delight in 
seclusion, and he must set out for the village in order to get nutriment, as a 
jackal for the charnel ground. 

7. And as he goes thus, from the time when he steps down from his bed or 
chair he has to tread on a carpet 6 covered with the dust of his feet, geckos' 
droppings, and so on. Next he has to see the doorstep, 7 which is more repulsive 
than the inside of the room since it is often fouled with the droppings of rats, 
bats, 8 and so on. Next the lower terrace, which is more repulsive than the terrace 
above since it is all smeared with the droppings of owls, pigeons, 9 and so on. 
Next the grounds, 10 which are more repulsive than the lower floor since they are 
defiled by old grass and leaves blown about by the wind, by sick novices' urine, 
excrement, spittle and snot, and in the rainy season by water, mud, and so on. 
And he has to see the road to the monastery, which is more repulsive than the 
grounds. 

5. "'Twenty or thirty times': here some say that the definition of the number of times 
is according to what is present-by-continuity (see XIV188). But others say that it is by 
way of "warming up the seat" (see M-a I 255); for development that has not reached 
suppression of hindrances does not remove the bodily discomfort in the act of sitting, 
because of the lack of pervading happiness. So there is inconstancy of posture too. 
Then 'twenty or thirty' is taken as the number already observed by the time of setting 
out on the alms round. Or alternatively, from 'going' up to 'smearing' is one turn; then 
it is after giving attention to the meditation subject by twenty or thirty turns in this 
way" (Vism-mht 339). 

6. Paccattharana — "carpet": the word normally means a coverlet, but here, according 
to Vism-mht, (p. 339) it is, "a spread (attharana) consisting of a rug (cilimika) to be 
spread on the ground for protecting the skin." 

7. For pamukha — "doorstep," perhaps an open upper floor gallery here, see XIII. 6. 

8. Jatuka — "bat" = khuddaka-vaggulT (Vism-mht 339): not in PED; see XIII. 97. 

9. Paravata — "pigeon": only spelling parapata given in PED. 

10. For this meaning of parivena see Ch. IV note 37. 

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8. In due course, after standing in the debating lodge 11 when he has finished 
paying homage at the Enlightenment Tree and the shrine, he sets out thinking, 
"Instead of looking at the shrine that is like a cluster of pearls, and the 
Enlightenment Tree that is as lovely as a bouquet of peacock's tail feathers, and 
the abode that is as fair as a god's palace, I must now turn my back on such a 
charming place and go abroad for the sake of food;" and on the way to the 
village, the view of a road of stumps and thorns and an uneven road broken up 
by the force of water awaits him. 

9. Next, after he has put on his waist cloth as one who hides an abscess, and 
tied his waist band as one who ties a bandage on a wound, and robed himself in 
his upper robes as one who hides a skeleton, and taken out his bowl as one who 
takes out a pan for medicine, [343] when he reaches the vicinity of the village 
gate, perhaps the sight of an elephant's carcass, a horse's carcass, a buffalo's 
carcass, a human carcass, a snake's carcass, or a dog's carcass awaits him, and 
not only that, but he has to suffer his nose to be assailed by the smell of them. 

Next, as he stands in the village gateway, he must scan the village streets in 
order to avoid danger from savage elephants, horses, and so on. 

10. So this repulsive [experience] beginning with the carpet that has to be 
trodden on and ending with the various kinds of carcasses that have to be seen 
and smelled, [has to be undergone] for the sake of nutriment: "Oh, nutriment is 
indeed a repulsive thing!" 

This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to going. 

11. 2. How as to seeking? When he has endured the repulsiveness of going in 
this way, and has gone into the village, and is clothed in his cloak of patches, he 
has to wander in the village streets from house to house like a beggar with a 
dish in his hand. And in the rainy season wherever he treads his feet sink into 
water and mire up to the flesh of the calves. 12 He has to hold the bowl in one hand 
and his robe up with the other. In the hot season he has to go about with his 
body covered with the dirt, grass, and dust blown about by the wind. On reaching 
such and such a house door he has to see and even to tread in gutters and 
cesspools covered with blue-bottles and seething with all the species of worms, 
all mixed up with fish washings, meat washings, rice washings, spittle, snot, 
dogs' and pigs' excrement, and what not, from which flies come up and settle 
on his outer cloak of patches and on his bowl and on his head. 

12. And when he enters a house, some give and some do not. And when they 
give, some give yesterday's cooked rice and stale cakes and rancid jelly, sauce 
and so on. 13 Some, not giving, say, "Please pass on, venerable sir," others keep 

11. Vitakka-malaka — "debating lodge": Vism-mht (p. 339) says: "'Kattha nu kho ajja 
bb.ikkh.aya caritabban' ti adina vitakkamalake" ("in a lodge for thinking in the way beginning 
'Where must I go for alms today?'"). 

12. Pindika-mamsa — "flesh of the calves" = jahghapindikamamsapadesa. (Vism-mht 340) 
Cf. VIII.97; also A-a 417. Not in this sense in PED. 

13. Kummasa — "jelly": usually rendered "junket," but the Vinaya commentaries give 
it as made of corn (yava). 

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Chapter XI Concentration (conclusion): Nutriment and the Elements 

silent as if they did not see him. Some avert their faces. Others treat him with 
harsh words such as: "Go away, you bald-head." When he has wandered for 
alms in the village in this way like a beggar, he has to depart from it. 

13. So this [experience] beginning with the entry into the village and ending 
with the departure from it, which is repulsive owing to the water, mud, etc., that 
has to be trodden in and seen and endured, [has to be undergone] for the sake of 
nutriment: "Oh, nutriment is indeed a repulsive thing!" 

This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to seeking. [344] 

14. 3. How as to using? After he has sought the nutriment in this way and is 
sitting at ease in a comfortable place outside the village, then so long as he has 
not dipped his hand into it he would be able to invite a respected bhikkhu or a 
decent person, if he saw one, [to share it]; but as soon as he has dipped his hand 
into it out of desire to eat he would be ashamed to say, "Take some." And when 
he has dipped his hand in and is squeezing it up, the sweat trickling down his 
five fingers wets any dry crisp food there may be and makes it sodden. 

15. And when its good appearance has been spoilt by his squeezing it up, and 
it has been made into a ball and put into his mouth, then the lower teeth function 
as a mortar, the upper teeth as a pestle, and the tongue as a hand. It gets pounded 
there with the pestle of the teeth like a dog's dinner in a dog's trough, while he 
turns it over and over with his tongue; then the thin spittle at the tip of the tongue 
smears it, and the thick spittle behind the middle of the tongue smears it, and 
the filth from the teeth in the parts where a tooth-stick cannot reach smears it. 

16. When thus mashed up and besmeared, this peculiar compound now 
destitute of the [original] colour and smell is reduced to a condition as utterly 
nauseating as a dog's vomit in a dog's trough. Yet, notwithstanding that it is 
like this, it can still be swallowed because it is no longer in range of the eye's 
focus. 

This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to using. 

17. 4. How as to secretion? Buddhas and Paccekabuddhas and Wheel-turning 
Monarchs have only one of the four secretions consisting of bile, phlegm, pus 
and blood, but those with weak merit have all four. So when [the food] has 
arrived at the stage of being eaten and it enters inside, then in one whose secretion 
of bile is in excess it becomes as utterly nauseating as if smeared with thick 
madhuka oil; in one whose secretion of phlegm in excess it is as if smeared with 
the juice of nagabala leaves; 14 in one whose secretion of pus is in excess it is as if 
smeared with rancid buttermilk; and in one whose secretion of blood is in excess 
it is as utterly nauseating as if smeared with dye. This is how repulsiveness 
should be reviewed as to secretion. 

18. 5. How as to receptacle? When it has gone inside the belly and is smeared 
with one of these secretions, then the receptacle it goes into is no gold dish or 
crystal or silver dish and so on. On the contrary if it is swallowed by one ten 
years old, it finds itself in a place like a cesspit unwashed for ten years. [345] If it 
is swallowed by one twenty years old, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety 



14. Nagabala — a kind of plant; not in PED. 

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years old, if it is swallowed by one a hundred years old, it finds itself in a place 
like a cesspit unwashed for a hundred years. This is how repulsiveness should 
be reviewed as to receptacle. 

19. 6. How as to what is uncooked (undigested)? After this nutriment has arrived 
at such a place for its receptacle, then for as long as it remains uncooked it stays 
in that same place just described, which is shrouded in absolute darkness, 
pervaded by draughts, 15 tainted by various smells of ordure and utterly fetid 
and loathsome. And just as when a cloud out of season has rained during a 
drought and bits of grass and leaves and rushes and the carcasses of snakes, 
dogs and human beings that have collected in a pit at the gate of an outcaste 
village remain there warmed by the sun's heat until the pit becomes covered 
with froth and bubbles, so too, what has been swallowed that day and yesterday 
and the day before remains there together, and being smothered by the layer of 
phlegm and covered with froth and bubbles produced by digestion through 
being fermented by the heat of the bodily fires, it becomes quite loathsome. This 
is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to what is uncooked. 

20. 7. How as to what is cooked? When it has been completely cooked there by 
the bodily fires, it does not turn into gold, silver, etc., as the ores 16 of gold, silver, 
etc., do [through smelting]. Instead, giving off froth and bubbles, it turns into 
excrement and fills the receptacle for digested food, like brown clay squeezed 
with a smoothing trowel and packed into a tube, and it turns into urine and fills 
the bladder. This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to what is cooked. 

21. 8. How as to fruit? When it has been rightly cooked, it produces the various 
kinds of ordure consisting of head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, and the rest. 
When wrongly cooked it produces the hundred diseases beginning with itch, 
ring-worm, smallpox, leprosy, plague, consumption, coughs, flux, and so on. 
Such is its fruit. This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to fruit. 

22. 9. How as to outflow? On being swallowed, it enters by one door, after which 
it flows out by several doors in the way beginning, "Eye-dirt from the eye, ear- 
dirt from the ear" (Sn 197). And on being swallowed it is swallowed even in the 
company of large gatherings. But on flowing out, now converted into excrement, 
urine, etc., it is excreted only in solitude. [346] On the first day one is delighted 
to eat it, elated and full of happiness and joy. On the second day one stops one's 
nose to void it, with a wry face, disgusted and dismayed. And on the first day 
one swallows it lustfully, greedily, gluttonously, infatuatedly But on the second 
day, after a single night has passed, one excretes it with distaste, ashamed, 
humiliated and disgusted. Hence the Ancients said: 

23. The food and drink so greatly prized — 
The crisp to chew, the soft to suck — 
Go in all by a single door, 

But by nine doors come oozing out. 



15. Pavana — "draught": not in this sense in PED; see XVI. 37. 

16. Dhatu — "ore": not in this sense in PED. See also XV20. 



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The food and drink so greatly prized — 
The crisp to chew, the soft to suck — 
Men like to eat in company, 
But to excrete in secrecy. 

The food and drink so greatly prized — 
The crisp to chew, the soft to suck — 
These a man eats with high delight, 
And then excretes with dumb disgust. 

The food and drink so greatly prized — 
The crisp to chew, the soft to suck — 
A single night will be enough 
To bring them to putridity. 

This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed as to outflow. 

24. 10. How as to smearing? At the time of using it he smears his hands, lips, 
tongue and palate, and they become repulsive by being smeared with it. And 
even when washed, they have to be washed again and again in order to remove 
the smell. And, just as, when rice is being boiled, the husks, the red powder 
covering the grain, etc., rise up and smear the mouth, rim and lid of the cauldron, 
so too, when eaten it rises up during its cooking and simmering by the bodily 
fire that pervades the whole body, it turns into tartar, which smears the teeth, and 
it turns into spittle, phlegm, etc., which respectively smear the tongue, palate, 
etc.; and it turns into eye-dirt, ear-dirt, snot, urine, excrement, etc., which 
respectively smear the eyes, ears, nose and nether passages. And when these 
doors are smeared by it, they never become either clean or pleasing even though 
washed every day. And after one has washed a certain one of these, the hand has 
to be washed again. 17 And after one has washed a certain one of these, the 
repulsiveness does not depart from it even after two or three washings with cow 
dung and clay and scented powder. This is how repulsiveness should be reviewed 
as to smearing. 

25. As he reviews repulsiveness in this way in ten aspects and strikes at it with 
thought and applied thought, physical nutriment [347] becomes evident to him 
in its repulsive aspect. He cultivates that sign 18 again and again, develops and 

17. '"A certain one' is said with reference to the anal orifice. But those who are 
scrupulously clean by nature wash their hands again after washing the mouth, and so 
on" (Vism-mht 342). 

18. '"That sign': that object as the sign for development, which sign is called physical 
nutriment and has appeared in the repulsive aspect to one who gives his attention to 
it repeatedly in the ways already described. And there, while development occurs 
through the repulsive aspect, it is only the dhammas on account of which there comes 
to be the concept of physical nutriment that are repulsive, not the concept. But it is 
because the occurrence of development is contingent only upon dhammas with an 
individual essence, and because the profundity is due to that actual individual essence 
of dhammas that have individual essences, that the jhana cannot reach absorption in it 
through apprehension of the repulsive aspect. For it is owing to profundity that the 
first pair of truths is hard to see" (Vism-mht 342-43). 

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repeatedly practices it. As he does so, the hindrances are suppressed, and his 
mind is concentrated in access concentration, but without reaching absorption 
because of the profundity of physical nutriment as a state with an individual 
essence. But perception is evident here in the apprehension of the repulsive 
aspect, which is why this meditation subject goes by the name of "perception of 
repulsiveness in nutriment." 

26. When a bhikkhu devotes himself to this perception of repulsiveness in 
nutriment, his mind retreats, retracts and recoils from craving for flavours. He 
nourishes himself with nutriment without vanity and only for the purpose of 
crossing over suffering, as one who seeks to cross over the desert eats his own 
dead child's flesh (S II 98). Then his greed for the five cords of sense desire 
comes to be fully understood without difficulty by means of the full 
understanding of the physical nutriment. He fully understands the materiality 
aggregate by means of the full-understanding of the five cords of sense desire. 
Development of mindfulness occupied with the body comes to perfection in him 
through the repulsiveness of "what is uncooked" and the rest. He has entered 
upon a way that is in conformity with the perception of foulness. And by keeping 
to this way, even if he does not experience the deathless goal in this life, he is at 
least bound for a happy destiny. 

This is the detailed explanation of the development of the perception of 
repulsiveness in nutriment. 

[Defining of The Elements: Word Definitions] 

27. Now comes the description of the development of the definition of the four 
elements, which was listed as the "one defining" next to the perception of 
repulsiveness in nutriment (III. 105). 

Herein, "defining" (vavatthana) is determining by characterizing individual 
essences. 19 [The compound] catudhatuvavatthana ("four-element defining") is 
[resolvable into] catunnam dhatunam vavatthanam ("defining of the four elements"). 
"Attention given to elements," "the meditation subject consisting of elements" 
and "defining of the four elements" all mean the same thing. 

This is given in two ways: in brief and in detail. It is given in brief in the 
Mahasatipatthana Sutta (D II 294), and in detail in the Mahahatthipadopama 
Sutta (M I 185), the Rahulovada Sutta (M I 421), and the Dhatuvibhahga Sutta 
(M III 240). 

19. "'By characterizing individual essences': by making certain (upadharana) of the specific 
characteristics of hardness, and so on. For this meditation subject does not consist in 
the observing of a mere concept, as in the case of the earth kasina as a meditation 
subject, neither does it consist in the observing of the colour blue, etc., as in the case 
of the blue kasina as a meditation subject, nor in the observing of the general 
characteristics of impermanence, etc., in formations, as in the case of insight as a 
meditation subject; but rather it consists in the observing of the individual essences of 
earth, and so on. That is why 'by characterizing individual essences' is said, which 
means, 'by making certain of the specific characteristics of hardness, and so on"(Vism- 
mht 344). 

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Chapter XI Concentration (conclusion): Nutriment and the Elements 

[Texts and Commentary in Brief] 

28. It is given in brief in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, for one of quick 
understanding whose meditation subject is elements, as follows: "Bhikkhus, 
just as though a skilled butcher or butcher's apprentice had killed a cow and 
were seated at the crossroads [348] with it cut up into pieces, so too, bhikkhus, a 
bhikkhu reviews this body however placed, however disposed, as consisting of 
elements: In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire 
element, and the air element" 20 (D II 294). 

29. The meaning is this: just as though a clever butcher, or his apprentice who 
worked for his keep, had killed a cow and divided it up and were seated at the 
crossroads, reckoned as the intersection of the main roads going in the four 
directions, having laid it out part by part, so too a bhikkhu reviews the body, however 
placed because it is in some one of the four postures and however disposed because 
it is so placed, thus: In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire 
element, and the air element. 

30. What is meant? Just as the butcher, while feeding the cow, bringing it to the 
shambles, keeping it tied up after bringing it there, slaughtering it, and seeing it 
slaughtered and dead, does not lose the perception "cow" so long as he has not 
carved it up and divided it into parts; but when he has divided it up and is 
sitting there, he loses the perception "cow" and the perception "meat" occurs; 
he does not think "I am selling cow" or "They are carrying cow away," but rather 
he thinks "I am selling meat" or "They are carrying meat away"; so too this 
bhikkhu, while still a foolish ordinary person — both formerly as a layman and 
as one gone forth into homelessness — does not lose the perception "living being" 
or "man" or "person" so long as he does not, by resolution of the compact into 
elements, review this body, however placed, however disposed, as consisting of 
elements. But when he does review it as consisting of elements, he loses the 
perception "living being" and his mind establishes itself upon elements. That is 
why the Blessed One said: "Bhikkhus, just as though a skilled butcher ... were 
seated at the crossroads ... so too, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu ... air element." 



20. "Herein, as regards 'earth element,' etc., the meaning of element is the meaning of 
individual essence, the meaning of individual essence is the meaning of voidness, the 
meaning of voidness is the meaning of not-a-living-being. So it is just earth in the 
sense of individual essence, voidness and not-a-living-being that is the element; hence 
it is earth element; so too in the case of the water element, and the rest. The earth 
element is the element that is the foothold for the conascent material states. Likewise 
the water element is the element of their cohesion; the fire element is the element of 
their ripening; and the air element is the element of their conveyance and distension" 
(Vism-mht 345). 

To avoid confusion, it might be mentioned here that in "physical" earth, fire, water, 
and air, it would be held that all four elements are present in each equally, but that in 
"physical" earth the earth element is dominant in efficacy as the mode of hardness; 
and correspondingly with water and the rest. See e.g. XIV45. 

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[In Detail] 

31. In the Mahahatthipadopama Sutta it is given in detail for one of not over- 
quick understanding whose meditation subject is elements — and as here so 
also in the Rahulovada and Dhatuvibhariga Suttas — as follows: 

"And what is the internal earth element, friends? Whatever there is internally 
in oneself that is hard, harsh, 21 and clung to (acquired through kamma), that is 
to say, head hairs, body hairs, teeth, nails, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, 
kidney, heart, liver, midriff, spleen, lungs, bowels, entrails, gorge, dung, or 
whatever else there is internally in oneself that is hard, harsh, and clung to — 
this is called the internal earth element" (M I 185). [349] 

And: "What is the internal water element, friends? Whatever there is internally 
in oneself that is water, watery, and clung to, that is to say, bile, phlegm, pus, 
blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine, or whatever 
else there is internally in oneself that is water, watery, and clung to — this is 
called the internal water element" (M I 187). 

And: "What is the internal fire element, friends? Whatever there is internally 
in oneself that is fire, fiery, and clung to, that is to say, that whereby one is warmed, 
ages, and burns up, and whereby what is eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted gets 
completely digested, or whatever else there is internally in oneself that is fire, 
fiery, and clung to — this is called the internal fire element" (M I 188). 

And: "What is the internal air element, friends? Whatever there is internally 
in oneself that is air, airy, and clung to, that is to say, up-going winds, down- 
going winds, winds in the belly, winds in the bowels, winds that course through 
all the limbs, in-breath and out-breath, or whatever else there is internally in oneself 
that is air, airy, and clung to — this is called the internal air element" (M I 188). 

32. Here is the commentary on the words that are not clear. Internally in oneself 
(ajjhattam paccattam): both these words are terms for what is one's own {niyaka), since 
what is one's own is what is produced in one's own self (attani jatam); the meaning 
is, included in one's continuity (sasantati-pariyapanna). This is called "internal" 
(ajjhanam = adhi + atta, lit. "belonging-to-self") because it occurs in self {attani — 
locative case) just as in the world, speech among women (itthlsu — loc. case) is called 
"[speech] belonging-to-women" (adhitthi). And it is called, "in oneself" (paccattam) 
because it occurs owing to self (attanam paticca). 22 

33. Hard: rigid. Harsh: rough. Herein, the first is a word for the characteristic, while 
the second is a word for the mode; for the earth element is characterized as hard, but 
its mode is rough, which is why it is called "harsh." Clung to: taken firmly [by 
kamma]; the meaning is, firmly taken, seized, adhered to, as "I," "mine" (see §89f.). 

34. That is to say: the word seyyathidam ("that is to say") is a particle; its meaning 
is, "What is that?" Next, showing what that is, "head hairs, body hairs," etc., is 



21. Kharigata — "harsh": not in PED, but see khara. 

22. "What occurs in attendance (adhikicca) upon self (atta) by its pertaining to the 
state that may be taken as self because it is included in one's own continuity as 
internal (ajjhatta)" (Vism-mht 347). 



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said. And here the brain must be added since it has to be understood that the 
earth element needs to be described in twenty modes. Or whatever else: the earth 
element included in the remaining three portions. 

35. [350] It flows (appoti), flows on (pappoti), to such and such a place as a state 
of streaming, thus it is water (apo). The watery (apo-gata) is what is gone (gata) 
among such various kinds of water [apo) as the kamma-originated, and so on. 
What is that? It is what has the water element's characteristic of cohesion. 

36. Fire (tejo) [is definable] as heating (tejana). The fiery (tejo-gata) is what is 
gone (gata), in the way already described, among the kinds of fire (tejo). What is 
that? It is what has the characteristic of heat. Whereby: by means of which the fire 
element, when excited, this body is warmed, becomes heated by the state of one- 
day fever, 23 and so on. Ages: whereby this body grows old, reaches the decline of 
the faculties, loss of strength, wrinkles, grayness, and so on. Burns up: whereby, 
when excited, it causes this body to burn, and the person cries out, "I am burning, 
I am burning!" and longs for ghee a hundred times washed and for gosisa 
sandalwood ointment, etc., and for the breeze of a fan. And whereby what is eaten, 
drunk, chewed and tasted gets completely digested: whereby the boiled rice, etc., that 
is eaten, or the beverage, etc., that is drunk, or the hard food consisting of flour 
biscuits, etc., that is chewed, the mango fruit, honey, molasses, etc., that is tasted, gets 
completely cooked; gets its juice, etc., extracted, is the meaning. And here the first 
three kinds of fire element [that is to say, "is warmed," "ages," and "burns up"] are 
of fourfold origination (XX.27ff.), while the last is only kamma-originated. 

37. Air (vayo) [is definable] as blowing (vayana). The airy (vayo-gata) is what is 
gone (gata), in the way already described, among the kinds of air. What is that? It 
is what has the characteristic of distension. 24 Upgoing winds: winds (forces) 
mounting upwards that cause the occurrence of vomiting, belching, and so on. 
Doivn-going winds: winds (forces) descending downwards that expel excrement 
and urine. Winds in the belly: winds (forces) outside the bowels. Winds in the 
bowels: winds (forces) inside the bowels. Winds that course through all the limbs: 
winds (forces) that produce flexing, extending, etc., and are distributed over the 
limbs and the whole body by means of the network of veins (nerves). In-breath: 
wind in the nostrils entering in. Out-breath: wind in the nostrils issuing out. 
And here the first five are of fourfold origination. In-breath and out-breath are 
consciousness-originated. [351] 



23. Jam— "fever": not in PED; see A V 100; Nidd 1 17. 

24. Vitthambhana — "distension": the word most usually employed to describe the air 
element. It is often rendered by "supporting," a word earmarked here for nissaya. The 
twofold function of the air element is (a) to uphold (sandharana) by distending 
(vitthambhana) and preventing collapse (§92), and (b) to move (samudtrana), or more 
strictly, cause the appearance of motion (calana, see n. 37). In XIV61 it is said to cause 
thambhana, rendered by "stiffening"; but there is the description of the earth element 
as thaddha (e.g. §39; pp. of thambhati, from which the noun thambhana comes), rendered 
by "stiffenedness." It may also be noted that the word sandharana (upholding) is used 
to describe both the earth element (XIV47) and the air element (XIV61). 

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Path of Purification Part 2: Concentration (Samadhi) 

In each instance the phrase or whatever else comprises respectively the water 
element, the fire element, or the air element included in the other three portions. 

38. So the four elements have been detailed in forty-two aspects, that is to say, 
the earth element in twenty aspects, the water element in twelve, the fire element 
in four, and the air element in six. 

This, firstly, is the commentary on the texts here. 

[Method of Development in Brief] 

39. As regards the method of development here, however, to discern the elements 
in detail in this way, "The head hairs are the earth element, the body hairs are the 
earth element," appears redundant to a bhikkhu of quick understanding, though 
the meditation subject becomes clear to him if he gives his attention to it in this 
way: "What has the characteristic of stiffenedness is the earth element, what has 
the characteristic of cohesion is the water element, what has the characteristic of 
ripening (maturing) is the fire element, what has the characteristic of distending 
(supporting) is the air element." But when one of not over-quick understanding 
gives his attention to it in this way, it appears obscure and unevident, and it only 
becomes plain to him if he gives his attention to it in the first-mentioned way Why? 

40. Suppose two bhikkhus are reciting a text with many elided repetitions, then 
the bhikkhu with the quicker understanding fills out the elided repetitions once 
or twice, after which he goes on doing the recital with only the two end parts of 
the elisions. Here the one of less quick understanding says, "What is he reciting? 
Why, he does not even give one time to move one's lips! If the recitation is done 
like this, when shall we ever get familiar with the text?" and so he does his 
recitation filling out each elision as it comes. Then the other says, "What is he 
reciting? Why, he never lets one get to the end of it! If the recitation is done like 
this; when shall we ever get to the end of it?" So too, the detailed discerning of 
the elements by head hairs, etc., appears redundant to one of quick 
understanding, though the meditation subject becomes clear to him if he gives 
his attention to it in brief in this way, "What has the characteristic of stiffenedness 
is the earth element," and so on. But when the other gives his attention to it in 
this way, it appears obscure and unevident, and it only becomes plain to him if 
he gives his attention in detail by head hairs and so on. 

41. So firstly, one of quick understanding who wants to develop this meditation 
subject should go into solitary retreat. Then he should advert to his own entire 
material body and discern the elements in brief in this way: "In this body what 
is stiffenedness or harshness is the earth element, what is cohesion or fluidity 25 
[352] is the water element, what is maturing (ripening) or heat is the fire element, 
what is distension or movement is the air element." And he should advert and 
give attention to it and review it again and again as "earth element, water 
element," that is to say, as mere elements, not a living being, and soulless. 

42. As he makes effort in this way it is not long before concentration arises in 
him, which is reinforced by understanding that illuminates the classification of 

25. Drava-bhava — "fluidity": not in PED. 

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the elements, and which is only access and does not reach absorption because it 
has states with individual essences as its object. 

43. Or alternatively, there are these four [bodily] parts mentioned by the General 
of the Dhamma [the Elder Sariputta] for the purpose of showing the absence of 
any living being in the four great primary elements thus: "When a space is 
enclosed with bones and sinews and flesh and skin, there comes to be the term 
'material form' (rupa)" (M I 190). And he should resolve each of these [as a 
separate entity], separating them out by the hand of knowledge, and then discern 
them in the way already stated thus: "In these what is stiffenedness or harshness 
is the earth element." And he should again and again advert to them, give 
attention to them and review them as mere elements, not a living being, not a 
soul. 

44. As he makes effort in this way, it is not long before concentration arises in 
him, which is reinforced by understanding that illuminates the classification of 
the elements, and which is only access and does not reach absorption because it 
has states with individual essences as its object. 

This is the method of development when the definition of the elements is 
given in brief. 

[Method of Development in Detail] 

45. The method given in detail should be understood in this way. A meditator 
of not over-quick understanding who wants to develop this meditation subject 
should learn the elements in detail in the forty-two aspects from a teacher, and 
he should live in an abode of the kind already described. Then, when he has 
done all the duties, he should go into solitary retreat and develop the meditation 
subject in four ways thus: (1) with constituents in brief, (2) with constituents by 
analysis, (3) with characteristics in brief, and (4) with characteristics by analysis. 

[(1) With Constituents in Brief] 

46. Herein, how does he develop it with constituents in brief! Here a bhikkhu 
does his defining in this way, "In twenty of the parts what has the stiffened mode 
is the earth element," and he does his defining thus, "In twelve parts the liquid 
called water with the mode of cohesion is the water element," [353] and he does 
his defining thus, "In four parts what matures (what has the mode of ripening) 
is the fire element," and he does his defining thus, "In six parts what has the 
mode of distending is the air element." As he defines them in this way they 
become evident to him. As he again and again adverts to them and gives his 
attention to them, concentration arises as access only. 

[(2) With Constituents by Analysis] 

47. However, if his meditation subject is not successful while he develops it in 
this way, then he should develop it with constituents by analysis. How? Firstly, the 
bhikkhu should carry out all the directions given for the thirty-two-fold aspect 
in the description of mindfulness occupied with the body as a meditation subject 
(VIII. 48-78), namely, the sevenfold skill in learning and the tenfold skill in giving 



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attention, and he should start with the verbal recitation, in direct and reverse 
order, of the skin pentad and so on, without omitting any of it. The only difference 
is this: there, after giving attention to the head hairs, etc., as to colour, shape, 
direction, location, and delimitation, the mind had to be fixed by means of 
repulsiveness (VIII. 83), but here it is done by means of elements. Therefore at the 
end of each part after giving attention to head hairs, etc., each in the five ways 
beginning with colour (VIII. 83), attention should be given as follows. 

48. These things called head hairs grow on the inner skin that envelops the 
skull. Herein, just as when kuntha grasses grow on the top of an anthill, the top 
of the termite-mound does not know, "Kuntha grasses are growing on me," nor 
do the kuntha grasses know, "We are growing on the top of a termite-mound," so 
too, the inner skin that covers the skull does not know, "Head hairs grow on me," 
nor do the head hairs know, "We grow on inner skin that envelops a skull." 
These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what are called 
head hairs are a particular component of this body, without thought, [morally] 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid (stiffened) earth element. 

49. Body hairs grow on the inner skin that envelops the body. Herein, just as, 
when dabba grasses grow on the square in an empty village, the square in the 
empty village does not know, "Dabba grasses grow on me," nor do the dabba 
grasses know, "We grow on the square in an empty village," so too, the inner 
skin that envelops the body does not know, "Body hairs grow on me," nor do the 
body hairs know, "We grow on inner skin that envelops a body." These things 
are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what are called body hairs are a 
particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, rigid earth element. 

50. Nails grow on the tips of the fingers and toes. Herein, just as, when children 
play a game by piercing madhuka-iruit kernels with sticks, the sticks [354] do 
not know, "Madhuka-iruit kernels are put on us," nor do the madhuka-iruit kernels 
know, "We are put on sticks," so too, the fingers and toes do not know, "Nails 
grow on our tips," nor do the nails know, "We grow on the tips of fingers and 
toes." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what are 
called nails are a particular component of this body, without thought, 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

51. Teeth grow in the jaw bones. Herein, just as, when posts are placed by 
builders in stone sockets and fastened with some kind of cement, 26 the sockets 
do not know, "Posts are placed in us," nor do the posts know, "We are placed in 
sockets," so too, the jaw bones do not know, "Teeth grow in us," nor do the teeth 
know, "We grow in jaw bones'." These things are devoid of mutual concern and 
reviewing. So what are called teeth are a particular component of this body, 
without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

52. Skin is to be found covering the whole body. Herein, just as, when a big lute 
is covered with damp ox-hide, the lute does not know, "I am covered with damp 
ox-hide," nor does the damp ox-hide know, "A lute is covered by me," so too, the 

26. Silesa — "cement": not in this meaning in PED; M-a I 37 samsilesa. 

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body does not know, "I am covered by skin," nor does the skin know, "A body is 
covered by me." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So 
what is called skin is a particular component of this body, without thought, 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

53. Flesh is to be found plastered over the framework of bones. Herein, just as, 
when a wall is plastered with thick clay, the wall does not know, "I am plastered 
with thick clay," nor does the thick clay know, "A wall is plastered with me," so 
too, the framework of bones does not know, "I am plastered with flesh consisting 
of nine hundred pieces of flesh," nor does the flesh know, "A framework of 
bones is plastered with me." These things are devoid of mutual concern and 
reviewing. So what is called flesh is a particular component of this body, without 
thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

54. Sinews are to be found in the interior of the body binding the bones together. 
Herein, just as, when withies and sticks are bound together with creepers, the 
withies and sticks do not know [355] "We are bound together with creepers," 
nor do the creepers know, "Withies and sticks are bound together by us," so too, 
the bones do not know, "We are bound by sinews," nor do the sinews know, 
"Bones are bound together by us." These things are devoid of mutual concern 
and reviewing. So what are called sinews are a particular component of this 
body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth 
element. 

55. As to the bones, the heel bone is to be found holding up the ankle bone, the 
ankle bone holding up the shin bone, the shin bone the thigh bone, the thigh 
bone the hip bone, the hip bone the backbone, the backbone the neck bone, and 
the neck bone is to be found holding up the cranium bone. The cranium bone 
rests on the neck bone, the neck bone on the backbone, the backbone on the hip 
bone, the hip bone on the thigh bone, the thigh bone on the shin bone, the shin 
bone on the ankle bone, the ankle bone on the heel bone. 

56. Herein, just as, when bricks, timber or [blocks of dried] cow dung are built 
up, those below do not know, "We each stand holding up those above us," nor do 
those above know, "We each rest on those below us," so too, the heel bone does 
not know, "I stand holding up the ankle bone," nor does the ankle bone know, "I 
stand holding up the shin bone," nor does the shin bone know, "I stand holding 
up the thigh bone," nor does the thigh bone know, "I stand holding up the hip 
bone," nor does the hip bone know, "I stand holding up the backbone," nor does 
the backbone know, "I stand holding up the neck bone," nor does the neck bone 
know, "I stand holding up the cranium bone," nor does the cranium bone know, 
"I rest on the neck bone," nor does the neck bone know, "I rest on the backbone," 
nor does the backbone know, "I rest on the hip bone," nor does the hip bone 
know, "I rest on the thigh bone," nor does the thigh bone know, "I rest on the shin 
bone," nor does the shin bone know, "I rest on the ankle bone," nor does the 
ankle bone know, "I rest on the heel bone." These things are devoid of mutual 
concern and reviewing. So what are called bones [356] are a particular component 
of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth 
element. 



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57. Bone marrow is to be found inside the various bones. Herein, just as, when 
boiled bamboo sprouts, etc., are put inside bamboo joints, etc., the bamboo joints, 
etc., do not know, "Bamboo sprouts, etc., are put in us," nor do the bamboo 
sprouts, etc., know, "We are inside bamboo joints, etc.," so too, the bones do not 
know, "Marrow is inside us," nor does the bone marrow know, "I am inside 
bones." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is 
called bone marrow is a particular component of this body, without thought, 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

58. Kidney is to be found on each side of the heart flesh, being fastened by the 
stout sinew that starts out with a single root from the base of the neck and 
divides into two after going a short way. Herein, just as, when a pair of mango 
fruits are bound together by their stalk, the stalk does not know, "A pair of 
mango fruits is bound together by me," nor do the pair of mango fruits know, 
"We are bound together by a stalk," so too, the stout sinew does not know, 
"Kidneys are bound together by me," nor does the kidney know, "I am bound 
together by a stout sinew." These things are devoid of mutual concern and 
reviewing. So what is called kidney is a particular component of this body, without 
thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

59. Heart is to be found in the inside of the body near the middle of the frame of 
the ribs. Herein, just as, when a piece of meat is placed near the framework of an 
old cart, the inside of the framework of the old cart does not know, "A piece of 
meat is placed near the middle of me," nor does the piece of meat know, "I am 
near the middle of the inside of the framework of an old cart," so too, the inside 
of the framework of the ribs does not know, "A heart is near the middle of me," 
nor does the heart know, "I am near the middle of the inside of a framework of 
ribs." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is 
called heart is a particular component of this body, without thought, 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

60. Liver is to be found inside the body, near the right side between the two 
breasts. Herein, just as, when a twin lump of meat is stuck on the side of a 
cooking pot, the side of the cooking pot does not know, "A twin lump of meat is 
stuck on me," nor does the twin lump of meat know, [357] "I am stuck on the side 
of a cooking pot," so too, the right side between the breasts does not know, "Liver 
is near me," nor does the liver know, "I am near a right side between two breasts." 
These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called 
liver is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, 
void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

61. As to the midriff, the concealed midriff is to be found surrounding the heart 
and kidney, while the unconcealed midriff is to be found covering the flesh 
under the skin in the whole body. Herein, just as, when meat is wrapped in a rag, 
the meat does not know, "I am wrapped in a rag," nor does the rag know, "Meat 
is wrapped in me," so too, the heart and kidney, and the flesh in the whole body, 
do not know, "I am concealed by midriff," nor does the midriff know, "Heart and 
kidney, and flesh in a whole body, are concealed by me." These things are devoid 
of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called midriff is a particular 



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component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, 
rigid earth element. 

62. Spleen is to be found near the upper side of the belly lining on the left side 
of the heart. Herein, just as, when a lump of cow dung is near the upper side of 
a barn, the upper side of the barn does not know, "A lump of cow dung is near 
me," nor does the lump of cow dung know, "I am near the upper side of a barn," 
so too, the upper side of the belly lining does not know, "Spleen is near me," nor 
does the spleen know, "I am near the upper side of a belly lining." These things 
are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called spleen is a 
particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, rigid earth element. 

63. Lungs are to be found inside the body between the two breasts, hanging over 
the heart and liver and concealing them. Herein, just as when a bird's nest is 
hanging inside an old barn, the inside of the old barn does not know, "A bird's 
nest is hanging in me," nor does the bird's nest know, "I am hanging inside an 
old barn," so too, [358] the inside of the body does not know, "Lungs are hanging 
in me," nor do the lungs know, "We are hanging inside such a body." These 
things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called lungs is a 
particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, rigid earth element. 

64. Bowel is to be found inside the body extending from the base of the neck to 
the excrement passage. Herein, just as, when the carcass of a large beheaded rat 
snake 27 is coiled up and put into a trough of blood, the red trough does not know, 
"A rat snake's carcass has been put in me," nor does the rat snake's carcass 
know, "I am in a red trough," so too, the inside of the body does not know, "A 
bowel is in me," nor does the bowel know, "I am in a body." These things are 
devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called the bowel is a 
particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, rigid earth element. 

65. Entrails are to be found in the interspaces between the twenty-one coils of 
the bowel, binding them together. Herein, just as, when ropes are found sewing 
together a rope ring for wiping the feet, the rope ring for wiping the feet does not 
know, "Ropes are to be found sewing me together," nor do the ropes know, "We 
are to be found sewing together a rope ring," so too, the bowel does not know, 
"Entrails are to be found binding me together," nor do the entrails know, "We 
are to be found binding a bowel together." These things are devoid of mutual 
concern and reviewing. So what is called entrails is a particular component of 
this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth 
element. 

66. Gorge is what is eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted that lies in the stomach. 
Herein, just as, when a dog's vomit lies in a dog's bowl, the dog's bowl does not 
know, "Dog's vomit is lying in me," nor does the dog's vomit know, "I am lying 



27. Dhammani — "rat snake": not in this sense in PED; see A-a 459. 

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in a dog's bowl," so too, the stomach does not know, "Gorge is lying in me," nor 
does the gorge know, "I am lying in a stomach." These things are devoid of 
mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called gorge is a particular component 
of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth 
element. 

67. Dung is to be found at the end of the bowel, which resembles a bamboo joint 
eight fingerbreadths long and is called the "receptacle for digested food." [359] 
Herein, just as, when soft brown clay is impacted in a bamboo joint, the bamboo 
joint does not know, "Brown clay is in me," nor does brown clay know, "I am in 
a bamboo joint," so too, the receptacle for digested food does not know, "Dung is 
in me," nor does the dung know, "I am in a receptacle for digested food." These 
things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called dung is a 
particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, rigid earth element. 

68. Brain is to be found in the interior of the skull. Herein, just as, when a lump 
of dough is put inside an old gourd rind, the gourd rind does not know, "A 
lump of dough is in me," nor does the lump of dough know, "I am inside a gourd 
rind," so too, the inside of the skull does not know, "Brain is in me," nor does the 
brain know, "I am inside a skull." These things are devoid of mutual concern 
and reviewing. So what is called brain is a particular component of this body, 
without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, rigid earth element. 

69. As to bile, the free bile, which is bound up with the life faculty, is to be found 
soaking the whole body, while the local bile is to be found in the bile container 
(gall-bladder). Herein, just as, when oil has soaked a cake, the cake does not 
know, "Oil soaks me," nor does the oil know, "I soak a cake," so too, the body 
does not know, "Free bile soaks me," nor does the free bile know, "I soak a body." 
And just as, when a kosataki (loofah) creeper bladder is filled with rain water, the 
kosataki creeper bladder does not know, "Rain water is in me," nor does the rain 
water know, "I am in a kosataki creeper bladder," so too, the bile bladder does not 
know, "Local bile is in me," nor does the local bile know, "I am in a bile bladder." 
These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called bile 
is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not 
a living being, liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

70. Phlegm is to be found on the surface of the stomach and measures a bowlful. 
Herein, just as, when a cesspool has a surface of froth, the cesspool does not 
know, "A surface of froth is on me," nor does the surface of froth [360] know, "I 
am on a cesspool," so too, the surface of the stomach does not know, "Phlegm is 
on me" nor does the phlegm know, "I am on the surface of a stomach." These 
things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called phlegm is 
a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

71. Pus has no fixed location. It is to be found wherever the blood stagnates 
and goes bad in a part of the body damaged by wounds caused by splinters and 
thorns, and by burns due to fire, or where boils, carbuncles, etc., appear. Herein, 
just as, when a tree oozes gum through being hit by, say, an axe, the parts of the 

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tree that have been hit do not know, "Gum is in us," nor does the gum know, "I am 
in a part of a tree that has been hit," so too, the parts of the body wounded by 
splinters, thorns, etc., do not know, "Pus is in us," nor does the pus know, "I am 
in such places." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So 
what is called pus is a particular component of this body, without thought, 
indeterminate, void, not a living being, liquid water element in the mode of 
cohesion. 

72. As to blood, the mobile blood is to be found, like the bile, soaking the whole 
body. The stored blood, is to be found filling the lower part of the liver's site to the 
extent of a bowlful, wetting the kidney, heart, liver and lungs. Herein, the 
definition of the mobile blood is similar to that of the free bile. But as to the other, 
just as, when rain water seeps through an old pot and wets clods and stumps 
below, the clods and stumps do not know, "We are being wetted with water," nor 
does the water know, "I am wetting clods and stumps," so too, the lower part of 
the liver's site, or the kidneys, etc., respectively do not know, "Blood is in me," or 
"We are being wetted," nor does the blood know, "I fill the lower part of a liver's 
site, am wetting a kidney, and so on." These things are devoid of mutual concern 
and reviewing. So what is called blood is a particular component of this body, 
without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, liquid water element in 
the mode of cohesion. 

73. Sweat is to be found filling the openings of the pores of the head hairs and 
body hairs when there is heat due to fires, etc., and it trickles out of them. Herein, 
just as, when [361] bunches of lily bud stems and lotus stalks are pulled up out 
of water, the openings in the bunches of lilies, etc., do not know, "Water trickles 
from us," nor does the water trickling from the openings in the bunches of lilies, 
etc., know, "I am trickling from openings in bunches of lilies, etc.," so too, the 
openings of the pores of the head hairs and body hairs do not know, "Sweat 
trickles from us," nor does the sweat know, "I trickle from openings of pores of 
head hairs and body hairs." These things are devoid of mutual concern and 
reviewing. So what is called sweat is a particular component of this body, without 
thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, liquid water element in the 
mode of cohesion. 

74. Fat is the thick unguent to be found pervading the whole body of one who 
is stout, and on the shank flesh, etc., of one who is lean. Herein, just as, when a 
heap of meat is covered by a yellow rag, the heap of meat does not know, "A 
yellow rag is next to me," nor does the yellow rag know, "I am next to a heap of 
meat," so too, the flesh to be found on the whole body, or on the shanks, etc., does 
not know, "Fat is next to me," nor does the fat know/T am next to flesh on a whole 
body, or on the shanks, and so on." These things are devoid of mutual concern 
and reviewing. So what is called fat is a particular component of this body, 
without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, thick-liquid water 
element in the mode of cohesion. 

75. Tears, when produced, are to be found filling the eye sockets or trickling out 
of them. Herein, just as, when the sockets of young palm kernels are filled with 
water, the sockets of the young palm kernels do not know, "Water is in us," nor 



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does the water in the sockets of the young palm kernels know, "I am in sockets of 
young palm kernels," so too, the eye sockets do not know, "Tears are in us," nor 
do the tears know, "We are in eye sockets." These things are devoid of mutual 
concern and reviewing. So what is called tears is a particular component of this 
body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, liquid water 
element in the mode of cohesion. 

76. Grease is the melted unguent to be found on the palms and backs of the hands, 
on the soles and backs of the feet, on the nose and forehead and on the points of the 
shoulders, when heated by fire, and so on. Herein, just as, when rice gruel has oil put 
on it, the rice gruel does not know, "Oil is spread over me," nor does the oil know, "I 
am spread over rice gruel," so too, the place consisting of the palm of the hand, etc., 
[362] does not know, "Grease is spread over me," nor does the grease know, "I am 
spread over places consisting of the palm of the hand, and so on." These things are 
devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called grease is a particular 
component of this body without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, 
liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

77. Spittle is to be found on the surface of the tongue after it has descended 
from the cheeks on both sides, when there is a condition for the arising of spittle. 
Herein, just as, when a hollow in a river bank is constantly oozing with water, 
the surface of the hollow does not know, "Water lies on me," nor does the water 
know, "I lie on the surface of a hollow," so too, the surface of the tongue does not 
know, "Spittle that has descended from cheeks on both sides is on me," nor does the 
spittle know, "I have descended from cheeks on both sides and am on the surface of 
a tongue." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is 
called spittle is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, 
void, not a living being, liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

78. Snot, when produced, is to be found filling the nostrils or trickling out of 
them. Herein, just as, when a bag 28 is loaded with rotting curd, the bag does not 
know, "Rotting curd is in me," nor does the rotting curd know, "I am in a bag," 
so too, the nostrils do not know, "Snot is in us," nor does the snot know, "I am in 
nostrils." These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is 
called snot is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, 
void, not a living being, liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

79. Oil of the joints is to be found in the hundred and eighty joints serving the 
function of lubricating the joints of the bones. Herein, just as, when an axle is 
lubricated with oil, the axle does not know, "Oil lubricates me," nor does the oil 
know, "I lubricate an axle," so too, the hundred and eighty joints do not know, 
"Oil of the joints lubricates us," nor does the oil of the joints know, "I lubricate a 
hundred and eighty joints." These things are devoid of mutual concern and 
reviewing. So what is called oil of the joints is a particular component of this 
body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being, liquid water 
element in the mode of cohesion. 



28. Sippika — "bag" (?): not in this sense in PED. 

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80. Urine is to be found inside the bladder. Herein, just as, when a porous pot is put 
upside down in a cesspool, the porous pot does not know, "Cesspool filtrate is in 
me," nor does the cesspool filtrate know, "I am in a porous pot," so too, the bladder 
does not know, [363] "Urine is in me," nor does the urine know, "I am in a bladder." 
These things are devoid of mutual concern and reviewing. So what is called urine is 
a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a 
living being, liquid water element in the mode of cohesion. 

81. When he has given his attention in this way to the body hairs, etc., he should 
then give his attention to the [four] fire components thus: That whereby one is warmed — 
this is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, 
not a living being; it is fire element in the mode of maturing (ripening). 

That whereby one ages . . . 

That whereby one burns up ... 

That whereby what is eaten, drunk, chewed and tasted becomes completely digested — 
this is a particular component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, 
void, not a living being; it is fire element in the mode of maturing (ripening). 

82. After that, having discovered the up-going winds (forces) as upgoing, the 
down-going winds (forces) as down-going, the winds (forces) in the belly as in the 
belly, the winds (forces) in the bowels as in the bowels, the winds (forces) that course 
through all the limbs as coursing through all the limbs, and in-breath and out- 
breath as in-breath and out-breath, he should give his attention to these [six] air 
components in this way: What is called up-going winds (forces) is a particular 
component of this body, without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being; 
it is air element in the mode of distending. 

What is called down-going winds (forces) ... 

What is called winds (forces) in the belly ... 

What is called winds (forces) in the bowels ... 

What is called winds (forces) that course through all the limbs ... 

What is called in-breath and out-breath is a particular component of this body, 
without thought, indeterminate, void, not a living being; it is air element in the 
mode of distending. 

83. As he gives his attention in this way the elements become evident to him. 
As he adverts and gives attention to them again and again access concentration 
arises in him in the way already described. 

[(3) With Characteristics in Brief] 

84. But if his meditation subject is still not successful when he gives his attention 
to it in this way, then he should develop it with characteristics in brief. How? In the 
twenty components the characteristic of stiffenedness should be defined as the earth 
element, and the characteristic of cohesion, which is there too, as the water element, 
and the characteristic of maturing (ripening), which is there too, as the fire element, 
and the characteristic of distension, which is there too, as the air element. In the 
twelve components the characteristic of cohesion should be defined as the water 



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element, the characteristic of maturing (ripening), which is there too, as the fire 
element, the characteristic of distension, which is there too, as the air element, and 
the characteristic of stiffenedness, which is there too, as the earth element. In the four 
components the characteristic of maturing (ripening) should be defined as the fire 
element, the characteristic of distension unresolvable (inseparable) from it as the air 
element, [364] the characteristic of stiffenedness as the earth element, and the 
characteristic of cohesion as the water element. In the six components the characteristic 
of distension should be defined as the air element, the characteristic of stiffenedness 
there too as the earth element, the characteristic of cohesion as the water element, 
and the characteristic of maturing (ripening) as the fire element. 

As he defines them in this way the elements become evident to him. As he 
adverts to them and gives attention to them again and again access concentration 
arises in him in the way already stated. 

[(4) With Characteristics by Analysis] 

85. However, if he still does not succeed with his meditation subject when he 
gives his attention to it in this way, then he should develop it with characteristics 
by analysis. How? After discerning head hairs, etc., in the way already described, 
the characteristic of stiffenedness in head hairs should be defined as the earth 
element, the characteristic of cohesion there too as the water element, the 
characteristic of maturing (ripening) as the fire element, and the characteristic 
of distension as the air element. The four elements should be defined in this way 
in the case of each component. 

As he defines them in this way the elements become evident to him. As he 
adverts and gives attention to them again and again access concentration arises 
in him in the way already described. 

[Additional Ways of Giving Attention] 

86. In addition, attention should be given to the elements in the following ways: 
(1) as to word meaning, (2) by groups, (3) by particles, (4) by characteristic, etc., (5) as 
to how originated, (6) as to variety and unity, (7) as to resolution (separability) and 
non-resolution (inseparability), (8) as to the similar and the dissimilar, (9) as to 
distinction between internal and external, (10) as to inclusion, (11) as to condition, 
(12) as to lack of conscious reaction, (13) as to analysis of conditions. 

87. 1. Herein, one who gives his attention to them as to word meaning should do 
so separately and generally thus: [separately] it is earth (pathavl) because it is 
spread out (patthata); it flows (appoti) or it glides (apiyati) or it satisfies (appayati), 
thus it is water (apo); it heats (tejati), thus it is fire (tejo); it blows (vayati), thus it is 
air (vayo). But without differentiation they are elements (dhatu) because of bearing 
(dharana) their own characteristics, because of grasping (adana) suffering, and 
because of sorting out (adhana) suffering (see XV19). 29 This is how they should 
be given attention as to word meaning. 



29. "'Because of bearing their own characteristics': these are not like the Primordial 
Essence (pakati — Skr. prakrti) and the self (atta) imagined by the theorists which are 



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88. 2. By groups: there is the earth element described under the twenty aspects 
(modes) beginning with head hairs, body hairs, and also the water element 
described under the twelve (modes) aspects beginning with bile, phlegm, etc. 
Now, as to these: 

Colour, odour, taste, and nutritive 

Essence, and the four elements — 

From combination of these eight 

There comes the common usage head hairs; 

And separately from these eight 30 

There is no common usage head hairs. 

Consequently, head hairs are only a mere group of eight states. Likewise, 
body hairs, [365] and the rest. A component here that is kamma-originated is a 
group of ten states, [that is to say, the former eight] together with the life faculty 
and sex. But it is on account of respective prominence [of stiffenedness or 
cohesion] that it comes to be styled "earth element" or "water element." This is 
how they should be given attention to "by groups." 

89. 3. By particles: in this body the earth element taken as reduced to fine dust 
and powdered to the size of the smallest atom 31 might amount to an average dona 
measure full; and that is held together 32 by the water element measuring half as 
much. Being maintained 33 by the fire element, and distended by the air element, 
it does not get scattered or dissipated. Instead of getting scattered or dissipated, 
it arrives at the alternative states of the female and male sex, etc., and manifests 
smallness, bigness, length, shortness, toughness, rigidity, and so on. 



non-existent as to individual essence. On the contrary, these do bear their own 
characteristics, which is why they are elements" (Vism-mht 359). Capitals have been 
used here and elsewhere though Indian alphabets do not justify it. Appayati — "to 
satisfy" is not in PED; see Vibh-a 9. 

30. '"From resolution of these eight': the eight dhammas beginning with colour when 
resolved by means of understanding, are apprehendable (upalabbhanti) in the ultimate 
sense through mutual negation (ahnam-anna-vyatirekena); but head hairs are not 
apprehendable in the ultimate sense through negation of colour and so on. 
Consequently the term of common usage 'head hairs' is applied to these dhammas in 
their co-arisen state; but if they are each taken separately 'There is no common-usage 
head hairs. ' The meaning is that it is a mere conventional term. 'Only a mere group of eight 
states' is said, taking the colour, etc., which are real (bhuta — lit. 'become'), as a unity by 
means of the concept (pahnatti) 'a head hair/ not only because they are merely the 
eight states" (Vism-mht 360). 

31. Paramanu — "the smallest atom"; see Vibh-a 343. According to Vibh-a, the size of 
a paramanu works out at 1 /581,147,136th part of an ahgula (fingerbreadth or inch). 
Vism-mht remarks (p. 361): "Therefore ... a paramanu as a particle of space is not the 
province of the physical eye, it is the province of the divine eye." 

32. Sahgahita — "held together": not quite in this sense in PED. "Held (gahita) by 
conjoining through cohesion and prevented from being scattered" (Vism-mht 361). 

33. "Kept guarded (anurakkhita) so that it may not lapse into a wet and slippery state 
through the water element, which has trickling as its essence" (Vism-mht 361). 



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90. The liquid water element that is the mode of cohesion, being founded on 
earth, maintained by fire, and distended by air, does not trickle or run away 34 
Instead of trickling or running away it provides continued refreshments. 35 

91. And here the fire element that cooks what is eaten, drunk, etc., and is the 
mode of warming and has the characteristic of heat, being established on earth, 
held together by water, and distended by air, maintains this body and ensures 
its proper appearance. And this body, being maintained by it, shows no 
putrefaction. 

92. The air element that courses through all the limbs and has the characteristic 
of moving and distending, being founded upon earth, held together by water, 
and maintained by fire, distends this body. And this body, being distended by 
the latter kind of air, does not collapse, but stands erect, and being propelled 36 by 
the other [motile] air, it shows intimation and it flexes and extends and it wriggles 
the hands and feet, doing so in the postures comprising of walking, standing, 
sitting and lying down. So this mechanism of elements carries on like a magic 
trick, deceiving foolish people with the male and female sex and so on. 

This is how they should be given attention by particles. 

93. 4. As to characteristic, etc.: he should advert to the four elements in this way: 
"The earth element — what are its characteristic, function, manifestation?" 
[defining them in this way]: The earth element has the characteristic of hardness. 
Its function is to act as a foundation. It is manifested as receiving. The water 
element has the characteristic of trickling. Its function is to intensify. It is 
manifested as holding together. The fire element has the characteristic of heat. 
Its function is to mature (maintain). It is manifested as a continued supply of 
softness. The air element has the characteristic of distending. Its function is to 
cause motion. It is manifested as conveying. 37 This is how they should be given 
attention to by characteristic, and so on. [366] 

94. 5. As to how originated: among the forty-two components beginning with 
head hairs shown in the detailed treatment of the earth element, etc., the four 
consisting of gorge, dung, pus, and urine are temperature-originated only; the 
four consisting of tears, sweat, spittle, and snot are temperature-originated and 
consciousness-originated only. The fire that cooks what is eaten, etc., is kamma- 
originated only; in-breath and out-breath are consciousness-originated only; all 



34. Parissavati — "to run away": not in PED; — vissarati (Vism-mht 361). 

35. "This is said with reference to the water element as a juice that helps growth" 
(Vism-mht 361). 

36. Samabbhahata — "propelled": see Ch. IV, note 38. 

37. Abhinlhara — "conveying": not in this sense in PED. "'Conveying' is acting as cause 
for the successive arising at adjacent locations (desantaruppatti) of the conglomeration 
of elements (bhuta-sanghata)" (Vism-mht 363). Elsewhere Vism-mht (p. 359) says of 
the air element: "'It bloivs' (§87): it is stirred; the meaning is that the conglomeration of 
elements is made to move (go) by its action as cause for successive arising at adjacent 
locations (points)," and "Propelling (samabbhahana) is the act of causing the successive 
arising at adjacent locations of material groups (rupa-kalapa)" (p. 362). 

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the rest are of fourfold origination. This is how they should be given attention as 
to how originated. 

95. 6. As to variety and unity: there is variety in the specific characteristics, etc., 
of all the elements; for the characteristic, function, and manifestation of the earth 
element is one, and those of the water element, etc., are different. But there is 
unity in them as materiality, great primary, element, state (dhamma), imperma- 
nence, etc., notwithstanding the fact that they are various according to [specific] 
characteristic, etc., and according to origination by kamma and so on. 

96. All these elements are "instances of materiality" (rupani) because they do 
not exceed the characteristic of "being molested" (ruppana). They are "great 
primaries" (mahabhuta) by reason of "great manifestation," and so on. "By reason 
of 'great manifestation,' and so on" means that these elements are called "great 
primaries" for the following reasons, namely: (a) manifestation of greatness; (b) 
likeness to great creatures; (c) great maintenance; (d) great alteration; and (e) 
because they are great and because they are entities. 

97. Herein, (a) manifestation of greatness: they are manifested as great both in a 
continuity that is not clung to (acquired through kamma) and in a continuity 
that is clung to. For their manifestation of greatness in a continuity that is not 
clung to is given in the description of the recollection of the Buddha in the way 
beginning: 

Two times a hundred thousand [leagues] 

And then four nahutas as well: 

This earth, this "bearer of all wealth," 

Has that much thickness, as they tell (VII. 41). 

And they are manifested on a great scale also in a continuity that is clung to, 
for instance, in the bodies of fishes, turtles, deities, Danava demons, and so on. 
For this is said: "Bhikkhus, there are individual creatures of a hundred leagues 
in the great ocean" (A IV 207), and so on. 

98. (b) Likeness to great creatures: just as a magician turns water that is not crystal 
into crystal, and turns a clod that is not gold into gold, and shows them, and 
being himself neither a spirit nor a bird, shows himself as a spirit or a bird, so 
too, being themselves not blue-black, they turn themselves into blue-black derived 
materiality, being themselves not yellow . . . not red . . . not white, [367] they turn 
themselves into white derived materiality and show that. In this way they are 
"great primaries" (mahabhuta) in being like the great creatures (mahabhuta) of a 
magician. 38 

38. "A great primary (mahabhuta) is a great wonder (mahanto abbhuto) because it 
shows various unreal things (abhuta), various wonders (abbhuta), and various marvels 
(acchariya). Or alternatively: there are great wonders (abbhuta) here, thus there are 
magicians. And spirits, etc., are huge (mahant) creatures (bhuta) owing to being born 
from them, thus they are great primaries. Or alternatively: this term 'great primary' 
can be regarded as a generic term for all of them. But earth, etc., are great primaries 
because they deceive, and because, like the huge creatures, their standing place cannot 
be pointed to. The deception lies in causing the apparent individual essences of 

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99. And just as, whomsoever the great creatures such as the spirits (i/akkha) 
grasp hold of (possess), they have no standing place either inside him or outside 
him and yet they have no standing independently of him, so too, these elements 
are not found to stand either inside or outside each other yet they have no 
standing independently of one another. Thus they are also great primaries 
(mahabhuta) in being equal to the great creatures (mahabhuta) such as the spirits 
because they have no thinkable standing place [relative to each other]. 

100. And just as the great creatures known as female spirits (yakkhinl) conceal 
their own tearfulness with a pleasing colour, shape and gesture to deceive beings, 
so too, these elements conceal each their own characteristic and function classed 
as hardness, etc., by means of a pleasing skin colour of women's and men's 
bodies, etc., and pleasing shapes of limbs and pleasing gestures of fingers, toes 
and eyebrows, and they deceive simple people by concealing their own functions 
and characteristics beginning with hardness and do not allow their individual 
essences to be seen. Thus they are great primaries (mahabhuta) in being equal to 
the great creatures (mahabhuta), the female spirits, since they are deceivers. 

101. (c) Great maintenance: this is because they have to be sustained by the great 
requisites. For these elements are great primaries (mahabhuta) since they have 
become (bhuta), have occurred, by means of the food, clothing, etc., which are 
great (mahant) [in importance] because they have to be found every day. Or 
alternatively, they are great primaries (mahabhuta) since they are primaries whose 
maintenance is great. 

102. (d) Great alteration: the unclung-to and the clung-to are the [basis of] great 
alterations. Herein, the great alteration of the unclung-to evidences itself in the 
emergence of an aeon (see XIII. 34), and that of the clung-to in the disturbance of 
the elements [in the body]. For accordingly: 

The conflagration's flame bursts up 
Out of the ground and races higher 
And higher, right to the Brahma heaven, 
When the world is burnt up by fire. 

A whole world system measuring 
One hundred thousand millions wide 
Subsides, as with its furious waters 
The flood dissolves the world beside. 



blue-black, etc., and it lies in causing the appearance of what has the aspect of woman 
and man, and so on. Likewise their undemonstrability, since they are not found inside 
or outside each other though they rely upon each other for support. For if these 
elements were found inside each other, they would not each perform their particular 
functions, owing to mutual frustration. And if they were found outside each other, 
they would be already resolved (separate), and that being so, any description of them 
as unresolved (inseparable) would be meaningless. So although their standing place 
is undemonstrable, still each one assists the other by its particular function — the 
functions of establishing, etc., whereby each becomes a condition for the others as 
conascence condition and so on" (Vism-mht 363). 



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One hundred thousand million leagues, 
A whole world system's broad extent 
Is rent and scattered, when the world 
Succumbs to the air element. 

The bite of wooden-mouths can make 
The body stiff; to all intent, 
When roused is its earth element, 
It might be gripped by such a snake. 

The bite of rotten-mouths can make 

The body rot; to all intent, 

When roused its water element, 

It might be gripped by such a snake. [368] 

The bite of fiery-mouths can make 
The body burn; to all intent, 
When roused is its fire element, 
It might be gripped by such a snake. 

The bite of dagger-mouths can make 
The body burst; to all intent, 
When roused is its air element, 
It might be gripped by such a snake. 

So they are great primaries (mahabhuta) because they have become (bhttta) [the 
basis of] great (mahant) alteration. 

103. (e) Because they are great and because they are entities: "great" (mahant) because 
they need great effort to discern them, and "entities" (bhuta = become) because 
they are existent; thus they are great primaries (mahabhuta) because they are 
great (maha) and because they are entities (bhuta). 

This is how all these elements are "great primaries" by reason of "great 
manifestation," and so on. 

104. Again, they are elements (dhatu) because of bearing (dharana) their own 
characteristics, because of grasping (adana) suffering, and because of sorting 
out (adhana) suffering (see XV19), and because none of them are exempt from the 
characteristic of being elements. 

They are states (dhamma) owing to bearing (dharana) their own characteristics 
and owing to their so bearing (dharana) for the length of the moment appropriate 
to them. 39 They are impermanent in the sense of [liability to] destruction; they 
are painful in the sense of [causing] terror; they are not self in the sense of 
having no core [of permanence, and so on]. Thus there is unity of all since all are 
materiality, great primaries, elements, states, impermanent, and so on. 

This is how they should be given attention "as to variety and unity." 

105. 7. As to resolution (separability) and non-resolution (inseparability): they are 
positionally unresolvable (inseparable) since they always arise together in every 

39. This alludes to the length of duration of a moment of matter's existence, which is 
described as seventeen times as long as that of consciousness (see Vibh-a 25f.). 



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single minimal material group consisting of the bare octad and the others; but they 
are resolvable (separable) by characteristic. This is how they should be given attention 
"as to resolution (separability) and non-resolution (inseparability)." 

106. 8. As to the similar and dissimilar: and although they are unresolved 
(inseparable) in this way yet the first two similar in heaviness, and so are the last 
two in lightness; but [for this reason] the first two are dissimilar to the last two 
and the last two to the first two. This is how they should be given attention "as to 
the similar and dissimilar." 

107. 9. As to distinction between internal and external: the internal elements are 
the [material] support for the physical bases of consciousness, for the kinds of 
intimation, and for the material faculties. They are associated with postures, and 
they are of fourfold origination. The external elements are of the opposite kind. 
This is how they should be given attention "as to distinction between internal 
and external." 

108. 10. As to inclusion: kamma-originated earth element is included together 
with the other kamma-originated elements because there is no difference in 
their origination. Likewise the consciousness-originated is included together 
with other consciousness-originated elements. This is how they should be given 
attention "as to inclusion." 

109. 11. As to condition: the earth element, which is held together by water, 
maintained by fire and distended by air, is a condition for the other three great 
primaries by acting as their foundation. The water element, which is founded on 
earth, maintained by fire and distended by air, is a condition for the other three 
great primaries by acting as their cohesion. The fire element, which is founded 
on earth, held together by water [369] and distended by air, is a condition for the 
other three great primaries by acting as their maintaining. The air element, 
which is founded on earth, held together by water, and maintained by fire, is a 
condition for the other three great primaries by acting as their distension. This 
is how they should be given attention "as to condition." 

110. 12. As to lack of conscious reaction: here too the earth element does not know, 
"I am the earth element" or "I am a condition by acting as a foundation for three 
great primaries." And the other three do not know, "The earth element is a 
condition for us by acting as a foundation for three great primaries." And the 
other three do not know, "The earth element is a condition for us by acting as our 
foundation." And similarly in each instance. This is how they should be given 
attention "as to lack of conscious reaction." 

111. 13. As to analysis of conditions: there are four conditions for the elements, 
that is to say, kamma, consciousness, nutriment, and temperature. 

Herein, kamma only is the condition for the kamma-originated [elements]; 
consciousness (citta), etc. [i.e. nutriment and temperature] are not. Consciousness, 
etc., only are the conditions for the consciousness-originated [elements]; the 
others are not. Kamma is the producing condition 40 for the kamma-originated 

40. "The term 'producing condition' refers to causing origination, though as a condition 
it is actually kamma condition. For this is said: 'Profitable and unprofitable volition is 

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elements; for the rest it is indirectly the decisive-supportive condition. 41 
Consciousness is the producing condition for the consciousness-originated 
elements; for the rest it is the post-nascence condition, presence condition and 
non-disappearance condition. Nutriment is the producing condition for the 
nutriment-originated elements; for the rest it is the nutriment condition, presence 
condition and non-disappearance condition. Temperature is the productive 
condition for the temperature-originated elements; for the rest it is the presence 
condition and non-disappearance condition. 

Herein, the kamma-originated great primary is the condition for the kamma- 
originated great primaries, and also for the consciousness-originated [great 
primaries]. Likewise are the consciousness-originated [great primary] and the 
nutriment originated [great primary]. The temperature-originated great primary 
is the condition for the temperature-originated great primaries, and also for the 
kamma-originated [great primaries], and so on (cf. XX.27f.). 

112. Herein, the kamma-originated earth element is a condition for the other 
kamma-originated elements both as conascence, mutuality, support, presence, 
and non-disappearance conditions and as foundation, but not as producing 
condition. It is a condition for the other [three] great primaries in a triple 
continuity (see XX. 22) as support, presence and non-disappearance conditions, 
but not as foundation or producing condition. And here the water element is a 
condition for the remaining three elements both as conascence, etc., conditions 
and as cohesion, but not as producing condition. And for the others in a triple 
continuity it is a condition as support, presence, and non-disappearance 
conditions too, but not as cohesion or producing condition. And the fire element 
here is a condition for the other three elements both as conascence, etc., conditions 
and as maintaining but not as producing condition. And for the others in a 
triple continuity it is a condition as support, presence, and non-disappearance 
conditions too, but not as maintaining or producing condition. And the air 
element here is a condition for the other three elements [370] both as conascence, 
etc., conditions and as distension, but not as producing condition. And for the 
others in a triple continuity it is a condition as support, presence, and non- 
disappearance conditions too, but not as distension or producing condition. 

The same method applies in the case of the consciousness-originated, the 
nutriment-originated, and the temperature-originated earth element, and the rest. 

113. And when these elements have been made to occur through the influence 
of the conascence, etc., conditions: 

a condition, as kamma condition, for resultant aggregates and for materiality due to 
kamma performed' (Patth I 5)" (Vism-mht 368). 

41 . '"For the rest': for consciousness-originated, and so on. It is the indirectly decisive- 
support condition because in the Patthana the decisive-support condition has only 
been given for immaterial dhammas, so there is, directly no decisive-support condition 
[in kamma] for material dhammas. However, because of the words, 'With a person as 
decisive support' (M I 107) and 'With a grove as decisive support' (M I 106) in the 
Suttas, the decisive-support condition can be indirectly understood according to the 
Suttas in the sense of 'absence without'" (Vism-mht 368). 

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With three in four ways to one due, 
And likewise with one due to three; 
With two in six ways due to two — 
Thus their occurrence comes to be. 

114. Taking each one, beginning with earth, there are three others whose 
occurrence is due to that one, thus with three due to one their occurrence takes 
place in four ways. Likewise each one, beginning with earth, occurs in 
dependence on the other three, thus with one due to three their occurrence takes 
place in four ways. But with the last two dependent on the first two, with the first 
two dependent on the last two, with the second and fourth dependent on the 
first and third, with the first and third dependent on the second and fourth, 
with the second and third dependent on the first and fourth, and with the first 
and fourth dependent on the second and third, they occur in six ways with two 
elements due to two. 

115. At the time of moving forward and moving backward (M I 57), the earth 
element among these is a condition for pressing. That, seconded by the water 
element, is a condition for establishing on a foundation. But the water element 
seconded by the earth element is a condition for lowering down. The fire element 
seconded by the air element is a condition for lifting up. The air element seconded 
by the fire element is a condition for shifting forwards and shifting sideways 
(see XX.62f. and M-a I 160). 

This is how they should be given attention "as to analysis of conditions." 

116. As he gives his attention to them "as to word meaning," etc., in this way, 
the elements become evident to him under each heading. As he again and again 
adverts and gives attention to them access concentration arises in the way already 
described. And this concentration too is called "definition of the four elements" 
because it arises in one who defines the four elements owing to the influence of 
his knowledge. 

117. This bhikkhu who is devoted to the defining of the four elements immerses 
himself in voidness and eliminates the perception of living beings. Since he 
does not entertain false notions about wild beasts, spirits, ogres, etc., because he 
has abolished the perception of living beings, he conquers fear and dread and 
conquers delight and aversion (boredom); he is not exhilarated or depressed 42 
by agreeable and disagreeable things; and as one of great understanding, he 
either ends in the deathless or he is bound for a happy destiny. 

Defining the four elements 
Is ever the wise man's resort; 
The noble meditator lion 43 
Will make this mighty theme his sport. 
This is the description of the development of the defining of the four elements. [371] 



42. Ugghata — "exhilarated" and nigghata — "depressed": neither word is in PED; Vism- 
mht glosses with ubbilavitatta and dinabhavappatti respectively. 

43. Reading yogivaraslhassa ktlitam. Cf. Nettippakarana "Slha-kllana." 



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Chapter XI Concentration (conclusion): Nutriment and the Elements 

[Development of Concentration — Conclusion] 

118. This completes in all its aspects the commentary on the meaning of the 
clause, "How should it be developed?" in the set of questions beginning with 
"What is concentration?" which was formulated in order to show the method of 
development of concentration in detail (see III.l). 

119. This concentration as intended here is twofold, that is to say, access 
concentration and absorption concentration. Herein, the unification [of mind] 
in the case of ten meditation subjects and in the consciousness preceding 
absorption [in the case of the remaining meditation subjects] 44 is access 
concentration. The unification of mind in the case of the remaining meditation 
subjects is absorption concentration. And so it is developed in two forms with 
the development of these meditation subjects. Hence it was said above: "This 
completes in all its aspects the commentary on the meaning of the clause, 'How 
should it be developed?'" 

[The Benefits of Developing Concentration] 

120. The question, (viii) what are the benefits of the development of concentration? 
was also asked, however (III.l). Herein, the benefits of the development of 
concentration are fivefold, as a blissful abiding here and now, and so on. For the 
development of absorption concentration provides the benefit of a blissful abiding 
here and now for the Arahants with cankers destroyed who develop 
concentration, thinking, "We shall attain and dwell with unified mind for a 
whole day." Hence the Blessed One said: "But, Cunda, it is not these that are 
called effacement in the Noble Ones' discipline; these are called blissful abidings 
in the Noble Ones' discipline" (M I 40). 

121. When ordinary people and trainers develop it, thinking, "After emerging, 
we shall exercise insight with concentrated consciousness," the development of 
absorption concentration provides them with the benefit of insight by serving 
as the proximate cause for insight, and so too does access concentration as a 
method of arriving at wide open [conditions] in crowded [circumstances]. 45 
Hence the Blessed One said: "Bhikkhus, develop concentration; a bhikkhu who 
is concentrated understands correctly" (S III 13). 

122. But when they have already produced the eight attainments and then, 
aspiring to the kinds of direct-knowledge described in the way beginning, 
"Having been one, he becomes many" (XII. 2), they produce them by entering 
upon jhana as the basis for direct-knowledge and emerging from it, then the 
development of absorption concentration provides for them the benefit of the 
kinds of direct-knowledge, since it becomes the proximate cause for the kinds of 
direct-knowledge whenever there is an occasion. Hence the Blessed One said: 



44. The sense demands reading with Vism-mht appanapubba-bhagacittesu as a single 
compound. 

45. This is an allusion to M I 179, etc. "The process of existence in the round of 
rebirths, which is a very cramped place, is crowded by the defilements of craving and 
so on" (Vism-mht 371). 



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"He attains the ability to be a witness, through realization by direct-knowledge, 
of any state realizable by direct-knowledge to which his mind inclines, whenever 
there is an occasion" (M III 96; A I 254). [372] 

123. When ordinary people have not lost their jhana, and they aspire to rebirth 
in the Brahma-world thus, "Let us be reborn in the Brahma-world," or even 
though they do not make the actual aspiration, then the development of 
absorption concentration provides them with the benefits of an improved form 
of existence since it ensures that for them. Hence the Blessed One said: "Where 
do they reappear after developing the first jhana limitedly? They reappear in the 
company of the deities of Brahma's Retinue" (Vibh 424), and so on. And even 
the development of access concentration ensures an improved form of existence 
in the happy destinies of the sensual sphere. 

124. But when Noble Ones who have already produced the eight attainments 
develop concentration, thinking, "We shall enter upon the attainment of cessation, 
and by being without consciousness for seven days we shall abide in bliss here 
and now by reaching the cessation that is Nibbana," then the development of 
absorption concentration provides for them the benefit of cessation. Hence it is 
said: "Understanding as mastery owing to ... sixteen kinds of behaviour of 
knowledge, and to nine kinds of behaviour of concentration, is knowledge of the 
attainment of cessation" (Patis I 97; see Ch. XXIII, 18f.). 

125. That is how this benefit of the development of concentration is fivefold as 
a blissful abiding here and now, and so on. 

So wise men fail not in devotion 
To the pursuit of concentration: 
It cleans defiling stains' pollution, 46 
And brings rewards past calculation. 

126. And at this point in the Path of Purification, which is taught under the 
headings of virtue, concentration and understanding in the stanza, "When a 
wise man, established well in virtue ...," concentration has been fully explained. 

The eleventh chapter concluding "The Description of 
Concentration" in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



46. Sudana — "cleaning": not in PED. See title of Majjhima Nikaya Commentary. 
Another reading here is sodhana. 



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Chapter XII 

The Supernormal Powers 
(Iddhividha-niddesa) 

[The Benefits of Concentration (Continued)] 

1. [373] It was said above with reference to the mundane kinds of direct- 
knowledge that this development of concentration "provides . . . the benefit of the 
kinds of direct-knowledge" (XI. 122). Now, in order to perfect those kinds of 
direct-knowledge the task must be undertaken by a meditator who has reached 
the fourth jhana in the earth kasina, and so on. And in doing this, not only will 
this development of concentration have provided benefits in this way, it will also 
have become more advanced; and when he thus possesses concentration so 
developed as to have both provided benefits and become more advanced, he will 
then more easily perfect the development of understanding. So meanwhile we 
shall deal with the explanation of the kinds of direct-knowledge now. 

2. In order to show the benefits of developing concentration to clansmen whose 
concentration has reached the fourth jhana, and in order to teach progressively 
refined Dhamma, five kinds of mundane direct-knowledge have been described 
by the Blessed One. They are: (1) the kinds of supernormal power, described in 
the way beginning, "When his concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, 
unblemished, rid of defilement, and has become malleable, wieldy steady, and 
attained to imperturbability 1 he directs, he inclines, his mind to the kinds of 
supernormal power. He wields the various kinds of supernormal power. Having 
been one, he becomes many ..." (D I 77); (2) the knowledge of the divine ear 
element; (3) the knowledge of penetration of minds; (4) the knowledge of 
recollection of past lives; and (5) the knowledge of the passing away and 
reappearance of beings. 

[(1) The Kinds of Supernormal Power] 

If a meditator wants to begin performing the transformation by supernormal 
power described as, "Having been one, he becomes many," etc., he must achieve 
the eight attainments in each of the eight kasinas ending with the white kasina. 
He must also have complete control of his mind in the following fourteen ways: 
[374] (i) in the order of the kasina, (ii) in the reverse order of the kasina, (iii) in the 

1. Anenja — "imperturbability": a term normally used for the four immaterial states, 
together with the fourth jhana. See also §16f., and MN 106. 

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order and reverse order of the kasina, (iv) in the order of the jhana, (v) in the 
reverse order of the jhana (vi) in the order and reverse order of the jhana, (vii) 
skipping jhana, (viii) skipping kasina, (ix) skipping jhana and kasina, (x) 
transposition of factors, (xi) transposition of object, (xii) transposition of factors 
and object, (xiii) definition of factors, and (xiv) definition of object. 

3. But what is "in the order of the kasina" here? What is "definition of object"? 

(i) Here a bhikkhu attains jhana in the earth kasina, after that in the water 
kasina, and so progressing through the eight kasinas, doing so even a hundred 
times, even a thousand times, in each one. This is called in the order of the kasinas. 
(ii) Attaining them in like manner in reverse order, starting with the white kasina, 
is called in the reverse order of the kasinas. (iii) Attaining them again and again in 
forward and reverse order, from the earth kasina up to the white kasina and from 
the white kasina back to the earth kasina, is called in the order and reverse order of 
the kasinas. 

4. (iv) Attaining again and again from the first jhana up to the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception is called in the order of the jhanas. (v) 
Attaining again and again from the base consisting of neither perception nor 
non-perception back to the first jhana is called in the reverse order of the jhanas. 
(vi) Attaining in forward and reverse order, from the first jhana up to the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception and from the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception back to the first jhana, is called in the 
order and reverse order of the jhanas. 

5. (vii) He skips alternate jhanas without skipping the kasinas in the following 
way: having first attained the first jhana in the earth kasina, he attains the third 
jhana in that same kasina, and after that, having removed [the kasina (X.6), he 
attains] the base consisting of boundless space, after that the base consisting of 
nothingness. This is called skipping jhanas. And that based on the water kasina, 
etc., should be construed similarly, (viii) When he skips alternate kasinas without 
skipping jhanas in the following way: having attained the first jhana in the 
earth kasina, he again attains that same jhana in the fire kasina and then in the 
blue kasina and then in the red kasina, this is called skipping kasinas. (ix) When 
he skips both jhanas and kasinas in the following way: having attained the first 
jhana in the earth kasina, he next attains the third in the fire kasina, next the 
base consisting of boundless space after removing the blue kasina, next the base 
consisting of nothingness [arrived at] from the red kasina, this is called skipping 
jhanas and kasinas. 

6. (x) Attaining the first jhana in the earth kasina [375] and then attaining the 
others in that same kasina is called transposition of factors, (xi) Attaining the first 
jhana in the earth kasina and then that same jhana in the water kasina ... in the 
white kasina is called transposition of object, (xii) Transposition of object and 
factors together takes place in the following way: he attains the first jhana in the 
earth kasina, the second jhana in the water kasina, the third in the fire kasina, 
the fourth in the air kasina, the base consisting of boundless space by removing 
the blue kasina, the base consisting of boundless consciousness [arrived at] 
from the yellow kasina, the base consisting of nothingness from the red kasina, 

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and the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception from the white 
kasina. This is called transposition of factors and object. 

7. (xiii) The defining of only the jhana factors by defining the first jhana as five- 
factored, the second as three-factored, the third as two-factored, and likewise 
the fourth, the base consisting of boundless space, . . . and the base consisting of 
neither perception nor non-perception, is called definition of factors, (xiv) Likewise, 
the defining of only the object as "This is the earth kasina," "This is the water 
kasina" ... "This is the white kasina," is called definition of object. Some would 
also have "defining of factors and object"; but since that is not given in the 
commentaries it is certainly not a heading in the development. 

8 . It is not possible for a meditator to begin to accomplish transformation by 
supernormal powers unless he has previously completed his development by 
controlling his mind in these fourteen ways. Now, the kasina preliminary work 
is difficult for a beginner and only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. The 
arousing of the sign is difficult for one who has done the preliminary work and 
only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. To extend the sign when it has 
arisen and to reach absorption is difficult and only one in a hundred or a 
thousand can do it. To tame one's mind in the fourteen ways after reaching 
absorption is difficult and only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. The 
transformation by supernormal power after training one's mind in the fourteen 
ways is difficult and only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. Rapid 
response after attaining transformation is difficult and only one in a hundred or 
a thousand can do it. 

9. Like the Elder Rakkhita who, eight years after his full admission to the 
Order, was in the midst of thirty thousand bhikkhus possessing supernormal 
powers who had come to attend upon the sickness of the Elder Maha-Rohana- 
Gutta at Therambatthala. [376] His feat is mentioned under the earth kasina 
(IV135). Seeing his feat, an elder said, "Friends, if Rakkhita had not been there, 
we should have been put to shame. [It could have been said], 'They were unable 
to protect the royal naga.' So we ourselves ought to go about [with our abilities 
perfected], just as it is proper (for soldiers) to go about with weapons cleaned of 
stains." The thirty thousand bhikkhus heeded the elder's advice and achieved 
rapid response. 

10. And helping another after acquiring rapidity in responding is difficult 
and only one in a hundred or a thousand can do it. Like the elder who gave 
protection against the rain of embers by creating earth in the sky, when the rain 
of embers was produced by Mara at the Giribhandavahana offering. 2 

11. It is only in Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, chief disciples, etc., who have vast 
previous endeavour behind them, that this transformation by supernormal power 

2. Giribhandavahanapuja: Vism-mht (p. 375) says: " Giribhanda-vahanapuja nama 
Cetiyagirim adim katva sakaladipe samudde ca yava yojana mahatl dipapuja ('it is a name for 
a great island-offering starting with the Cetiyagiri (Mihintale) and extending over the 
whole island and up to a league into the sea ')." Mentioned in A-a to AN 1:1; M-a II 398; 
and Mahavamsa XXXIV81. 

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and other such special qualities as the discriminations are brought to success 
simply with the attainment of Arahantship and without the progressive course 
of development of the kind just described. 

12. So just as when a goldsmith wants to make some kind of ornament, he 
does so only after making the gold malleable and wieldy by smelting it, etc., and 
just as when a potter wants to make some kind of vessel, he does so only after 
making the clay well kneaded and malleable, a beginner too must likewise 
prepare for the kinds of supernormal powers by controlling his mind in these 
fourteen ways; and he must do so also by making his mind malleable and wieldy 
both by attaining under the headings of zeal, consciousness, energy, and inquiry 3 
and by mastery in adverting, and so on. But one who already has the required 
condition for it owing to practice in previous lives needs only prepare himself 
by acquiring mastery in the fourth jhana in the kasinas. 

13. Now, the Blessed One showed how the preparation should be done in 
saying, "When his concentrated mind," and so on. Here is the explanation, 
which follows the text (see §2). Herein, he is a meditator who has attained the 
fourth jhana. Thus signifies the order in which the fourth jhana comes; having 
obtained the fourth jhana in this order beginning with attaining the first jhana, 
is what is meant. Concentrated: concentrated by means of the fourth jhana. Mind: 
fine-material-sphere consciousness. 

14. But as to the words "purified," etc., it is purified by means of the state of 
mindfulness purified by equanimity. [377] It is bright precisely because it is 
purified; it is limpid (see A I 10), is what is meant. It is unblemished since the 
blemishes consisting of greed, etc., are eliminated by the removal of their 
conditions consisting of bliss, and the rest. It is rid of defilement precisely because 
it is unblemished; for it is by the blemish that the consciousness becomes defiled. 
It has become malleable because it is well developed; it suffers mastery, is what is 
meant, for consciousness that suffers mastery is called "malleable." It is wieldy 
(kammanlya) precisely because it is malleable; it suffers being worked 
(kammakkhama) , is fit to be worked (kammayogga), is what is meant. 

15. For a malleable consciousness is wieldy, like well-smelted gold; and it is 
both of these because it is well developed, according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, I do 
not see anyone thing that, when developed and cultivated, becomes so malleable 
and wieldy as does the mind" (A I 9). 

16. It is steady because it is steadied in this purifiedness, and the rest. It is 
attained to imperturbability (anenjappatta) precisely because it is steady; it is 
motionless, without perturbation (nirinjana), is what is meant. Or alternatively, it 
is steady because steady in its own masterability through malleability and 
wieldiness, and it is attained to imperturbability because it is reinforced by faith, 
and so on. 

17. For consciousness reinforced by faith is not perturbed by faithlessness; 
when reinforced by energy, it is not perturbed by idleness; when reinforced by 
mindfulness, it is not perturbed by negligence; when reinforced by concentration, 

3. These are the four headings of the roads to power (see §50). 

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it is not perturbed by agitation; when reinforced by understanding, it is not 
perturbed by ignorance; and when illuminated, it is not perturbed by the 
darkness of defilement. So when it is reinforced by these six states, it is attained 
to imperturbability. 

18. Consciousness possessing these eight factors in this way is susceptible 
of being directed to the realization by direct-knowledge of states realizable by 
direct-knowledge. 

1 9 . Another method: It is concentrated by means of fourth-jhana concentration. 
It is purified by separation from the hindrances. It is bright owing to the 
surmounting of applied thought and the rest. It is unblemished owing to absence 
of evil wishes based on the obtainment of jhana. 4 It is rid of defilement owing to 
the disappearance of the defilements of the mind consisting in covetousness, 
etc.; and both of these should be understood according to the Anangana Sutta 
(MN 5) and the Vattha Sutta (MN 7). It is become malleable by masterability It is 
wieldy by reaching the state of a road to power (§50). It is steady and attained to 
imperturbability by reaching the refinement of completed development; the 
meaning is that according as it has attained imperturbability so it is steady. 
And the consciousness possessing these eight factors in this way [378] is 
susceptible of being directed to the realization by direct-knowledge of states 
realizable by direct-knowledge, since it is the basis, the proximate cause, for 
them. 

20. He directs, he inclines, his mind to the kinds of supernormal powers (iddhi- 
vidha — lit. "kinds of success"): here "success" (iddhi) is the success of 
succeeding (ijjhana); in the sense of production, in the sense of obtainment, is 
what is meant. For what is produced and obtained is called "successful," 
according as it is said, "When a mortal desires, if his desire is fulfilled" 
(samijjhati) (Sn 766), and likewise: "Renunciation succeeds (ijjhati), thus it is a 
success (iddhi) ... It metamorphoses (patiharati) [lust], thus it is a metamorphosis 
(patihariya) 5 ... The Arahant path succeeds, thus it is a success ... It 
metamorphoses [all defilements], thus it is a metamorphosis" (Patis II 229). 

21. Another method: success is in the sense of succeeding. That is a term for 
the effectiveness of the means; for effectiveness of the means succeeds with the 
production of the result intended, according as it is said: "This householder 
Citta is virtuous and magnanimous. If he should aspire, 'Let me in the future 
become a Wheel-turning Monarch,' being virtuous, he will succeed in his 
aspiration, because it is purified" (S IV 303). 

22. Another method: beings succeed by its means, thus it is success. They 
succeed, thus they are successful; they are enriched, promoted, is what is meant. 

4. I.e. one wants it to be known that he can practice jhana. 

5. "It counter-strikes (patiharati), thus it is a counter-stroke (patihariya — metamorphosis 
= miracle). What strikes out (harati), removes, what is counter to it (patipakkha) is 
therefore called counter-striking (patihariya), since what is counter-striking strikes 
out anything counter (patipakkha) to itself. Patihariya (counter-striking) is the same as 
patihariya (counter-stroke = metamorphosis = miracle)" (Vism-mht 379). 

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That [success (power)] is of ten kinds, according as it is said, "Kinds of success: 
ten kinds of success," after which it is said further, "What ten kinds of success? 
Success by resolve, success as transformation, success as the mind-made [body], 
success by intervention of knowledge, success by intervention of concentration, 
Noble Ones' success, success born of kamma result, success of the meritorious, 
success through the sciences, success in the sense of succeeding due to right 
exertion applied here or there" (Patis II 205). 

23. (i) Herein, the success shown in the exposition [of the above summary] 
thus, "Normally one, he adverts to [himself as] many or a hundred or a thousand 
or a hundred thousand; having adverted, he resolves with knowledge, "Let me 
be many" (Patis II 207), is called success by resolve because it is produced by 
resolving. 

24. (ii) That given as follows, "Having abandoned his normal form, he shows 
[himself in] the form of a boy or the form of a serpent ... or he shows a manifold 
military array" (Patis II 210), is called success as transformation because of the 
abandoning and alteration of the normal form. [379] 

25 . (iii) That given in this way, "Here a bhikkhu creates out of this body another 
body possessing visible form, mind-made" (Patis II 210), is called success as the 
mind-made (body) because it occurs as the production of another, mind-made, 
body inside the body. 

26. (iv) A distinction brought about by the influence of knowledge either 
before the arising of the knowledge or after it or at that moment is called success 
by intervention of knowledge; for this is said: "The meaning (purpose) as 
abandoning perception of permanence succeeds through contemplation of 
impermanence, thus it is success by intervention of knowledge . . . The meaning 
(purpose) as abandoning all defilements succeeds through the Arahant path, 
thus it is success by intervention of knowledge. There was success by intervention 
of knowledge in the venerable Bakkula. There was success by intervention of 
knowledge in the venerable Sarikicca. There was success by intervention of 
knowledge in the venerable Bhutapala" (Patis II 211). 

27. Herein, when the venerable Bakkula as an infant was being bathed in the 
river on an auspicious day, he fell into the stream through the negligence of his 
nurse. A fish swallowed him and eventually came to the bathing place at Benares. 
There it was caught by a fisherman and sold to a rich man's wife. The fish 
interested her, and thinking to cook it herself, she slit it open. When she did so, 
she saw the child like a golden image in the fish's stomach. She was overjoyed, 
thinking, "At last I have got a son." So the venerable Bakkula's safe survival in a 
fish's stomach in his last existence is called "success by intervention of 
knowledge" because it was brought about by the influence of the Arahant-path 
knowledge due to be obtained by [him in] that life. But the story should be told in 
detail (see M-a IV 190). 

28. The Elder Sahkicca's mother died while he was still in her womb. At the 
time of her cremation she was pierced by stakes and placed on a pyre. The infant 
received a wound on the corner of his eye from the point of a stake and made a 
sound. Then, thinking that the child must be alive, they took down the body and 

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opened its belly. They gave the child to the grandmother. Under her care he grew 
up, and eventually he went forth and reached Arahantship together with the 
discriminations. So the venerable Sahkicca's safe survival on the pyre is called, 
"success by intervention of knowledge" in the way just stated (see Dhp-a II 240). 

29. The boy Bhutapala's father was a poor man in Rajagaha. [380] He went 
into the forest with a cart to get a load of wood. It was evening when he returned 
to the city gate. Then his oxen slipped the yoke and escaped into the city. He 
seated the child beside the cart and went into the city after the oxen. Before he 
could come out again, the gate was closed. The child's safe survival through the 
three watches of the night outside the city in a place infested by wild beasts and 
spirits is called, "success by intervention of knowledge" in the way just stated. 
But the story should be told in detail. 

30. (v) A distinction brought about by the influence of serenity either before 
the concentration or after it or at that moment is called success by intervention of 
concentration for this is said: "The meaning (purpose) as abandoning the 
hindrances succeeds by means of the first jhana, thus it is success by intervention 
of concentration ... The meaning (purpose) as abandoning the base consisting 
of nothingness succeeds by means of the attainment of the base consisting of 
neither perception nor non-perception, thus it is success by intervention of 
concentration. There was success by intervention of concentration in the venerable 
Sariputta ... in the venerable Sanjiva ... in the venerable Khanu-Kondanna ... in 
the lay woman devotee Uttara ... in the lay-woman devotee Samavati" (Patis II 
211-12). 

31. Herein, while the venerable Sariputta was living with the Elder Maha 
Moggallana at Kapotakandara he was sitting in the open on a moonlit night 
with his hair newly cut. Then a wicked spirit, though warned by his companion, 
gave him a blow on the head, the noise of which was like a thunder clap. At the 
time the blow was given the elder was absorbed in an attainment; consequently 
he suffered no harm from the blow. This was success by intervention of 
concentration in that venerable one. The story is given in the Udana too (Ud 39). 

32. While the Elder Sanjiva was in the attainment of cessation, cowherds, etc., 
who noticed him thought he was dead. They brought grass and sticks and cow- 
dung and set fire to them. Not even a corner of the elder's robe was burnt. This 
was success by intervention of concentration in him because it was brought 
about by the influence of the serenity occurring in his successive attainment [of 
each of the eight jhanas preceding cessation]. But the story is given in the Suttas 
too (M I 333). 

33. The Elder Khanu Kondanna was naturally gifted in attainments. He was 
sitting absorbed in attainment one night in a certain forest. [381] Five hundred 
robbers came by with stolen booty. Thinking that no one was following them 
and needing rest, they put the booty down. Believing the elder was a tree stump 
(khanuka), they piled all the booty on him. The elder emerged at the predetermined 
time just as they were about to depart after resting, at the very time in fact when 
the one who had put his booty down first was picking it up. When they saw the 
elder move, they cried out in fear. The elder said, "Do not be afraid, lay followers; 

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I am a bhikkhu." They came and paid homage. Such was their confidence in the 
elder that they went forth into homelessness, and they eventually reached 
Arahantship together with the discriminations. The absence here of harm to the 
elder, covered as he was by five hundred bundles of goods, was success by 
intervention of concentration (see Dhp-a II 254). 

34. The lay woman devotee Uttara was the daughter of a rich man called 
Punnaka. A harlot called Sirima who was envious of her, poured a basin of hot 
oil over her head. At that moment Uttara had attained [jhana in], loving-kindness. 
The oil ran off her like water on a lotus leaf. This was success by intervention of 
concentration in her. But the story should be given in detail (see Dhp-a III 310; A- 
a I 451). 

35. King Udena's chief queen was called Samavati. The brahman Magandiya, 
who aspired to elevate his own daughter to the position of chief queen, put a 
poisonous snake into Samavati's lute. Then he told the king, "Samavati wants to 
kill you, sire. She is carrying a poisonous snake about in her lute." When the 
king found it, he was furious. Intending to kill her, he took his bow and aimed a 
poisoned arrow. Samavati with her retinue pervaded the king with loving- 
kindness. The king stood trembling, unable either to shoot the arrow or to put it 
away. Then the queen said to him, "What is it, sire, are you tired?" — "Yes, I am 
tired." — "Then put down the bow." The arrow fell at the king's feet. Then the 
queen advised him, "Sire, one should not hate one who has no hate." So the 
king's not daring to release the arrow was success by intervention of concentration 
in the laywoman Samavati (see Dhp-a I 216; A-a I 443). 

36. (vi) That which consists in dwelling perceiving the unrepulsive in the 
repulsive, etc., is called Noble Ones' success, according as it is said: "What is 
Noble Ones' success? Here, if a bhikkhu should wish, "May I dwell perceiving 
the unrepulsive in the repulsive," he dwells perceiving the unrepulsive in that 
... he dwells in equanimity towards that, mindful and fully aware" (Patis II 212). 
[382] This is called "Noble Ones' success" because it is only produced in Noble 
Ones who have reached mind mastery. 

37. For if a bhikkhu with cankers destroyed possesses this kind of success, 
then when in the case of a disagreeable object he is practicing pervasion with 
loving-kindness or giving attention to it as elements, he dwells perceiving the 
unrepulsive; or when in the case of an agreeable object he is practicing pervasion 
with foulness or giving attention to it as impermanent, he dwells perceiving the 
repulsive. Likewise, when in the case of the repulsive and unrepulsive he is 
practicing that same pervasion with loving-kindness or giving attention to it as 
elements, he dwells perceiving the unrepulsive; and when in the case of the 
unrepulsive and repulsive he is practicing that same pervasion with foulness or 
giving attention to it as impermanent, he dwells perceiving the repulsive. But 
when he is exercising the six-factored equanimity in the following way, "On 
seeing a visible object with the eye, he is neither glad nor ..." (Patis II 213), etc., 
then rejecting both the repulsive and the unrepulsive, he dwells in equanimity, 
mindful and fully aware. 



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38. For the meaning of this is expounded in the Patisambhida in the way 
beginning: "How does he dwell perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive? In 
the case of a disagreeable object he pervades it with loving-kindness or he treats 
it as elements" (Patis II 212). Thus it is called, "Noble Ones' success" because it 
is only produced in Noble Ones who have reached mind mastery. 

39. (vii) That consisting in travelling through the air in the case of winged 
birds, etc., is called success born ofkamma result, according as it is said: "What is 
success born of kamma result? That in all winged birds, in all deities, in some 
human beings, in some inhabitants of states of loss, is success born of kamma 
result" (Patis II 213). For here it is the capacity in all winged birds to travel 
through the air without jhana or insight that is success born of kamma result; 
and likewise that in all deities, and some human beings, at the beginning of the 
aeon, and likewise that in some inhabitants of states of loss such as the female 
spirit Piyahkara's mother (see S-a II 509), Uttara's mother (Pv 140), Phussamitta, 
Dhammagutta, and so on. 

40. (viii) That consisting in travelling through the air, etc., in the case of Wheel- 
turning Monarchs, etc., is called success of the meritorious, according as it is said: 
"What is success of the meritorious? The Wheel-turning Monarch travels 
through the air with his fourfold army, even with his grooms and shepherds. 
The householder Jotika had the success of the meritorious. The householder 
Jatilaka had the success of the meritorious. [383] The householder Ghosita had 
the success of the meritorious. The householder Mendaka had the success of the 
meritorious. That of the five very meritorious is success of the meritorious" (Patis 
II 213). In brief, however, it is the distinction that consists in succeeding when 
the accumulated merit comes to ripen that is success of the meritorious. 

41. A crystal palace and sixty-four wishing trees cleft the earth and sprang 
into existence for the householder Jotika. That was success of the meritorious in 
his case (Dhp-a IV 207). A golden rock of eighty cubits [high] was made for 
Jatilaka (Dhp-a IV 216). Ghosita's safe survival when attempts were made in 
seven places to kill him was success of the meritorious (Dhp-a I 174). The 
appearance to Mendaka (= Ram) of rams (mendaka) made of the seven gems in a 
place the size of one slta 6 was success of the meritorious in Mendaka (Dhp-a III 
364). 

42. The "five very meritorious" are the rich man Mendaka, his wife 
Candapadumasiri, his son the rich man Dhananjaya, his daughter-in-law 
Sumanadevi, and his slave Punna. When the rich man [Mendaka] washed his 
head and looked up at the sky, twelve thousand five hundred measures were 
filled for him with red rice from the sky. When his wife took a nali measure of 
cooked rice, the food was not used up though she served the whole of Jambudipa 
with it. When his son took a purse containing a thousand [ducats (kahapana)], 
the ducats were not exhausted even though he made gifts to all the inhabitants 



6. Slta: not in this sense in PED. Vism-mht (p. 383) says, "It is the path traversed by a 
ploughshare in ploughing that is called a slta." Another reading is karlsa (an area of 
land). 



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of Jambudipa. When his daughter-in-law took a pint (tumba) measure of paddy, 
the grain was not used up even when she shared it out among all the inhabitants 
of Jambudipa. When the slave ploughed with a single ploughshare, there were 
fourteen furrows, seven on each side (see Vin I 240; Dhp-a I 384). This was 
success of the meritorious in them. 

43. (ix) That beginning with travelling through the air in the case of masters 
of the sciences is success through the sciences, according as it is said: "What is 
success through the sciences? Masters of the sciences, having pronounced their 
scientific spells, travel through the air, and they show an elephant in space, in 
the sky ... and they show a manifold military array" (Patis II 213). 

44. (x) But the succeeding of such and such work through such and such 
right exertion is success in the sense of succeeding due to right exertion applied here or 
there, according as it is said: "The meaning (purpose) of abandoning lust 
succeeds through renunciation, thus it is success in the sense of succeeding due 
to right exertion applied here or there . . . The meaning (purpose) of abandoning 
all defilements succeeds through the Arahant path, thus it is success in the 
sense of succeeding due to right exertion applied here or there" (Patis II 213). 
[384] And the text here is similar to the previous text in the illustration of right 
exertion, in other words, the way. But in the Commentary it is given as follows: 
"Any work belonging to a trade such as making a cart assemblage, etc., any 
medical work, the learning of the Three Vedas, the learning of the Three Pitakas, 
even any work connected with ploughing, sowing, etc. — the distinction 
produced by doing such work is success in the sense of succeeding due to right 
exertion applied here or there." 

45. So, among these ten kinds of success, only (i) success by resolve is actually 
mentioned in the clause "kinds of supernormal power (success)," but (ii) success 
as transformation and (iii) success as the mind-made [body] are needed in this 
sense as well. 

46. (i) To the kinds of supernormal power (see §20): to the components of 
supernormal power, or to the departments of supernormal power. He directs, he 
inclines, his mind: when that bhikkhu's consciousness has become the basis for 
direct-knowledge in the way already described, he directs the preliminary-work 
consciousness with the purpose of attaining the kinds of supernormal power, 
he sends it in the direction of the kinds of supernormal power, leading it away 
from the kasina as its object. Inclines: makes it tend and lean towards the 
supernormal power to be attained. 

47. He: the bhikkhu who has done the directing of his mind in this way. The 
various: varied, of different sorts. Kinds of supernormal power: departments of 
supernormal power. Wields: paccanubhoti = paccanu-bhavati (alternative form); the 
meaning is that he makes contact with, realizes, reaches. 

48. Now, in order to show that variousness, it is said: "Having been one, [he becomes 
many; having been many he becomes one. He appears and vanishes. He goes unhindered 
through walls, through enclosures, through mountains, as though in open space. He 
dives in and out of the earth as though in water. He goes on unbroken water as though on 
earth. Seated cross-legged he travels in space like a winged bird. With his hand he 

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touches and strokes the moon and sun so mighty and powerful. He wields bodily 
mastery even as far as the Brahma-world]" (D I 77). 

Herein, having been one: having been normally one before giving effect to the 
supernormal power. He becomes many: wanting to walk with many or wanting to 
do a recital or wanting to ask questions with many he becomes a hundred or a 
thousand. But how does he do this? He accomplishes, (1) the four planes, (2) the 
four bases (roads), (3) the eight steps, and (4) the sixteen roots of supernormal 
power, and then he (5) resolves with knowledge. 

49. 1. Herein, the four planes should be understood as the four jhanas; for this 
has been said by the General of the Dhamma [the Elder Sariputta]: "What are the 
four planes of supernormal power? They are the first jhana as the plane born of 
seclusion, the second jhana as the plane of happiness and bliss, the third jhana 
as the plane of equanimity and bliss, the fourth jhana as the plane of neither 
pain nor pleasure. These four planes of supernormal power lead to the attaining 
of supernormal power, to the obtaining of supernormal power, to the 
transformation due to supernormal power, to the majesty 7 of supernormal power, 
to the mastery of supernormal power, to fearlessness in supernormal power" 
(Patis II 205). And he reaches supernormal power by becoming light, malleable 
and wieldy in the body after steeping himself in blissful perception and light 
perception due to the pervasion of happiness and pervasion of bliss, [385] which 
is why the first three jhanas should be understood as the accessory plane since 
they lead to the obtaining of supernormal power in this manner. But the fourth 
is the natural plane for obtaining supernormal power. 

50. 2. The four bases (roads) should be understood as the four bases of success 
(iddhi-pada — roads to power); for this is said: "What are the four bases (pada — 
roads) for success (iddhi — power)? Here a bhikkhu develops the basis for success 
(road to power) that possesses both concentration due to zeal and the will to 
strive (endeavour); he develops the basis for success (road to power) that possesses 
both concentration due to energy and the will to strive; he develops the basis for 
success (road to power) that possesses both concentration due to [natural purity 
of] consciousness and the will to strive; he develops the basis for success (road 
to power) that possesses both concentration due to inquiry and the will to strive. 
These four bases (roads) for success (power) lead to the obtaining of supernormal 
power (success) ... to the fearlessness due to supernormal power (success)" 
(Patis II 205). 

51. And here the concentration that has zeal as its cause, or has zeal outstanding, 
is concentration due to zeal; this is a term for concentration obtained by giving 
precedence to zeal consisting in the desire to act. Will (formation) as endeavour 
is will to strive; this is a term for the energy of right endeavour accomplishing its 
fourfold function (see §53). Possesses: is furnished with concentration due to zeal 
and with the [four] instances of the will to strive. 



7. Visavita — "majesty": not in PED; cf. passavati. Vism-mht (p. 385) glosses with iddhiya 
vividhanisamsa-pasavanaya. Cf. Dhs-a 109; Dhs-t (p. 84) glosses thus visavitaya ti arahataya. 



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52. Road to power (basis for success): the meaning is, the total of consciousness 
and its remaining concomitants [except the concentration and the will], which 
are, in the sense of resolve, the road to (basis for) the concentration due to zeal 
and will to strive associated with the direct-knowledge consciousness, which 
latter are themselves termed "power (success)" either by treatment as 
"production" (§20) or in the sense of "succeeding" (§21) or by treatment in this 
way, "beings succeed by its means, thus they are successful; they are enriched, 
promoted" (§22). For this is said: "Basis for success (road to power): it is the 
feeling aggregate, [perception aggregate, formations aggregate, and] 
consciousness aggregate, in one so become" (Vibh 217). 

53. Or alternatively: it is arrived at (pajjate) by means of that, thus that is a road 
(pada — basis); it is reached, is the meaning. Iddhi-pada = iddhiya pada (resolution 
of compound): this is a term for zeal, etc., according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, if a 
bhikkhu obtains concentration, obtains unification of mind supported by zeal, 
this is called concentration due to zeal. He [awakens zeal] for the non-arising of 
unarisen evil, unprofitable states, [strives, puts forth energy, strains his mind 
and] struggles. [He awakens zeal for the abandoning of arisen evil, unprofitable 
states ... He awakens zeal for the arousing of unarisen profitable states ... He 
awakens zeal for the maintenance, non-disappearance, increase, growth, 
development and perfection of arisen profitable states, strives, puts forth energy, 
strains his mind and struggles]. These are called instances of the will to strive. 
So this zeal and this concentration due to zeal and these [four] instances of will 
to strive are called the road to power (basis for success) that possesses 
concentration due to zeal and the will to strive" (S V 268). And the meaning 
should be understood in this way in the case of the other roads to power (bases 
for success). 8 

54. 3. The eight steps should be understood as the eight beginning with zeal; 
for this is said: "What are the eight steps? If a bhikkhu obtains concentration, 
obtains unification of mind supported by zeal, then the zeal is not the 
concentration; the concentration is not the zeal. [386] The zeal is one, the 
concentration is another. If a bhikkhu . . . supported by energy . . . supported by 
[natural purity of] consciousness . . . supported by inquiry . . . then the inquiry is 
not the concentration; the concentration is not the inquiry. The inquiry is one, the 
concentration is another. These eight steps to power lead to the obtaining of 
supernormal power (success) ... to fearlessness due to supernormal power 
(success)" (Patis II 205). For here it is the zeal consisting in the desire to arouse 
supernormal power (success), which zeal is joined with concentration, that leads 
to the obtaining of the supernormal power. Similarly in the case of energy, and so 
on. That should be understood as the reason why they are called the "eight 
steps." 

55. 4. The sixteen roots: the mind's unperturbedness 9 should be understood in 
sixteen modes, for this is said: "What are the sixteen roots of success (power)? 



8. Further explanatory details are given in the commentary to the Iddhipada Vibhariga. 

9. Aneja (or anenja) — "unperturbed": form not in PED. 

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Undejected consciousness is not perturbed by indolence, thus it is unperturbed. 
Undated consciousness is not perturbed by agitation, thus it is unperturbed. 
Unattracted consciousness is not perturbed by greed, thus it is unperturbed. 
Unrepelled consciousness is not perturbed by ill will, thus it is unperturbed. 
Independent consciousness is not perturbed by [false] view, thus it is unperturbed. 
Untrammelled consciousness is not perturbed by greed accompanied by zeal, 
thus it is unperturbed. Liberated consciousness is not perturbed by greed for 
sense desires, thus it is unperturbed. Unassociated consciousness is not 
perturbed by defilement, thus it is unperturbed. Consciousness rid of barriers is 
not perturbed by the barrier of defilement, thus it is unperturbed. Unified 
consciousness is not perturbed by the defilement of variety, thus it is unperturbed. 
Consciousness reinforced by faith is not perturbed by faithlessness, thus it is 
unperturbed. Consciousness reinforced by energy is not perturbed by indolence, 
thus it is unperturbed. Consciousness reinforced by mindfulness is not perturbed 
by negligence, thus it is unperturbed. Consciousness reinforced by concentration is 
not perturbed by agitation, thus it is unperturbed. Consciousness reinforced by 
understanding is not perturbed by ignorance, thus it is unperturbed. Illuminated 
consciousness is not perturbed by the darkness of ignorance, thus it is unperturbed. 
These sixteen roots of success (power) lead to the obtaining of supernormal power 
(success) ... to fearlessness due to supernormal power (success)" (Patis II 206). 

56. Of course, this meaning is already established by the words, "When his 
concentrated mind," etc., too, but it is stated again for the purpose of showing 
that the first jhana, etc., are the three planes, bases (roads), steps, and roots, of 
success (to supernormal powers). And the first-mentioned method is the one 
given in the Suttas, but this is how it is given in the Patisambhida. So it is stated 
again for the purpose of avoiding confusion in each of the two instances. 

57. 5. He resolves with knowledge (§48): when he has accomplished these things 
consisting of the planes, bases (roads), steps, and roots, of success (to supernormal 
power), [387] then he attains jhana as the basis for direct-knowledge and emerges 
from it. Then if he wants to become a hundred, he does the preliminary work 
thus, "Let me become a hundred, let me become a hundred," after which he 
again attains jhana as basis for direct-knowledge, emerges, and resolves. He 
becomes a hundred simultaneously with the resolving consciousness. The same 
method applies in the case of a thousand, and so on. If he does not succeed in 
this way, he should do the preliminary work again, and attain, emerge, and 
resolve a second time. For it is said in the Samyutta Commentary that it is 
allowable to attain once, or twice. 

58. Herein, the basic-jhana consciousness has the sign as its object; but the 
preliminary-work consciousnesses have the hundred as their object or the 
thousand as their object. And these latter are objects as appearances, not as 
concepts. The resolving consciousness has likewise the hundred as its object or 
the thousand as its object. That arises once only, next to change-of-lineage 
[consciousness], as in the case of absorption consciousness already described 
(IV78), and it is fine-material-sphere consciousness belonging to the fourth jhana. 



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59. Now, it is said in the Patisambhida: "Normally one, he adverts to [himself 
as] many or a hundred or a thousand or a hundred thousand; having adverted, 
he resolves with knowledge, 'Let me be many' He becomes many, like the 
venerable Cula-Panthaka" (Patis II 207). Here he adverts is said with respect only 
to the preliminary work. Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge is said with 
respect to the knowledge of the direct-knowledge. Consequently, he adverts to 
many. After that he attains with the last one of the preliminary-work 
consciousnesses. After emerging from the attainment, he again adverts thus, 
"Let me be many," after which he resolves by means of the single [consciousness] 
belonging to the knowledge of direct-knowledge, which has arisen next to the 
three, or four, preparatory consciousnesses that have occurred, and which has 
the name "resolve" owing to its making the decision. This is how the meaning 
should be understood here. 

60. Like the venerable Cula-Panthaka is said in order to point to a bodily witness 
of this multiple state; but that must be illustrated by the story. There were two 
brothers, it seems, who were called, "Panthaka (Roadling)" because they were 
born on a road. The senior of the two was called Maha-Panthaka. He went forth 
into homelessness and reached Arahantship together with the discriminations. 
When he had become an Arahant, he made Cula-Panthaka go forth too, and he 
set him this stanza: [388] 

As a scented kokanada lotus 

Opens in the morning with its perfume, 

See the One with Radiant Limbs who glitters 10 

Like the sun's orb blazing in the heavens (A III 239; S I 81). 

Four months went by, but he could not get it by heart. Then the elder said, 
"You are useless in this dispensation," and he expelled him from the monastery. 

61. At that time the elder had charge of the allocation of meal [invitations]. 
Jivaka approached the elder, saying, "Take alms at our house, venerable sir, 
together with the Blessed One and five hundred bhikkhus." The elder consented, 
saying, "I accept for all but Cula-Panthaka." Cula-Panthaka stood weeping at 
the gate. The Blessed One saw him with the divine eye, and he went to him. 
"Why are you weeping?" he asked, and he was told what had happened. 

62. The Blessed One said, "No one in my dispensation is called useless for 
being unable to do a recitation. Do not grieve, bhikkhu." Taking him by the arm, 
he led him into the monastery. He created a piece of cloth by supernormal power 
and gave it to him, saying, "Now, bhikkhu, keep rubbing this and recite over and 
over again: 'Removal of dirt, removal of dirt.'" While doing as he had been told, 
the cloth became black in colour. What he came to perceive was this: "The cloth 
is clean; there is nothing wrong there. It is this selfhood that is wrong." He 
brought his knowledge to bear on the five aggregates, and by increasing insight 
he reached the neighbourhood of conformity [knowledge] and change-of-lineage 
[knowledge]. 

10. AngTrasa — "the One with Radiant Limbs": one of the epithets for the Buddha. Not 
in PED; see A III 239. 

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63. Then the Blessed One uttered these illuminative stanzas: 

Now greed it is, not dust, that we call "dirt," 
And "dirt" is just a term in use for greed; 
This greed the wise reject, and they abide 
Keeping the Law of him that has no greed. 
Now, hate it is, not dust, that we call "dirt," 



Delusion too, it is not dust, that we call "dirt," 

And "dirt" is just a term used for delusion; 

Delusion the wise reject, and they abide 

Keeping the Dhamma of him without delusion (Nidd I 505). 

[389] 
When the stanzas were finished, the venerable Cula-Panthaka had at his 
command the nine supramundane states attended by the four discriminations 
and six kinds of direct-knowledge. 

64. On the following day the Master went to Jivaka's house together with the 
Community of Bhikkhus. Then when the gruel was being given out at the end of 
the water-offering ceremony 11 he covered his bowl. Jivaka asked, "What is it, 
venerable sir?" — "There is a bhikkhu at the monastery." He sent a man, telling 
him, "Go, and return quickly with the lord." 

65. When the Blessed One had left the monastery: 

Now, having multiplied himself 

Up to a thousand, Panthaka 

Sat in the pleasant mango wood 

until the time should be announced (Th 563). 

66. When the man went and saw the monastery all glowing with yellow, he 
returned and said, "Venerable sir, the monastery is crowded with bhikkhus. I do 
not know which of them the lord is." Then the Blessed One said, "Go and catch 
hold of the hem of the robe of the first one you see, tell him, 'The Master calls you' 
and bring him here." He went and caught hold of the elder's robe. At once all the 
creations vanished. The elder dismissed him, saying, "You may go," and when 
he had finished attending to his bodily needs such as mouth washing, he arrived 
first and sat down on the seat prepared. 

It was with reference to this that it was said, "like the venerable Cula-Panthaka." 

67. The many who were created there were just like the possessor of the 
supernormal power because they were created without particular specification. Then 
whatever the possessor of the supernormal powers does, whether he stands, sits, etc., 
or speaks, keeps silent, etc., they do the same. But if he wants to make them different 
in appearance, some in the first phase of life, some in the middle phase, and some in 
the last phase, and similarly some long-haired, some half-shaved, some shaved, 
some grey-haired, some with lightly dyed robes, some with heavily dyed robes, or 
expounding phrases, explaining Dhamma, intoning, asking questions, answering 

11. Dedication of what is to be given accompanied by pouring water over the hand. 

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questions, cooking dye, sewing and washing robes, etc., or if he wants to make still 
others of different kinds, he should emerge from the basic jhana, do the preliminary 
work in the way beginning 'Let there be so many bhikkhus in the first phase of life', 
etc.; then he should once more attain and emerge, and then resolve. They become of 
the kinds desired simultaneously with the resolving consciousness. 12 

68. The same method of explanation applies to the clause having been many, he 
becomes one: but there is this difference. After this bhikkhu thus created a manifold 
state, then he again thinks, "As one only I will walk about, do a recital, [390] ask 
a question," or out of fewness of wishes he thinks, "This is a monastery with few 
bhikkhus. If someone comes, he will wonder, 'Where have all these bhikkhus 
who are all alike come from? Surely it will be one of the elder's feats?' and so he 
might get to know about me." Meanwhile, wishing, "Let me be one only," he 
should attain the basic jhana and emerge. Then, after doing the preliminary 
work thus, "Let me be one," he should again attain and emerge and then resolve 
thus, 'Let me be one'. He becomes one simultaneously with the resolving 
consciousness. But instead of doing this, he can automatically become one again 
with the lapse of the predetermined time. 

69. He appears and vanishes: the meaning here is that he causes appearance, 
causes vanishing. For it is said in the Patisambhida with reference to this: '"He 
appears': he is not veiled by something, he is not hidden, he is revealed, he is 
evident. 'Vanishes': he is veiled by something, he is hidden, he is shut away, he 
is enclosed" (Patis II 207). 13 

Now, this possessor of supernormal power who wants to make an appearance, 
makes darkness into light, or he makes revealed what is hidden, or he makes 
what has not come into the visual field come into the visual field. 

70. How? If he wants to make himself or another visible even though hidden 
or at a distance, he emerges from the basic jhana and adverts thus, "Let this that 
is dark become light" or "Let this that is hidden be revealed" or "Let this that has 
not come into the visual field come into the visual field." Then he does the 
preliminary work and resolves in the way already described. It becomes as 
resolved simultaneously with the resolve. Others then see even when at a distance; 
and he himself sees too, if he wants to see. 

12. '"They become of the kinds desired': they become whatever the kinds that were desired: 
for they come to possess as many varieties in appearance, etc., as it was wished they 
should have. But although they become manifold in this way by being made the object 
in different modes of appearance, nevertheless it is only a single resolution 
consciousness that occurs. This is its power. For it is like the single volition that 
produces a personality possessed of many different facets (see Ch. XIV n. 14). And 
there it is the aspiration to become that is a condition for the differentiation in the 
kamma; and kamma-result is imponderable. And here too it is the preliminary-work 
consciousness that should be taken as a condition for the difference. And the field of 
supernormal power is imponderable too." (Vism-mht 390) 

13. Certain grammatical problems arise about the case of the words avibhavam, etc., 
both in the sutta passage and (more so) in the Patisambhida passage; they are examined 
by Vism-mht (p. 390) but are not renderable into English. 

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71. But by whom was this miracle formerly performed? By the Blessed One. 
For when the Blessed One had been invited by Cula-Subhadda and was traversing 
the seven-league journey between Savatthi and Saketa with five hundred 
palanquins 14 created by Vissakamma (see Dhp-a III 470), he resolved in suchwise 
that citizens of Saketa saw the inhabitants of Savatthi and citizens of Savatthi 
saw the inhabitants of Saketa. And when he had alighted in the centre of the city, 
he split the earth in two and showed Avici, and he parted the sky in two and 
showed the Brahma-world. 

72. And this meaning should also be explained by means of the Descent of 
the Gods (devorohana). When the Blessed One, it seems, had performed the Twin 
Miracle 15 and had liberated eighty-four thousand beings from bonds, he 
wondered, "Where did the past Enlightened Ones go to when they had finished 
the Twin Miracle?" He saw that they had gone to the heaven of the Thirty-three. 
[391] Then he stood with one foot on the surface of the earth, and placed the 
second on Mount Yugandhara. Then again he lifted his first foot and set it on 
the summit of Mount Sineru. He took up the residence for the Rains there on the 
Red Marble Terrace, and he began his exposition of the Abhidhamma, starting 
from the beginning, to the deities of ten thousand world-spheres. At the time for 
wandering for alms he created an artificial Buddha to teach the Dhamma. 

73. Meanwhile the Blessed One himself would chew a tooth-stick of nagalata 
wood and wash his mouth in Lake Anotatta. Then, after collecting alms food 
among the Uttarakurus, he would eat it on the shores of that lake. [Each day] the 
Elder Sariputta went there and paid homage to the Blessed One, who told him, 
"Today I taught this much Dhamma," and he gave him the method. In this way 
he gave an uninterrupted exposition of the Abhidhamma for three months. Eighty 
million deities penetrated the Dhamma on hearing it. 

74. At the time of the Twin Miracle an assembly gathered that was twelve 
leagues across. Then, saying, "We will disperse when we have seen the Blessed 
One," they made an encampment and waited there. Anathapindika the Lesser 16 
supplied all their needs. People asked the Elder Anuruddha to find out where 
the Blessed One was. The elder extended light, and with the divine eye he saw 
where the Blessed One had taken up residence for the Rains. As soon as he saw 
this, he announced it. 

75. They asked the venerable Maha Moggallana to pay homage to the Blessed 
One. In the midst of the assembly the elder dived into the earth. Then cleaving 

14. Kutagara — "palanquin": not in this sense in PED. See story at M-a V 90, where it is 
told how 500 of these were made by Sakka's architect Vissakamma for the Buddha to 
journey through the air in. The same word is also commonly used in the Commentaries 
for the portable structure (catafalque) in which a bier is carried to the pyre. This, built 
often in the form of a house, is still used now in Sri Lanka and called ransivi-ge. See A-a 
commentary to AN 3:42, and to AN 1:38; also Dhp-a III 470. Not in this sense in PED. 

15. The only book in the Tipitaka to mention the Twin Miracle is the Patisambhidamagga 
(Patis I 53). 16 Anathapindika's younger brother (Vism-mht 391). 

16. Anathapindika's younger brother (Vism-mht 391). 



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Mount Sineru, he emerged at the Perfect One's feet, and he paid homage at the 
Blessed One's feet. This is what he told the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, the 
inhabitants of Jambudipa pay homage at the Blessed One's feet, and they say, 
'We will disperse when we have seen the Blessed One.'" The Blessed One said, 
"But, Moggallana, where is your elder brother, the General of the Dhamma?" — 
"At the city of Sahkassa, venerable sir." — "Moggallana, those who wish to see 
me should come tomorrow to the city of Sahkassa. Tomorrow being the Uposatha 
day of the full moon, I shall descend to the city of Sahkassa for the Mahapavarana 
ceremony." 

76. Saying, "Good, venerable sir," the elder paid homage to Him of the Ten 
Powers, and descending by the way he came, he reached the human 
neighbourhood. And at the time of his going and coming he resolved that people 
should see it. This, firstly, is the miracle of becoming apparent that the Elder 
Maha Moggallana performed here. Having arrived thus, he related what had 
happened, and he said, "Come forth after the morning meal and pay no heed to 
distance" [thus promising that they would be able to see in spite of the distance]. 

77. The Blessed One informed Sakka, Ruler of Gods, "Tomorrow, O King, I am 
going to the human world." The Ruler of Gods [392] commanded Vissakamma, 
"Good friend, the Blessed One wishes to go to the human world tomorrow. Build 
three flights of stairs, one of gold, one of silver and one of crystal." He did so. 

78. On the following day the Blessed One stood on the summit of Sineru and 
surveyed the eastward world element. Many thousands of world-spheres were 
visible to him as clearly as a single plain. And as the eastward world element, so 
too he saw the westward, the northward and the southward world elements all 
clearly visible. And he saw right down to Avici, and up to the Realm of the 
Highest Gods. That day, it seems, was called the day of the Revelation of Worlds 
(loka-vivarana). Human beings saw deities, and deities saw human beings. And 
in doing so the human beings did not have to look up or the deities down. They 
all saw each other face to face. 

79. The Blessed One descended by the middle flight of stairs made of crystal; 
the deities of the six sense-sphere heavens by that on the left side made of gold; 
and the deities of the Pure Abodes, and the Great Brahma, by that on the right 
side made of silver. The Ruler of Gods held the bowl and robe. The Great Brahma 
held a three-league-wide white parasol. Suyama held a yak-tail fan. Five-crest 
(Pancasikha), the son of the gandhabba, descended doing honour to the Blessed 
One with his bael-wood lute measuring three quarters of a league. On that day 
there was no living being present who saw the Blessed One but yearned for 
enlightenment. This is the miracle of becoming apparent that the Blessed One 
performed here. 

80. Furthermore, in Tambapanni Island (Sri Lanka), while the Elder 
Dhammadinna, resident of Talahgara, was sitting on the shrine terrace in the 
Great Monastery of Tissa (Tissamahavihara) expounding the Apannaka Sutta, 
"Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu possesses three things he enters upon the 
untarnished way" (A I 113), he turned his fan face downwards and an opening 
right down to Avici appeared. Then he turned it face upwards and an opening 

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Chapter XII The Supernormal Powers 

right up to the Brahma-world appeared. Having thus aroused fear of hell and 
longing for the bliss of heaven, the elder taught the Dhamma. Some became 
stream-enterers, some once-returners, some non-returners, some Arahants. 

81. But one who wants to cause a vanishing makes light into darkness, or he 
hides what is unbidden, or he makes what has come into the visual field come 
no more into the visual field. How? If he wants to make himself or another 
invisible even though unconcealed or nearby, he emerges from the basic jhana 
and adverts thus, "Let this light become darkness" or [393] "Let this that is 
unhidden be hidden" or "Let this that has come into the visual field not come 
into the visual field." Then he does the preliminary work and resolves in the 
way already described. It becomes as he has resolved simultaneously with the 
resolution. Others do not see even when they are nearby. He too does not see, if 
he does not want to see. 

82. But by whom was this miracle formerly performed? By the Blessed One. 
For the Blessed One so acted that when the clansman Yasa was sitting beside 
him, his father did not see him (Vin 1 16). Likewise, after travelling two thousand 
leagues to meet [King] Maha Kappina and establishing him in the fruition of 
non-return and his thousand ministers in the fruition of stream-entry he so 
acted that Queen Anoja, who had followed the king with a thousand women 
attendants and was sitting nearby, did not see the king and his retinue. And 
when he was asked, "Have you seen the king, venerable sir?," he asked, But 
which is better for you, to seek the king or to seek [your] self?" (cf. Vin I 23). She 
replied, "[My] self, venerable sir." Then he likewise taught her the Dhamma as 
she sat there, so that, together with the thousand women attendants, she became 
established in the fruition of stream-entry while the ministers reached the fruition 
of non-return, and the king that of Arahantship (see A-a I 322; Dhp-a II 124). 

83. Furthermore, this was performed by the Elder Mahinda, who so acted on 
the day of his arrival in Tambapanni Island that the king did not see the others 
who had come with him (see Mahavamsa I 103). 

84. Furthermore, all miracles of making evident are called an appearance, 
and all miracles of making unevident are called a vanishing. Herein, in the 
miracle of making evident, both the supernormal power and the possessor of the 
supernormal power are displayed. That can be illustrated with the Twin Miracle; 
for in that both are displayed thus: "Here the Perfect One performs the Twin 
Miracle, which is not shared by disciples. He produces a mass of fire from the 
upper part of his body and a shower of water from the lower part of his body ..." 
(Patis 1 125). In the case of the miracle of making unevident, only the supernormal 
power is displayed, not the possessor of the supernormal power. That can be 
illustrated by means of the Mahaka Sutta (S IV 200), and the Brahmanimantanika 
Sutta (M I 330). For there it was only the supernormal power of the venerable 
Mahaka and of the Blessed One respectively that was displayed, not the 
possessors of the supernormal power, according as it is said: 

85. "When he had sat down at one side, the householder Citta said to the 
venerable Mahaka, 'Venerable sir, it would be good if the lord would show me a 
miracle of supernormal power belonging to the higher than human state.' — 

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'Then, householder, spread your upper robe out on the terrace [394] and scatter 17 
a bundle of hay on it.' — 'Yes, venerable sir,' the householder replied to the 
venerable Mahaka, and he spread out his upper robe on the terrace and scattered 
a bundle of hay on it. Then the venerable Mahaka went into his dwelling and 
fastened the latch, after which he performed a feat of supernormal power such 
that flames came out from the keyhole and from the gaps in the fastenings and 
burned the hay without burning the upper robe" (S IV 290). 

86. Also according as it is said: "Then, bhikkhus, I performed a feat of 
supernormal power such that Brahma and Brahma's retinue, and those attached 
to Brahma's retinue might hear my voice and yet not see me, and having vanished 
in this way, I spoke this stanza: 

I saw the fear in [all kinds of] becoming, 
Including becoming that seeks non-becoming; 
And no becoming do I recommend; 
I cling to no delight therein at all (M I 330). 

87. He goes unhindered through walls, through enclosures, through mountains, as 
though in open space: here through walls is beyond walls; the yonder side of a wall, 
is what is meant. So with the rest. And wall is a term for the wall of a house; 
enclosure is a wall surrounding a house, monastery (park), village, etc.; mountain 
is a mountain of soil or a mountain of stone. Unhindered: not sticking. As though 
in open space: just as if he were in open space. 

88. One who wants to go in this way should attain the space-kasina [jhana] 
and emerge, and then do the preliminary work by adverting to the wall or the 
enclosure or some such mountain as Sineru or the World-sphere Mountains, 
and he should resolve, "Let there be space." It becomes space only; it becomes 
hollow for him if he wants to go down or up; it becomes cleft for him if he wants 
to penetrate it. He goes through it unhindered. 

89. But here the Elder Tipitaka Cula-Abhaya said: "Friends, what is the use of 
attaining the space-kasina [jhana]? Does one who wants to create elephants, 
horses, etc., attain an elephant-kasina jhana or horse-kasina jhana, and so on? 
Surely the only standard is mastery in the eight attainments, and after the 
preliminary work has been done on any kasina, it then becomes whatever he 
wishes." The bhikkhus said, "Venerable sir, only the space kasina has been 
given in the text, so it should certainly be mentioned." 

90 . Here is the text: "He is normally an obtainer of the space-kasina attainment. 
He adverts: "Through the wall, through the enclosure, through the mountain." 
[395] Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge: "Let there be space." There 
is space. He goes unhindered through the wall, through the enclosure, through 
the mountain. Just as men normally not possessed of supernormal power go 
unhindered where there is no obstruction or enclosure, so too this possessor of 
supernormal power, by his attaining mental mastery, goes unhindered through 



17. Okaseti — "to scatter": PED, this ref., gives "to show," which does not fit the context. 
Vism-mht glosses with pakirati. 

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the wall, through the enclosure, through the mountain, as though in open space" 
(Patis II 208). 

91. What if a mountain or a tree is raised in this bhikkhu's way while he is 
travelling along after resolving; should he attain and resolve again? — There is 
no harm in that. For attaining and resolving again is like taking the dependence 
(see Vin I 58; II 274) in the preceptor's presence. And because this bhikkhu has 
resolved, "Let there be space," there will be only space there, and because of the 
power of his first resolve it is impossible that another mountain or tree can have 
sprung up meanwhile made by temperature. However, if it has been created by 
another possessor of supernormal power and created first, it prevails; the former 
must go above or below it. 

92. He dives in and out of the ground {pathaviya pi ummujjanimmujjam): here it is 
rising up that is called "diving out" (ummujja) and it is sinking down that is 
called "diving in" (nimmujja). Ummujjanimmujjam = ummujjah ca nimmujjan ca 
(resolution of compound). 

One who wants to do this should attain the water-kasina [jhana] and emerge. 
Then he should do the preliminary work, determining thus, "Let the earth in 
such an area be water," and he should resolve in the way already described. 
Simultaneously with the resolve, that much extent of earth according as 
determined becomes water only. It is there he does the diving in and out. 

93 . Here is the text: "He is normally an obtainer of the water-kasina attainment. 
He adverts to earth. Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge: "Let there be 
water." There is water. He does the diving in and out of the earth. Just as men 
normally not possessed of supernormal power do diving in and out of water, so 
this possessor of supernormal power, by his attaining mental mastery, does the 
diving in and out of the earth as though in water" (Patis II 208). 

94. And he does not only dive in and out, but whatever else he wants, such as 
bathing, drinking, mouth washing, washing of chattels, and so on. And not 
only water, but there is whatever else (liquid that) he wants, such as ghee, oil, 
honey, molasses, and so on. When he does the preliminary work, after adverting 
thus, "Let there be so much of this and this" and resolves, [396] it becomes as he 
resolved. If he takes them and fills dishes with them, the ghee is only ghee, the 
oil, etc., only oil, etc., the water only water. If he wants to be wetted by it, he is 
wetted, if he does not want to be wetted by it, he is not wetted. And it is only for 
him that that earth becomes water, not for anyone else. People go on it on foot and 
in vehicles, etc., and they do their ploughing, etc., there. But if he wishes, "Let it 
be water for them too," it becomes water for them too. When the time determined 
has elapsed, all the extent determined, except for water originally present in 
water pots, ponds, etc., becomes earth again. 

95. On unbroken water: here water that one sinks into when trodden on is 
called "broken," the opposite is called "unbroken." But one who wants to go in 
this way should attain the earth-kasina [jhana] and emerge. Then he should do 
the preliminary work, determining thus, "Let the water in such an area become 
earth," and he should resolve in the way already described. Simultaneously 
with the resolve, the water in that place becomes earth. He goes on that. 

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96. Here is the text: "He is normally an obtainer of the earth-kasina attainment. 
He adverts to water. Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge: 'Let there be 
earth.' There is earth. He goes on unbroken water. Just as men normally not 
possessed of supernormal power go on unbroken earth, so this possessor of 
supernormal power, by his attaining of mental mastery, goes on unbroken water 
as if on earth" (Patis II 208). 

97. And he not only goes, but he adopts whatever posture he wishes. And not 
only earth, but whatever else [solid that] he wants such as gems, gold, rocks, 
trees, etc. he adverts to that and resolves, and it becomes as he resolves. And that 
water becomes earth only for him; it is water for anyone else. And fishes and 
turtles and water birds go about there as they like. But if he wishes to make it 
earth for other people, he does so too. When the time determined has elapsed, it 
becomes water again. 

98. Seated cross-legged he travels: he goes seated cross-legged. Like a winged 
bird: like a bird furnished with wings. One who wants to do this should attain 
the earth kasina and emerge. [397] Then if he wants to go cross-legged, he 
should do the preliminary work and determine an area the size of a seat for 
sitting cross-legged on, and he should resolve in the way already described. If 
he wants to go lying down, he determines an area the size of a bed. If he wants 
to go on foot, he determines a suitable area the size of a path, and he resolves in 
the way already described: "Let it be earth." Simultaneously with the resolve it 
becomes earth. 

99. Here is the text: "'Seated cross-legged he travels in space like a winged 
bird': he is normally an obtainer of the earth-kasina attainment. He adverts to 
space. Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge: 'Let there be earth.' There 
is earth. He travels (walks), stands, sits, and lies down in space, in the sky. Just as 
men normally not possessed of supernormal power travel (walk), stand, sit, and 
lie down on earth, so this possessor of supernormal power, by his attaining of 
mental mastery, travels (walks), stands, sits, and lies down in space, in the sky" 
(Patis II 208). 

100. And a bhikkhu who wants to travel in space should be an obtainer of the 
divine eye. Why? On the way there may be mountains, trees, etc., that are 
temperature-originated, or jealous nagas, supannas, etc., may create them. He 
will need to be able to see these. But what should be done on seeing them? He 
should attain the basic jhana and emerge, and then he should do the preliminary 
work thus, "Let there be space," and resolve. 

101. But the Elder [Tipitaka Cula-Abhaya] said: "Friends, what is the use of 
attaining the attainment? Is not his mind concentrated? Hence any area that he 
has resolved thus, 'Let it be space' is space." Though he spoke thus, nevertheless 
the matter should be treated as described under the miracle of going unhindered 
through walls. Moreover, he should be an obtainer of the divine eye for the 
purpose of descending in a secluded place, for if he descends in a public place, 
in a bathing place, or at a village gate, he is exposed to the multitude. So, seeing 
with the divine eye, he should avoid a place where there is no open space and 
descend in an open space. 

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Chapter XII The Supernormal Powers 

102. With his hand he touches and strokes the moon and sun so mighty and powerful: 
here the "might" of the moon and sun should be understood to consist in the 
fact that they travel at an altitude of forty-two thousand leagues, and their "power" 
to consist in their simultaneous illuminating of three [of the four] continents. 
[398] Or they are "mighty" because they travel overhead and give light as they 
do, and they are "powerful" because of that same might. He touches: he seizes, or 
he touches in one place. Strokes: he strokes all over, as if it were the surface of a 
looking-glass. 

103. This supernormal power is successful simply through the jhana that is 
made the basis for direct-knowledge; there is no special kasina attainment here. 
For this is said in the Patisambhida: "'With his hand ... so mighty and powerful': 
here this possessor of supernormal power who has attained mind mastery ... 
adverts to the moon and sun. Having adverted, he resolves with knowledge: 'Let 
it be within hand's reach.' It is within hand's reach. Sitting or lying down, with 
his hand he touches, makes contact with, strokes the moon and sun. Just as men 
normally not possessed of supernormal power touch, make contact with, stroke, 
some material object within hand's reach, so this possessor of supernormal 
power, by his attaining of mental mastery, sitting or lying down, with his hands 
touches, makes contact with, strokes the moon and sun" (Patis II 298). 

104. If he wants to go and touch them, he goes and touches them. But if he 
wants to touch them here sitting or lying down, he resolves: "Let them be within 
hand's reach. Then he either touches them as they stand within hand's reach 
when they have come by the power of the resolve like palmyra fruits loosened 
from their stalk, or he does so by enlarging his hand. But when he enlarges his 
hand, does he enlarge what is clung to or what is not clung to? He enlarges 
what is not clung to supported by what is clung to. 

105. Here the Elder Tipitaka Cula-Naga said: "But, friends, why does what is 
clung to not become small and big too? When a bhikkhu comes out through a 
keyhole, does not what is clung to become small? And when he makes his body 
big, does it not then become big, as in the case of the Elder Maha Moggallana?" 

106. At one time, it seems, when the householder Anathapindika had heard 
the Blessed One preaching the Dhamma, he invited him thus, Venerable sir, take 
alms at our house together with five hundred bhikkhus," and then he departed. 
The Blessed One consented. When the rest of that day and part of the night had 
passed, he surveyed the ten- thousandfold world element in the early morning. 
Then the royal naga (serpent) called Nandopananda came within the range of 
his knowledge. 

107. The Blessed One considered him thus: "This royal naga has come into 
the range of my knowledge. Has he the potentiality for development?" Then he 
saw that he had wrong view and no confidence in the Three Jewels. [399] He 
considered thus, "Who is there that can cure him of his wrong view?" He saw 
that the Elder Maha Moggallana could. Then when the night had turned to 
dawn, after he had seen to the needs of the body, he addressed the venerable 
Ananda: "Ananda, tell five hundred bhikkhus that the Perfect One is going on 
a visit to the gods." 

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108. It was on that day that they had got a banqueting place ready for 
Nandopananda. He was sitting on a divine couch with a divine white parasol 
held aloft, surrounded by the three kinds of dancers 18 and a retinue of nagas, 
and surveying the various kinds of food and drink served up in divine vessels. 
Then the Blessed One so acted that the royal naga saw him as he proceeded 
directly above his canopy in the direction of the divine world of the Thirty-three, 
accompanied by the five hundred bhikkhus. 

109. Then this evil view arose in Nandopananda the royal naga: "There go 
these bald-headed monks in and out of the realm of the Thirty-three directly over 
my realm. I will not have them scattering the dirt off their feet on our heads." He 
got up, and he went to the foot of Sineru. Changing his form, he surrounded it 
seven times with his coils. Then he spread his hood over the realm of the Thirty- 
three and made everything there invisible. 

110. The venerable Ratthapala said to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, standing 
in this place formerly I used to see Sineru and the ramparts of Sineru, 19 and the 
Thirty-three, and the Vejayanta Palace, and the flag over the Vejayanta Palace. 
Venerable sir, what is the cause, what is the reason, why I now see neither Sineru 
nor ... the flag over the Vejayanta Palace?" — "This royal naga called 
Nandopananda is angry with us, Ratthapala. He has surrounded Sineru seven 
times with his coils, and he stands there covering us with his raised hood, 
making it dark." — "I will tame him, venerable sir." But the Blessed One would 
not allow it. Then the venerable Bhaddiya and the venerable Rahula and all the 
bhikkhus in turn offered to do so, but the Blessed One would not allow it. 

111. Last of all the venerable Maha Moggallana said, "I will tame him, venerable 
sir." The Blessed One allowed it, saying, "Tame him, Moggallana." The elder 
abandoned that form and assumed the form of a huge royal naga, and he 
surrounded Nandopananda fourteen times with his coils and raised his hood 
above the other's hood, and he squeezed him against Sineru. The royal naga 
produced smoke. [400] The elder said, "There is smoke not only in your body but 
also in mine," and he produced smoke. The royal naga's smoke did not distress 
the elder, but the elder's smoke distressed the royal naga. Then the royal naga 
produced flames. The elder said, "There is fire not only in your body but also in 
mine," and he produced flames. The royal naga's fire did not distress the elder, 
but the elder's fire distressed the royal naga. 

112. The royal naga thought, "He has squeezed me against Sineru, and he has 
produced both smoke and flames." Then he asked, "Sir, who are you?" — "I am 
Moggallana, Nanda." — "Venerable sir, resume your proper bhikkhu's state." The 
elder abandoned that form, and he went into his right ear and came out from his left 
ear; then he went into his left ear and came out from his right ear. Likewise he went 



18. Vism-mht (p.394): "Vadhukumarikanna-vatthahi tividhahi natakitthihi." 

19. '"The ramparts of Sineru': the girdle of Sineru. There are, it seems, four ramparts 
that encircle Sineru, measuring 5,000 leagues in breadth and width. They were built to 
protect the realm of the Thirty-three against nagas, garudas, kumbhandas and yakkhas. 
They enclose half of Sineru, it seems" (Vism-mht 394). 



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into his right nostril and came out from his left nostril; then he went into his left 
nostril and came out from his right nostril. Then the royal naga opened his mouth. 
The elder went inside it, and he walked up and down, east and west, inside his belly 

113. The Blessed One said, "Moggallana, Moggallana, beware; this is a 
mighty naga." The elder said, "Venerable sir, the four roads to power have been 
developed by me, repeatedly practiced, made the vehicle, made the basis, 
established, consolidated, and properly undertaken. I can tame not only 
Nandopananda, venerable sir, but a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand 
royal nagas like Nandopananda." 

114. The royal naga thought, "When he went in the first place I did not see 
him. But now when he comes out I shall catch him between my fangs and chew 
him up." Then he said, "Venerable sir, come out. Do not keep troubling me by 
walking up and down inside my belly." The elder came out and stood outside. 
The royal naga recognized him, and blew a blast from his nose. The elder attained 
the fourth jhana, and the blast failed to move even a single hair on his body. The 
other bhikkhus would, it seems, have been able to perform all the miracles up to 
now, but at this point they could not have attained with so rapid a response, 
which is why the Blessed One would not allow them to tame the royal naga. 

115. The royal naga thought, "I have been unable to move even a single hair on 
this monk's body with the blast from my nose. He is a mighty monk." The elder 
abandoned that form, and having assumed the form of a supanna, he pursued the 
royal naga demonstrating the supanna's blast. [401] The royal naga abandoned 
that form, and having assumed the form of a young brahman, he said, "Venerable 
sir, I go for refuge to you," and he paid homage at the elder's feet. The elder said, 
"The Master has come, Nanda; come, let us go to him." So having tamed the royal 
naga and deprived him of his poison, he went with him to the Blessed One's presence. 

116. The royal naga paid homage to the Blessed One and said, "Venerable sir, 
I go for refuge to you." The Blessed One said, "May you be happy, royal naga." 
Then he went, followed by the Community of Bhikkhus, to Anathapindika's 
house. Anathapindika said, "Venerable sir, why have you come so late?" — "There 
was a battle between Moggallana and Nandopananda." — "Who won, venerable 
sir? Who was defeated?" — "Moggallana won; Nanda was defeated." 
Anathapindika said, "Venerable sir, let the Blessed One consent to my providing 
meals for seven days in a single series, and to my honouring the elder for seven 
days." Then for seven days he accorded great honour to the five hundred 
bhikkhus with the Enlightened One at their head. 

117. So it was with reference to this enlarged form created during this taming 
of Nandopananda that it was said: "When he makes his body big, does it not 
then become big, as in the case of the Elder Maha Moggallana?" (§105). Although 
this was said, the bhikkhus observed, "He enlarges only what is not clung to 
supported by what is clung to." And only this is correct here. 20 

20. "Only this is correct because instances of clung-to (kammically acquired) materiality 
do not arise owing to consciousness or to temperature. Or alternatively, 'clung-to' is 
intended as all matter that is bound up with faculties (i.e. 'sentient'), too. And so to 

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118. And when he has done this, he not only touches the moon and sun, but if 
he wishes, he makes a footstool [of them] and puts his feet on it, he makes a chair 
[of them] and sits on it, he makes a bed [of them] and lies on it, he makes a 
leaning-plank [of them] and leans on it. And as one does, so do others. For even 
when several hundred thousand bhikkhus do this and each one succeeds, still 
the motions of the moon and sun and their radiance remain the same. For just as 
when a thousand saucers are full of water and moon disks are seen in all the 
saucers, still the moon's motion is normal and so is its radiance. And this miracle 
resembles that. 

119. Even as far as the Brahma-world: having made even the Brahma-world the 
limit. He wields bodily mastery: herein, he wields self-mastery in the Brahma- 
world by means of the body. The meaning of this should be understood according 
to the text. 

Here is the text: "'He wields bodily mastery even as far as the Brahma- 
world': if this possessor of supernormal power, having reached mental mastery, 
wants to go to the Brahma-world, though far, he resolves upon nearness, 'Let it 
be near.' [402] It is near. Though near, he resolves upon farness, 'Let it be far.' It 
is far. Though many, he resolves upon few, 'Let there be few.' There are few. 
Though few, he resolves upon many, 'Let there be many' There are many. With 
the divine eye he sees the [fine-material] visible form of that Brahma. With the 
divine ear element he hears the voice of that Brahma. With the knowledge of 
penetration of minds he understands that Brahma's mind. If this possessor of 
supernormal power, having reached mental mastery, wants to go to the Brahma- 
world with a visible body, he converts his mind to accord with his body, he 
resolves his mind to accord with his body. Having converted his mind to accord 
with his body, resolved his mind to accord with his body, he arrives at blissful 
(easy) perception and light (quick) perception, and he goes to the Brahma- 
world with a visible body. If this possessor of supernormal power, having reached 
mental mastery, wants to go to the Brahma-world with an invisible body, he 
converts his body to accord with his mind, he resolves his body to accord with 
his mind. Having converted his body to accord with his mind, resolved his body 
to accord with his mind, he arrives at blissful (easy) perception and light (quick) 
perception, and he goes to the Brahma-world with an invisible body. He creates 
a [fine-material] visible form before that Brahma, mind-made with all its limbs, 
lacking no faculty. If that possessor of supernormal power walks up and down, 



take it as enlargement of that is likewise not correct. Consequently, enlargement 
should be understood only in the way stated. Though the clung-to and the unclung-to 
occur, as it were, mixed up in a single continuity they are nevertheless not mixed up in 
meaning. Herein, just as when a pint measure (alhaka) of milk is poured into a number 
of pints of water, though the milk becomes completely mixed up with the water, and is 
present appreciably in all, it is nevertheless not the milk that has increased there, but 
only the water. And so too, although the clung-to and unclung-to occur mixed up 
together, it is nevertheless not the clung-to that is enlarged. It should be taken that it 
is the consciousness-born matter that is enlarged by the influence of the supernormal 
power, and the temperature-born is enlarged pari passu" (Vism-mht 395). 

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Chapter XII The Supernormal Powers 

the creation walks up and down there too. If that possessor of supernormal 
power stands . . . sits . . . lies down, the creation lies down there too. If that possessor 
of supernormal power produces smoke . . . produces flames . . . preaches Dhamma 
. . . asks a question . . . being asked a question, answers, the creation, being asked 
a question, answers there too. If that possessor of supernormal power stands 
with that Brahma, converses, enters into communication with that Brahma, the 
creation stands with that Brahma there too, converses, enters into communication 
with that Brahma there too. Whatever that possessor of supernormal power does, 
the creation does the same thing'" (Patis II 209). 

120. Herein, though far, he resolves upon nearness: having emerged from the basic 
jhana, he adverts to a far-off world of the gods or to the Brahma-world thus, "Let 
it be near." Having adverted and done the preliminary work, he attains again, 
and then resolves with knowledge: "Let it be near." It becomes near. The same 
method of explanation applies to the other clauses too. 

121. Herein, who has taken what was far and made it near? The Blessed One. 
For when the Blessed One was going to the divine world after the Twin Miracle, 
he made Yugandhara and Sineru near, and from the earth's surface he set one 
foot [403] on Yugandhara, and then he set the other on the summit of Sineru. 

122. Who else has done it? The Elder Maha Moggallana. For when the elder 
was leaving Savatthi after completing his meal, he abridged the twelve-league 
crowd and the thirty-league road to the city of Sarikassa, and he arrived at the 
same moment. 

123. Furthermore, the Elder Cula Samudda did it as well in Tambapanni Island. 
During a time of scarcity, it seems, seven hundred bhikkhus came to the elder 
one morning. The elder thought, "Where can a large community of bhikkhus 
wander for alms?" He saw nowhere at all in Tambapanni Island, but he saw that 
it would be possible on the other shore at Pataliputta (Patna). He got the bhikkhus 
to take their bowls and [outer] robes, and he said, "Come friends, let us go 
wandering for alms." Then he abridged the earth and went to Pataliputta. The 
bhikkhus asked, "What is the city, venerable sir?" — "It is Pataliputta, friends." — 
"Pataliputta is far away, venerable sir." — "Friends, experienced elders make what 
is far near." — "Where is the ocean (maha-samudda) , venerable sir?" — "Friends, 
did you not cross a blue stream on the way as you came?" — "Yes, venerable sir, 
but the ocean is vast." — "Friends, experienced elders also make what is vast 
small." 

124. And the Elder Tissadatta did likewise, when he had put on his upper 
robes after bathing in the evening, and the thought of paying homage at the 
Great Enlightenment Tree arose in him. 

125. Who has taken what was near and made it far? The Blessed One. For 
although Ahgulimala was near to the Blessed One, yet he made him far (see M II 
99). 

126. Who has made much little? The Elder Maha Kassapa. One feast day at 
Rajagaha, it seems, there were five hundred girls on their way to enjoy the festival, 
and they had taken moon cakes with them. They saw the Blessed One but gave 



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him nothing. On their way back, however, they saw the elder. Thinking, "He is 
our elder," they each took a cake and approached the elder. The elder took out 
his bowl and made a single bowlful of them all. The Blessed One had sat down 
first to await the elder. The elder brought them and gave them to the Blessed One. 

127. In the story of the rich man Illisa, however, (J-a I 348; Dhp-a I 372) the Elder 
Maha Moggallana made little much. And in the story of Kakavaliya the Blessed 
One did so. The Elder Maha Kassapa, it seems, after spending seven days in 
attainment, stood at the house door of a man in poor circumstances called 
Kakavaliya in order to show favour to the poor. [404] His wife saw the elder, and 
she poured into his bowl the unsalted sour gruel that she had cooked for her 
husband. The elder took it and placed it in the Blessed One's hand. The Blessed 
One resolved to make it enough for the Greater Community of Bhikkhus. What 
was brought in a single bowl became enough for all. And on the seventh day 
Kakavaliya became a rich man. 

128. And not only in the case of making little much, but whatever the possessor 
of supernormal power wishes, whether to make the sweet unsweet, etc., it is 
successful for him. For so it was that when the Elder Maha Anula saw many 
bhikkhus sitting on the banks of the Gahga River [in Sri Lanka] eating plain rice, 
which was all that they had got after doing their alms round, he resolved, "Let 
the Gahga River water be cream of ghee," and he gave a sign to the novices. They 
fetched it in their vessels and gave it to the Community of Bhikkhus. All of them 
ate their meal with sweet cream of ghee. 

129. With the divine eye: remaining here and extending light, he sees the visible 
form of that Brahma. And remaining here he also hears the sound of his speech 
and he understands his mind. 

130. He converts his mind according to his body: he converts the mind to accord 
with the material body; taking the consciousness of the basic jhana, he mounts 
it upon the body, he makes its going slow to coincide with that of the body; for 
the body's mode of going is slow. 

131. He arrives at blissful perception and light perception: he arrives at, enters, 
makes contact with, reaches, the perception of bliss and perception of lightness 
that are conascent with the consciousness whose object is the basic jhana. And 
it is perception associated with equanimity that is called "perception of bliss"; 
for equanimity is called "bliss" since it is peaceful. And that same perception 
should be understood to be called "perception of lightness" too because it is 
liberated from hindrances and from the things that oppose it beginning with 
applied thought. But when he arrives at that state, his physical body too becomes 
as light as a tuft of cotton. He goes to the Brahma-world thus with a visible body 
as light as a tuft of cotton wafted by the wind. 

132. As he goes thus, if he wishes, he creates a path in space by means of the 
earth kasina and goes on foot. If he wishes, he resolves by means of the air kasina 
that there shall be air, and he goes by air like a tuft of cotton. Moreover, the desire 
to go is the measure here. When there is the desire to go, one who has made his 
mental resolve in this way goes visibly, carried by the force of the resolution like 
an arrow shot by an archer. [405] 

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133. He converts his body to accord with his mind: he takes the body and mounts 
it on the mind. He makes its going swift to coincide with that of the mind; for the 
mind's mode of going is swift. 

He arrives at blissful perception and light perception: he arrives at perception 
of bliss and perception of lightness that are conascent with the supernormal- 
power consciousness whose object is the material body. The rest should be 
understood in the way already described. But here there is only the going of 
consciousness. 21 

134. When it was asked, "As he goes with an invisible body thus, does he 
go at the moment of the resolution-consciousness's arising or at the moment 
of its presence or at the moment of its dissolution?", an elder replied, "He 
goes in all three moments." — "But does he go himself, or does he send a 
creation?" — "He does as he pleases. But here it is only the going himself that 
has been given [in the text]." 

135. Mind-made: mind-made because created by the mind in resolution. Lacking 
no faculty: this refers to the shape of the eye, ear, etc.; but there is no sensitivity in 



21. "'There is only the going of consciousness' : there is only a going that is the same as 
that of the mind. But how does the body, whose going [being that of matter] is slow, 
come to have the same going as the mind, which quickly passes? Its going is not the 
same in all respects; for in the case of converting the mind to conform with the body 
the mind does not come to have the same going as the body in all respects. For it is not 
that the mind then occurs with the moment of a material state, which passes slowly 
instead of passing with its own kind of moment, which is what establishes its individual 
essence. But rather the mind is called 'converted to accord with the going of the body' 
as long as it goes on occurring in a continuity that conforms with the body until the 
desired place is arrived at. This is because its passing occurs parallel with that of the 
body, whose going is slow, owing to the resolution, 'Let the mind be like this body' 
And likewise, it is while the body keeps occurring in suchwise that its arrival at the 
desired place comes about in only a few quick passes of the mind instead of passing 
slowly, as in those who have not developed the roads to power — and this mode of 
occurrence is due to the possession of the perception of lightness, to say nothing of 
the resolve, 'Let this body be like this mind' — that the body is called 'converted to 
accord with the going of the mind,' not because it arrives at the desired place in a 
single consciousness moment. And when taken thus the simile, 'Just as a strong man 
might stretch out his bent arm, or bend his outstretched arm' (Vin I 5) can be taken 
literally. And this must be accepted in this way without reserve, otherwise there is 
conflict with the Suttas, the Abhidhamma and the Commentary as well as contradiction 
of natural law (dhammata). 'Bhikkhus, I see no other one thing that is so quickly 
transformed as the mind' (A 1 10) — here it is material states that are referred to by the 
word 'other' because they do not pass quickly. And in the Abhidhamma only matter 
is called prenascence condition and only consciousness postnascence condition. And 
wherever states (dhamma) arise, there they dissolve. There is no transmigration to an 
adjacent location (desantara-sahkamana) , nor does the individual essence become other. 
For it is not possible to effect any alteration of the characteristics of dhammas by 
force of the roads to power. But it is possible to effect alteration of the mode in which 
they are present (bhava)" (Vism-mht 397). 



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a created visible form. 22 If the possessor of supernormal power walks up and down, the 
creation walks up and down there too, etc., all refers to what a disciple creates; but 
what the Blessed One creates does whatever the Blessed One does, and it also 
does other things according to the Blessed One's pleasure. 

136. When this possessor of supernormal power, while remaining here sees a 
visible object with the divine eye, hears a sound with the divine ear element, 
knows consciousness with the penetration of minds, he does not wield bodily 
power in doing that. And when, while remaining here, he stands with that 
Brahma, converses, enters into communication with that Brahma, he does not 
wield bodily power in doing that. And when he makes his resolve described in 
the way beginning "though far, he resolves upon nearness," he does not wield 
bodily power in doing that. And when he goes to the Brahma-world with a 
visible or an invisible body, he does not wield bodily power in doing that. But 
when he enters upon the process described in the way beginning, "He creates a 
visible form before that Brahma, mind-made," then he wields bodily power in 
doing that. The rest, however, is said here for the purpose of showing the stage 
prior to the wielding of the bodily power. This, firstly, is (i) success by resolve 
(§45). 

137. The difference between (i) success as transformation and (ii) success as 
the mind-made [body], is as follows (see §22, 24, 25, 45). 

(i) One, firstly, who performs a transformation [406] should resolve upon 
whatever he chooses from among the things beginning with the appearance of 
a boy, described as follows: "He abandons his normal appearance and shows 
the appearance of a boy or the appearance of a naga (serpent), or the appearance 
of a supanna (winged demon), or the appearance of an asura (demon), or the 
appearance of the Ruler [of Gods] (Indra), or the appearance of some [other 
sensual-sphere] deity, or the appearance of a Brahma, or the appearance of the 
sea, or the appearance of a rock, or the appearance of a lion, or the appearance 
of a tiger, or the appearance of a leopard, or he shows an elephant, or he shows 
a horse, or he shows a chariot, or he shows a foot soldier, or he shows a manifold 
military array" (Patis II 210). 

138. And when he resolves he should emerge from the fourth jhana that is the 
basis for direct-knowledge and has one of the things beginning with the earth 
kasina as its object, and he should advert to his own appearance as a boy. After 
adverting and finishing the preliminary work, he should attain again and 
emerge, and he should resolve thus: "Let me be a boy of such and such a type." 
Simultaneously with the resolve consciousness he becomes the boy, just as 
Devadatta did (Vin 1 185; Dhp-a I 139). This is the method in all instances. But he 
shows an elephant, etc., is said here with respect to showing an elephant, etc., 
externally. Herein, instead of resolving, "Let me be an elephant," he resolves, 
"Let there be an elephant." The same method applies in the case of the horse 
and the rest. 



22. "This should be regarded as implying that there is no sex or life faculty in it either.' 
(Vism-mht 398). 



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This is success as transformation. 

139. (ii) One who wants to make the mind-made [body] should emerge from 
the basic jhana and first advert to the body in the way already described, and 
then he should resolve, "Let it be hollow." It becomes hollow. Then he adverts to 
another body inside it, and having done the preliminary work in the way already 
described, he resolves, "Let there be another body inside it." Then he draws it 
out like a reed from its sheath, like a sword from its scabbard, like a snake from 
its slough. Hence it is said: "Here a bhikkhu creates from this body another 
body possessing visible form, mind-made, with all its limbs, lacking no faculty. 
Just as though a man pulled out a reed from its sheath and thought thus: 'This 
is the sheath; this is the reed; the sheath is one, the reed is another, it was from the 
sheath that the reed was pulled out'" (Patis II 210), and so on. And here, just as 
the reed, etc., are similar to the sheath, etc., so too the mind-made visible form is 
similar to the possessor of supernormal power, and this simile is given in order 
to show that. 

This is success as the mind-made [body]. 

The twelfth chapter called "The Description of the 
Supernormal Powers" in the Path of Purification composed 
for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



399 



Chapter XIII 

Other Direct-knowledges 
(Abhinna-niddesa) 

[(2) The Divine Ear Element] 

1 . [407] It is now the turn for the description of the divine ear element. Herein, 
and also in the case of the remaining three kinds of direct-knowledge, the 
meaning of the passage beginning, "When his concentrated mind ..." (D I 79) 
should be understood in the way already stated (XII. 13f.); and in each case we 
shall only comment on what is different. [The text is as follows: "He directs, he 
inclines, his mind to the divine ear element. With the divine ear element, which 
is purified and surpasses the human, he hears both kinds of sounds, the divine 
and the human, those that are far as well as near"(D I 79).] 

2. Herein, with the divine ear element: it is divine here because of its similarity to 
the divine; for deities have as the divine ear element the sensitivity that is 
produced by kamma consisting in good conduct and is unimpeded by bile, 
phlegm, blood, etc., and capable of receiving an object even though far off because 
it is liberated from imperfections. And this ear element consisting in knowledge, 
which is produced by the power of this bhikkhu's energy in development, is 
similar to that, so it is "divine" because it is similar to the divine. Furthermore, it 
is "divine" because it is obtained by means of divine abiding and because it has 
divine abiding as its support. And it is an "ear element" (sota-dhatu) in the sense 
of hearing (savana) and in the sense of being a soulless [element]. Also it is an 
"ear element" because it is like the ear element in its performance of an ear 
element's function. With that divine ear element ... he hears ... 

Which is purified: which is quite pure through having no imperfection. And 
surpasses the human: which in the hearing of sounds surpasses, stands beyond, 
the human ear element by surpassing the human environment. 

3. He hears both kinds of sounds: he hears the two kinds of sounds. What two? 
The divine and the human: the sounds of deities and of human beings, is what 
is meant. This should be understood as partially inclusive. Those that are far as 
well as near: what is meant is that he hears sounds that are far off, even in another 
world-sphere, and those that are near, even the sounds of the creatures living in 
his own body. This should be understood as completely inclusive. 

4. But how is this [divine ear element] aroused? The bhikkhu [408] should 
attain jhana as basis for direct-knowledge and emerge. Then, with the 

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consciousness belonging to the preliminary-work concentration, 1 he should 
advert first to the gross sounds in the distance normally within range of hearing: 
the sound in the forest of lions, etc., or in the monastery the sound of a gong, the 
sound of a drum, the sound of a conch, the sound of recitation by novices and 
young bhikkhus reciting with full vigour, the sound of their ordinary talk such 
as "What, venerable sir?", "What, friend?", etc., the sound of birds, the sound of 
wind, the sound of footsteps, the fizzing sound of boiling water, the sound of 
palm leaves drying in the sun, the sound of ants, and so on. Beginning in this 
way with quite gross sounds, he should successively advert to more and more 
subtle sounds. He should give attention to the sound sign of the sounds in the 
eastern direction, in the western direction, in the northern direction, in the 
southern direction, in the upper direction, in the lower direction, in the eastern 
intermediate direction, in the western intermediate direction, in the northern 
intermediate direction, and in the southern intermediate direction. He should 
give attention to the sound sign of gross and of subtle sounds. 2 

5. These sounds are evident even to his normal consciousness; but they are 
especially evident to his preliminary-work-concentration consciousness. 3 As 
he gives his attention to the sound sign in this way, [thinking] "Now the divine 
ear element will arise," mind-door adverting arises making one of these sounds 
its object. When that has ceased, then either four or five impulsions impel, the 
first three, or four, of which are of the sense sphere and are called preliminary- 
work, access, conformity, and change-of-lineage, while the fourth, or the fifth, is 
fine-material-sphere absorption consciousness belonging to the fourth jhana. 

6. Herein, it is knowledge arisen together with the absorption consciousness 
that is called the divine ear element. After that [absorption has been reached, the 
divine ear element] becomes merged in that ear [of knowledge]. 4 When 
consolidating it, he should extend it by delimiting a single finger-breadth thus, 
"I will hear sounds within this area," then two finger-breadths, four finger- 
breadths, eight finger-breadths, a span, a ratana (= 24 finger-breadths), the interior 

1. "With the consciousness belonging to the particular concentration that constitutes 
the preliminary work. The meaning is: by means of consciousness concentrated with 
the momentary concentration that occurs in the form of the preliminary work for 
knowledge of the divine ear element. The occasion of access for the divine ear element 
is called preliminary-work consciousness, but that as stated refers to multiple 
advertings" (Vism-mht 401). 

2. "The sound sign is the sound itself since it is the cause for the arising of the 
knowledge. Or the gross-subtle aspect acquired in the way stated is the sound sign" 
(Vism-mht 402). 

3. "This is momentary-concentration consciousness, which owing to the fact that 
the preliminary work contingent upon the sound has been performed, occurs in one 
who has attained the basic jhana and emerged for the purpose of arousing the divine 
ear element" (Vism-mht 402). 

4. '"Becomes merged' is amalgamated with the divine ear element. He is called an 
obtainer of divine-ear knowledge as soon as the absorption consciousness has arisen. 
The meaning is that there is now no further need of development for the purpose" 
(Vism-mht 403). 

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of the room, the veranda, the building, the surrounding walk, the park belonging 
to the community, the alms-resort village, the district, and so on up to the [limit of 
the] world-sphere, or even more. This is how he should extend it by delimited 
stages. 

7. One who has reached direct-knowledge in this way hears also by means of 
direct-knowledge without re-entering the basic jhana any sound that has come 
within the space touched by the basic jhana's object. And in hearing in this way, 
even if there is an uproar with sounds of conches, drums, cymbals, etc., right up 
to the Brahma-world [409] he can, if he wants to, still define each one thus, "This 
is the sound of conches, this is the sound of drums." 

The explanation of the divine ear element is ended. 

[(3) Penetration of Minds] 

8. As to the explanation of knowledge of penetration of minds, [the text is as 
follows: "He directs, he inclines, his mind to the knowledge of penetration of 
minds. He penetrates with his mind the minds of other beings, of other persons, 
and understands them thus: he understands [the manner of] consciousness 
affected by greed as affected by greed, and understands [the manner of] 
consciousness unaffected by greed as unaffected by greed; he understands 
consciousness affected by hate as affected by hate, and consciousness unaffected 
by hate as unaffected by hate; he understands consciousness affected by delusion 
as affected by delusion, and consciousness unaffected by delusion as unaffected 
by delusion; he understands cramped consciousness as cramped, and distracted 
consciousness as distracted; he understands exalted consciousness as exalted, 
and unexalted consciousness as unexalted; he understands surpassed 
consciousness as surpassed and unsurpassed consciousness as unsurpassed; 
he understands concentrated consciousness as concentrated and unconcentrated 
consciousness as unconcentrated; he understands the liberated [manner of] 
consciousness as liberated, and the unliberated [manner of] consciousness as 
unliberated" (D I 79). Here, it goes all round (pariyati), thus it is penetration 
(pariya); the meaning is that it delimits (paricchindati). The penetration of the 
heart (cetaso pariyam) is "penetration of minds" (cetopariya). It is penetration of 
hearts and that is knowledge, thus it is knowledge of penetration of minds 
(cetopariyanana) . [He directs his consciousness] to that, is what is meant. 

Of other beings: of the rest of beings, himself excluded. Of other persons: this has 
the same meaning as the last, the wording being varied to suit those susceptible 
of teaching [in another way], and for the sake of elegance of exposition. With his 
mind the minds: with his [manner of] consciousness the [manner of] consciousness 
of other beings. Having penetrated (paricca): having delimited all round. He 
understands: he understands them to be of various sorts beginning with that 
affected by greed. 

9. But how is this knowledge to be aroused? That is successfully done through 
the divine eye, which constitutes its preliminary work. Therefore the bhikkhu 
should extend light, and he should seek out (pariyesitabba) another's [manner 
of] consciousness by keeping under observation with the divine eye the colour 



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of the blood present with the matter of the physical heart as its support. 5 For 
when [a manner of] consciousness accompanied by joy is present, the blood is 
red like a banyan-fig fruit; when [a manner of] consciousness accompanied by 
grief is present, it is blackish like a rose-apple fruit; when [a manner of] 
consciousness accompanied by serenity is present, it is clear like sesame oil. So 
he should seek out another's [manner of] consciousness by keeping under 
observation the colour of the blood in the physical heart thus, "This matter is 
originated by the joy faculty; this is originated by the grief faculty; this is 
originated by the equanimity faculty," and so consolidate his knowledge of 
penetration of hearts. 

10. It is when it has been consolidated in this way that he can gradually get to 
understand not only all manner of sense-sphere consciousness but those of 
fine-material and immaterial consciousness as well by tracing one [manner of] 
consciousness from another without any more seeing the physical heart's matter. 
For this is said in the Commentary: "When he wants to know another's [manner 
of] consciousness in the immaterial modes, whose physical-heart matter can he 
observe? Whose material alteration [originated] by the faculties can he look at? 
No one's. The province of a possessor of supernormal power is [simply] this, 
namely, wherever the [manner of] consciousness he adverts to is, there he knows 
it according to these sixteen classes." But this explanation [by means of the 
physical heart] is for one who has not [yet] done any interpreting. 6 

11. As regards [the manner of] consciousness affected by greed, etc., the eight 
[manners of] consciousness accompanied by greed (see Table III, nos. (22)-(29)) 
[410] should be understood as [the manner of] consciousness affected by greed. 
The remaining profitable and indeterminate [manners of] consciousness in the 
four planes are unaffected by greed. The four, namely, the two consciousnesses 
accompanied by grief (nos. (30) and (31)), and the two consciousnesses 
[accompanied respectively by] uncertainty (32) and agitation (33) are not 
included in this dyad, though some elders include them too. It is the two 
consciousnesses accompanied by grief that are called consciousness affected by 
hate. And all profitable and indeterminate consciousnesses in the four planes 
are unaffected by hate. The remaining ten kinds of unprofitable consciousnesses 
(nos. (22)-(29) and (32) and (33)) are not included in this dyad, though some 
elders include them too. Affected by delusion ... unaffected by delusion: here only 
the two, namely, that accompanied by uncertainty and that accompanied by 
agitation, are affected by delusion alone [without being accompanied by the 
other two unprofitable roots]. But [all] the twelve kinds of unprofitable 
consciousnesses (nos. (22)-(33)) can also be understood as [the manner of] 

5. The "matter of the heart" is not the heart-basis, but rather it is the heart as the 
piece of flesh described as resembling a lotus bud in shape outside and like a kosataki 
fruit inside (VIII. 111). For the blood mentioned here is to be found with that as its 
support. But the heart-basis occurs with this blood as its support" (Vism-mht 403). 

6. "Of one who has not done any interpreting (abhinivesa) reckoned as study for 
direct-knowledge" (Vism-mht 407). A rather special use of the word abhinivesa, perhaps 
more freely renderable here as "practice." 

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consciousness affected by delusion since delusion is present in all kinds of 
unprofitable consciousnesses. The rest are unaffected by delusion. 

12. Cramped is that attended by stiffness and torpor. Distracted is that attended 
by agitation. Exalted is that of the fine-material and immaterial spheres. Unexalted 
is the rest. Surpassed is all that in the three [mundane] planes. Unsurpassed is the 
supramundane. Concentrated is that attained to access and that attained to 
absorption. Unconcentrated is that not attained to either. Liberated is that attained 
to any [of the five kinds of] deliverance, that is to say deliverance by substitution 
of opposites [through insight], by suppression [through concentration], by 
cutting off [by means of the path], by tranquillization [by means of fruition], and 
by renunciation [as Nibbana] (see Patis I 26 under "abandoning"). Unliberated 
is that which has not attained to any of the five kinds of liberation. 

So the bhikkhu who has acquired the knowledge of penetration of hearts 
understands all these [manners of consciousness, namely, the manner of] 
consciousness affected by greed as affected by greed . . . [the unliberated manner 
of] consciousness as unliberated. 

[(4) Recollection of Past Lives] 

13. As to the explanation of knowledge of recollection of past lives, [the text is 
as follows:] He directs, he inclines, his mind to the knowledge of recollection of 
past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is to say, one birth, two 
births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, 
forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand 
births, many eons of world contraction, many eons of world expansion: many 
eons of world contraction and expansion: "There I was so named, of such a race, 
with such an appearance, such was my food, such my experience of pleasure 
and pain, such the end of my life span; and passing away from there, I reappeared 
elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a race, with such an appearance, 
such was my food, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such the end of my 
life span; and passing away from there, I reappeared here." Thus with its aspects 
and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives" (D I 81). [Herein,] to the 
knowledge of recollection of past lives [means] for knowledge concerning 
recollection of past lives. Past lives is aggregates lived in the past in former 
births. "Lived" [in that case means] lived out, undergone, arisen and ceased in 
one's own [subjective] continuity. Or alternatively, [past lives] is mental objects 
lived [in the past in one's former births]; and "lived" in that case means lived by 
living in one's [objective] resort, which has been cognized and delimited by 
one's own consciousness, or cognized by another's consciousness, too. In the 
case of recollection of those [past Enlightened Ones] who have broken the cycle, 
and so on, 7 these last are only accessible to Enlightened Ones. Recollection of past 
lives: the mindfulness (memory) by means of which he recollects the past lives is 
the recollection of past lives. Knowledge is the knowledge associated with that 
mindfulness. [411] To the knowledge of recollection of past lives: for the purpose of 

7. For the term chinna-vatumaka ("one who has broken the cycle of rebirths") as an 
epithet of former Buddhas, see M III 118. 

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the knowledge of the recollection of past lives in this way; for the attaining, for 
the reaching, of that knowledge, is what is meant. 

14. Manifold: of many kinds: or that has occurred in many ways. Given in 
detail, is the meaning. 8 Past lives is the continuity lived here and there, taking 
the immediately previous existence as the beginning [and working backwards]. 
He recollects: he recalls it, following it out by the succession of aggregates, or by 
death and rebirth-linking. 

15. There are six kinds of people who recollect these past lives. They are: other 
sectarians, ordinary disciples, great disciples, chief disciples, Paccekabuddhas, 
and Buddhas. 

16. Herein, other sectarians recollect only as far back as forty eons, but not 
beyond that. Why? Because their understanding is weak for lack of delimitation 
of mind and matter (see Ch. XVIII). Ordinary disciples recollect as far back as a 
hundred eons and as far back as a thousand eons because their understanding 
is strong. The eighty great disciples recollect as far back as a hundred thousand 
eons. The two chief disciples recollect as far back as an incalculable age and a 
hundred thousand eons. Paccekabuddhas recollect as far back as two incalculable 
ages and a hundred thousand eons. For such is the extent to which they can 
convey [their minds back respectively]. But there is no limit in the case of Buddhas. 

17. Again, other sectarians only recollect the succession of aggregates; they 
are unable to recollect according [only] to death and rebirth-linking, letting go 
of the succession of aggregates. They are like the blind in that they are unable to 
descend upon any place they choose; they go as the blind do without letting go 
of their sticks. So they recollect without letting go of the succession of aggregates. 
Ordinary disciples both recollect by means of the succession of aggregates and 
trace by means of death and rebirth-linking. Likewise, the eighty great disciples. 
But the chief disciples have nothing to do with the succession of aggregates. 
When they see the death of one person, they see the rebirth-linking, and again 
when they see the death of another, they see the rebirth-linking. So they go by 
tracing through death and rebirth-thinking. Likewise, Paccekabuddhas. 

18. Buddhas, however, have nothing to do either with succession of aggregates 
or with tracing through death and rebirth-linking; for whatever instance they 
choose in many millions of eons, or more or less, is evident to them. So they go, 
and so they descend with the lion's descent 9 wherever they want, even skipping 
over many millions of eons as though they were an elision in a text. And just as 
an arrow shot by such a master of archery expert in hair-splitting as Sarabhahga 
(see J-a V 129) always hits the target without getting held up among trees, 
creepers, etc., on its way, and so neither gets held up nor misses, so too, since 
Buddhas go in this way their knowledge does not get held up in intermediate 

8. Samvannita — "given in detail"; Vism-mht glosses by vittharitan ti attho. Not in this 
meaning in PED. See prologue verses to the four Nikayas. 

9. A commentarial account of the behaviour of lions will be found in the 
ManorathapuranT, commentary to AN 4:33. Vism-mht says: Sih-okkamana-vasena 
sthatipatanavasena nanagatiya gacchati (p. 408). 

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births [412] or miss; without getting held up or missing, it seizes any instance 
required. 

19. Among these beings with recollection of past lives, the sectarians' vision 
of past lives seems like the light of a glow-worm, that of ordinary disciples like 
the light of a candle, that of the great disciples like the light of a torch, that of the 
chief disciples like the light of the morning star, that of Paccekabuddhas like the 
light of the moon, and that of Buddhas like the glorious autumn sun's disk with 
its thousand rays. 

20. Other sectarians see past lives as blind men go [tapping] with the point of 
a stick. Ordinary disciples do so as men who go on a log bridge. The great 
disciples do so as men who go on a foot bridge. The chief disciples do so as men 
who go on a cart bridge. Paccekabuddhas do so as men who go on a main foot- 
path. And Buddhas do so as men who go on a high road for carts. 

21 . In this connection it is the disciples' recollection of past lives that is intended. 
Hence it was said above: "'He recollects': he recollects it following it out by the 
succession of aggregates, or by death and rebirth-linking" (§14). 

22. So a bhikkhu who is a beginner and wants to recollect in this way should 
go into solitary retreat on return from his alms round after his meal. Then he 
should attain the four jhanas in succession and emerge from the fourth jhana as 
basis for direct-knowledge. He should then advert to his most recent act of 
sitting down [for this purpose], next, to the preparation of the seat, to the entry 
into the lodging, to the putting away of the bowl and [outer] robe, to the time of 
eating, to the time of returning from the village, to the time of wandering for alms 
in the village, to the time of entering the village, to the time of setting out from the 
monastery, to the time of paying homage at the shrine terrace and the 
Enlightenment-tree terrace, to the time of washing the bowl, to the time of picking 
up the bowl, to the things done from the time of picking up the bowl back to the 
mouth washing, to the things done in the early morning, to the things done in 
the middle watch, in the first watch. In this way he should advert to all the things 
done during the whole night and day in reverse order. 

23. While this much, however, is evident even to his normal consciousness, it is 
especially evident to his preliminary-work consciousness. But if anything there 
is not evident, he should again attain the basic jhana, emerge and advert. By so 
doing it becomes as evident as when a lamp is lit. And so, in reverse order too, he 
should advert to the things done on the second day back, and on the third, 
fourth and fifth day, and in the ten days, and in the fortnight, and as far back as 
a year. 

24. When by these means he adverts to ten years, twenty years, and so on as far 
back as his own rebirth-linking in this existence, [413] he should advert to the 
mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death in the preceding existence; 
for a wise bhikkhu is able at the first attempt to remove 10 the rebirth-linking and 
make the mentality-materiality at the death moment his object. 

10. Ugghatetva: see X.6; the word is obviously used here in the same sense. 

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25. But the mentality-materiality in the previous existence has ceased without 
remainder and another has arisen, and consequently that instance is, as it were, 
shut away in darkness, and it is hard for one of little understanding to see it. Still 
he should not give up the task, thinking, "I am unable to remove the rebirth- 
linking and make the mentality-materiality that occurred at the death moment 
my object." On the contrary, he should again and again attain that same basic 
jhana, and each time he emerges he should advert to that instance. 

26. Just as when a strong man is felling a big tree for the purpose of making 
the peak of a gable, but is unable to fell the big tree with an axe blade blunted by 
lopping the branches and foliage, still he does not give up the task; on the 
contrary, he goes to a smithy and has his axe sharpened, after which he returns 
and continues chopping the tree; and when the axe again gets blunt, he does as 
before and continues chopping it; and as he goes on chopping it in this way, the 
tree falls at length, because each time there is no need to chop again what has 
already been chopped and what has not yet been chopped gets chopped; so too, 
when he emerges from the basic jhana, instead of adverting to what he has 
already adverted to, he should advert only to the rebirth-linking, and at length 
he removes the rebirth-linking and makes the mentality-materiality that occurred 
at the death moment his object. And this meaning should also be illustrated by 
means of the wood cutter and the hair-cutter as well. 

27. Herein, the knowledge that occurs making its object the period from the 
last sitting down for this purpose back to the rebirth-linking is not called 
knowledge of recollection of past lives; but it is called preliminary-work- 
concentration knowledge; and some call it "knowledge of the past" (atltamsa- 
nana), but that is inappropriate to the fine-material sphere. 

However, when this bhikkhu has got back beyond the rebirth-linking, there 
arises in him mind-door adverting making its object the mentality-materiality 
that occurred at the death moment. And when that has ceased, then either four or 
five impulsions impel making that their object too. The first of these, called 
"preliminary-work," etc., in the way already described (§5), are of the sense 
sphere. The last is a fine-material absorption consciousness of the fourth jhana. 
The knowledge that arises in him then together with that consciousness is what 
is called, "knowledge of recollection of past lives." It is with the mindfulness 
(memory) associated with that knowledge that he "recollects his manifold past 
lives, that is to say, one birth, two births, ..."[414] thus with details and particulars 
he recollects his manifold past lives (D I 81). 

28. Herein, one birth is the continuity of aggregates included in a single 
becoming starting with rebirth-linking and ending with death. So too with two 
births, and the rest. 

But in the case of many eons of world contraction, etc., it should be understood 
that the aeon of world contraction is an aeon of diminution and the aeon of 
world expansion is an aeon of increase. 

29. Herein, what supersedes the contraction is included in the contraction 
since it is rooted in it; and so too what supersedes the expansion is included in 
the expansion. This being so, it includes what is stated thus: "Bhikkhus, there 

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are four incalculables of the aeon. What four? The contraction, what supersedes 
the contraction, the expansion, and what supersedes the expansion" (A II 142 
abbreviated). 

30. Herein, there are three kinds of contraction: contraction due to water, 
contraction due to fire, and contraction due to air (see MN 28). Also there are 
three limits to the contraction; the Abhassara (Streaming-radiance) Brahma- 
world, that of the Subhakinha (Refulgent-glory), and that of the Vehapphala 
(Great-fruit). When the aeon contracts owing to fire, all below the Abhassara 
[Brahma-world] is burnt up by fire. When it contracts owing to water, it is all 
dissolved by water up to the Subhakinha [Brahma-world]. When it contracts 
owing to air, it is all demolished by wind up to the Vehapphala [Brahma-world]. 

31. In breadth it is always one of the Buddha-fields that is destroyed. For the 
Buddha-fields are of three kinds, that is, the field of birth, the field of authority, 
and the field of scope. 

Herein, the field of birth is limited by the ten thousand world-spheres that 
quaked on the Perfect One's taking rebirth-linking, and so on. The field of 
authority is limited by the hundred thousand million world-spheres where the 
following safeguards (paritta) are efficacious, that is, the Ratana Sutta (Sn p.39), 
the Khandha Paritta (Vin II 109; A II 72), the Dhajagga Paritta (S I 218), the 
Atanatiya Paritta (D III 194), and the Mora Paritta (J-a II 33). The field of scope is 
boundless, immeasurable: "As far as he wishes" (A I 228), it is said. The Perfect 
One knows anything anywhere that he wishes. So one of these three Buddha- 
fields, that is to say, the field of authority is destroyed. But when that is being 
destroyed, the field of birth also gets destroyed. And that happens simultaneously; 
and when it is reconstituted, that happens simultaneously (cf. M-a IV 114). 

32. Now, it should be understood how its destruction and reconstitution come 
about thus. On the occasion when the aeon is destroyed by fire [415] first of all a 
great cloud heralding the aeon's destruction appears, and there is a great 
downpour all over the hundred thousand million world-spheres. People are 
delighted, and they bring out all their seeds and sow them. But when the sprouts 
have grown enough for an ox to graze, then not a drop of rain falls any more 
even when the asses bray. Rain is withheld from then on. This is what the 
Blessed One referred to when he said: "Bhikkhus, an occasion comes when for 
many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many 
hundreds of thousands of years, there is no rain" (A IV 100). Beings that live by 
rain die and are reborn in the Brahma-world, and so are the deities that live on 
flowers and fruits. 

33. When a long period has passed in this way, the water gives out here and 
there. Then in due course the fishes and turtles die and are reborn in the Brahma- 
world, and so are the beings in hell. Some say that the denizens of hell perish 
there with the appearance of the seventh sun (§41). 

Now, there is no rebirth in the Brahma-world without jhana; and some of 
them, being obsessed with the scarcity of food, are unable to attain jhana, so how 
are they reborn there? By means of jhana obtained in the [sense-sphere] divine 
world. 

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34. For then the sense-sphere deities called world-marshal (loka-byuha) deities 
come to know that at the end of a hundred thousand years there will be the 
emergence of an aeon, and they travel up and down the haunts of men, their 
heads bared, their hair dishevelled, with piteous faces, mopping their tears with 
their hands, clothed in dyed cloth, and wearing their dress in great disorder. 
They make this announcement: "Good sirs, good sirs, at the end of a hundred 
thousand years from now there will be the emergence of an aeon. This world 
will be destroyed. Even the ocean will dry up. This great earth, and the Sineru 
King of Mountains, will be consumed and destroyed. The destruction of the 
earth will extend as far as the Brahma-world. Develop loving-kindness, good 
sirs, develop compassion, gladness, equanimity, good sirs. Care for your mothers, 
care for your fathers, honour the elders of your clans." 

35. When human beings and earth deities hear their words, they mostly are 
filled with a sense of urgency. They become kind to each other and make merit 
with loving-kindness, etc., and so they are reborn in the divine world. There they 
eat divine food, and they do the preliminary work on the air kasina and acquire 
jhana. Others, however, are reborn in a [sense-sphere] divine world through 
kamma to be experienced in a future life. For there is no being traversing the 
round of rebirths who is destitute of kamma to be experienced in a future life. 
They too acquire jhana there in the same way. [416] All are eventually reborn in 
the Brahma-world by acquiring jhana in a [sense-sphere] divine world in this 
way. 

36. However, at the end of a long period after the withholding of the rain, a 
second sun appears. And this is described by the Blessed One in the way 
beginning, "Bhikkhus, there is the occasion when ..." (A IV 100), and the 
Sattasuriya Sutta should be given in full. Now, when that has appeared, there is 
no more telling night from day; as one sun sets, the other rises. The world is 
uninterruptedly scorched by the suns. But there is no sun deity in the aeon- 
destruction sun as there is in the ordinary sun. 11 Now, when the ordinary sun is 
present, thunder clouds and mare's-tail vapours cross the skies. But when the 
aeon-destruction sun is present, the sky is as blank as the disk of a looking- 
glass and destitute of clouds and vapour. Beginning with the rivulet, the water 
in all the rivers except the five great rivers 12 dries up. 

37. After that, at the end of a long period, a third sun appears. And when that 
has appeared, the great rivers dry up too. 

38. After that, at the end of a long period, a fourth sun appears. And when that 
has appeared, the seven great lakes in Himalaya, the sources of the great rivers, 



11. "The 'ordinary sun' is the sun's divine palace that arose before the emergence of 
the aeon. But like the other sense-sphere deities at the time of the emergence of the 
aeon, the sun deity too produces jhana and reappears in the Brahma-world. But the 
actual sun's disk becomes brighter and more fiery. Others say that it disappears and 
another appears in its place" (Vism-mht 412). 

12. The five are the Ganges, Yamuna (Jumma), Sarabhu, SarassatI, and Mahl 
(Vism-mht 412). 

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dry up, that is to say: Sihapapata, Hamsapatana, 13 Kannamundaka, Rathakara, 
Anotatta, Chaddanta, and Kunala. 

39. After that, at the end of a long period, a fifth sun appears, and when that 
has appeared, there eventually comes to be not enough water left in the great 
ocean to wet one finger joint. 

40. After that, at the end of a long period, a sixth sun appears, and when that 
has appeared, the whole world-sphere becomes nothing but vapour, all its 
moisture being evaporated. 

And the hundred thousand million world-spheres are the same as this one. 

41. After that, at the end of a long period, a seventh sun appears. And when 
that has appeared, the whole world-sphere together with the hundred thousand 
million other world-spheres catches fire. Even the summits of Sineru, a hundred 
leagues and more high, crumble and vanish into space. The conflagration mounts 
up and invades the realm of the Four Kings. When it has burnt up all the golden 
palaces, the jewelled palaces and the crystal palaces there, it invades the Realm 
of the Thirty-three. And so it goes right on up to the plane of the first jhana. 
When it has burnt three [lower] Brahma-worlds, it stops there at the Abhassara- 
world. [417] As long as any formed thing (formation) the size of an atom still 
exists it does not go out; but it goes out when all formed things have been 
consumed. And like the flame that burns ghee and oil, it leaves no ash. 

42. The upper space is now all one with the lower space in a vast gloomy 
darkness. Then at the end of a long period a great cloud arises, and at first it 
rains gently, and then it rains with ever heavier deluges, like lotus stems, like 
rods, like pestles, like palm trunks, more and more. And so it pours down upon 
all burnt areas in the hundred thousand million world-spheres till they 
disappear. Then the winds (forces) beneath and all around that water rise up 
and compact it and round it, like water drops on a lotus leaf. How do they 
compact the great mass of water? By making gaps; for the wind makes gaps in 
it here and there. 

43. Being thus compressed by the air, compacted and reduced, it gradually 
subsides. As it sinks, the [lower] Brahma-world reappears in its place, and worlds 
divine reappear in the places of the four upper divine worlds of the sensual 
sphere. 14 But when it has sunk to the former earth's level, strong winds (forces) 
arise and they stop it and hold it stationary, like the water in a water pot when the 
outlet is plugged. As the fresh water gets used up, the essential humus makes its 
appearance on it. That possesses colour, smell and taste, like the surface film on 
milk rice when it dries up. 

44. Then the beings that were reborn first in the Brahma-world of Streaming- 
radiance (Abhassara) fall from there with the exhaustion of their life span, or 

13. Hamsapatana is another name for Mandakini. (Vism-mht) For seven Great Lakes 
see A IV 101. 

14. "At the place where the Yama Deities are established. The places where the 
Catumaharajika and Tavatimsa heavens become established do not reappear at first 
because they are connected with the earth" (Vism-mht 412). 

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when their merit is exhausted, and they reappear here. They are self-luminous 
and wander in the sky. On eating the essential humus, as is told in the Agganna 
Sutta (D III 85), they are overcome by craving, and they busy themselves in 
making lumps of it to eat. Then their self-luminosity vanishes, and it is dark. 
They are frightened when they see the darkness. 

45. Then in order to remove their fears and give them courage, the sun's disk 
appears full fifty leagues across. They are delighted to see it, thinking, "We have 
light," and they say, "It has appeared in order to allay our fears and give us 
courage (surabhava), so let it be called 'sun' (suriya)." So they give it the name 
"sun" (suriya). Now, when the sun has given light for a day, it sets. Then they are 
frightened again, thinking, "We have lost the light we had," and they think, 
"How good if we had another light!" [418] 

46. As if knowing their thought, the moon's disk appears, forty-nine leagues 
across. On seeing it they are still more delighted, and they say, "It has appeared, 
seeming as if it knew our desire (chanda), so let it be called 'moon' (canda)." So 
they give it the name "moon" (canda). 

47. After the appearance of the moon and sun in this way, the stars appear in 
their constellations. After that, night and day are made known, and in due 
course, the month and half month, the season, and the year. 

48. On the day the moon and sun appear, the mountains of Sineru, of the 
World-sphere and of Himalaya appear too. And they appear on the full-moon 
day of the month of Phagguna (March), neither before nor after. How? Just as, 
when millet is cooking and bubbles arise, then simultaneously, some parts are 
domes, some hollow, and some flat, so too, there are mountains in the domed 
places, seas in the hollow places, and continents (islands) in the flat places. 

49. Then, as these beings make use of the essential humus, gradually some 
become handsome and some ugly. The handsome ones despise the ugly ones. 
Owing to their contempt the essential humus vanishes and an outgrowth from 
the soil appears. Then that vanishes in the same way and the badalata creeper 
appears. That too vanishes in the same way and the rice without red powder or 
husk that ripens without tilling appears, a clean sweet-smelling rice fruit. 

50. Then vessels appear. These beings put the rice into the vessels, which they 
put on the tops of stones. A flame appears spontaneously and cooks it. The 
cooked rice resembles jasmine flowers. It has no need of sauces and curries, since 
it has whatever flavour they want to taste. 

51. As soon as they eat this gross food, urine and excrement appear in them. 
Then wound orifices break open in them to let these things out. The male sex 
appears in the male, and the female sex in the female. Then the females brood 
over the males, and the males over the females for a long time. Owing to this long 
period of brooding, the fever of sense desires arises. After that they practice 
sexual intercourse. 

52. [419] For their [overt] practice of evil they are censured and punished by 
the wise, and so they build houses for the purpose of concealing the evil. When 
they live in houses, they eventually fall in with the views of the more lazy, and 



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they make stores of food. As soon as they do that, the rice becomes enclosed in 
red powder and husks and no longer grows again of itself in the place where it 
was reaped. They meet together and bemoan the fact, "Evil has surely made its 
appearance among beings; for formerly we were mind-made ..." (D III 90), and 
all this should be given in full in the way described in the Agganna Sutta. 

53. After that, they set up boundaries. Then some being takes a portion given 
to another. After he has been twice rebuked, at the third time they come to blows 
with fists, clods, sticks, and so on. When stealing, censuring, lying, resorting to 
sticks, etc., have appeared in this way, they meet together, thinking, "Suppose we 
elect a being who would reprove those who should be reproved, censure those 
who should be censured, and banish those who should be banished, and 
suppose we keep him supplied with a portion of the rice?" (D III 92). 

54. When beings had come to an agreement in this way in this aeon, firstly 
this Blessed One himself, who was then the Bodhisatta (Being due to be 
Enlightened), was the handsomest, the most comely, the most honourable, and 
was clever and capable of exercising the effort of restraint. They approached 
him, asked him, and elected him. Since he was recognized (sammata) by the 
majority (maha-jana) he was called Maha Sammata. Since he was lord of the 
fields (khetta) he was called khattiya (warrior noble). Since he promoted others' 
good (ranjeti) righteously and equitably he was a king (raja). This is how he 
came to be known by these names. For the Bodhisatta himself is the first man 
concerned in any wonderful innovation in the world. So after the khattiya circle 
had been established by making the Bodhisatta the first in this way, the brahmans 
and the other castes were founded in due succession. 

55. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the aeon's 
destruction up till the ceasing of the flames constitutes one incalculable, and 
that is called the "contraction." That from the ceasing of the flames of the aeon 
destruction up till the great cloud of rehabilitation, which rains down upon the 
hundred thousand million world-spheres, constitutes the second incalculable, 
and that is called, "what supersedes the contraction." That from the time of the 
great cloud of rehabilitation up till the appearance of the moon and sun 
constitutes the third incalculable, and that is called the "expansion." That from 
the appearance of the moon and sun up till [420] the reappearance of the great 
cloud of the aeon destruction is the fourth incalculable, and that is called, "what 
supersedes the expansion." These four incalculables make up one great aeon. 
This, firstly, is how the destruction by fire and reconstitution should be 
understood. 

56. The occasion when the aeon is destroyed by water should be treated in the 
way already described beginning, "First of all a great cloud heralding the aeon's 
destruction appears ..." (§32). 

57. There is this difference, however. While in the former case a second sun 
appeared, in this case a great cloud of caustic waters 15 appears. At first it rains 

15. Kharudaka — "caustic waters": the name given to the waters on which the world- 
spheres rest (see M-a IV 178). 

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very gently, but it goes on to rain with gradually greater deluges, pouring down 
upon the hundred thousand million world-spheres. As soon as they are touched 
by the caustic waters, the earth, the mountains, etc., melt away, and the waters are 
supported all round by winds. The waters take possession from the earth up to 
the plane of the second jhana. When they have dissolved away the three Brahma- 
worlds there, they stop at the Subhakinha-world. As long as any formed thing 
the size of an atom exists they do not subside; but they suddenly subside and 
vanish away when all formed things have been overwhelmed by them. All 
beginning with: "The upper space is all one with the lower space in a vast 
gloomy darkness ..." (§42) is as already described, except that here the world 
begins its reappearance with the Abhassara Brahma-world. And beings falling 
from the Subhakinha Brahma-world are reborn in the places beginning with the 
Abhassara Brahma-world. 

58. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the aeon's 
destruction up till the ceasing of the aeon-destroying waters constitutes one 
incalculable. That from the ceasing of the waters up till the great cloud of 
rehabilitation constitutes the second incalculable. That from the great cloud of 
rehabilitation ... These four incalculables make up one great aeon. This is how 
the destruction by water and reconstitution should be understood. 

59. The occasion when the aeon is destroyed by air should be treated in the 
way already described beginning with the "first of all a great cloud heralding 
the aeon's destruction appears ..." (§32). 

60. There is this difference, however. While in the first case there was a second 
sun, here a wind arises in order to destroy the aeon. First of all it lifts up the 
coarse flue, then the fine flue, then the fine sand, coarse sand, gravel, stones, etc., 
[421] until it lifts up stones as big as a catafalque, 16 and great trees standing in 
uneven places. They are swept from the earth up into the sky, and instead of 
falling down again they are broken to bits there and cease to exist. 

61. Then eventually wind arises from underneath the great earth and overturns 
the earth, flinging it into space. The earth splits into fragments measuring a 
hundred leagues, measuring two, three, four, five hundred leagues, and they are 
hurled into space too, and there they are broken to bits and cease to exist. The 
world-sphere mountains and Mount Sineru are wrenched up and cast into 
space, where they crash against each other till they are broken to bits and 
disappear. In this way it destroys the divine palaces built on the earth [of Mount 
Sineru] and those built in space, it destroys the six sensual-sphere divine worlds, 
and it destroys the hundred thousand million world-spheres. Then world-sphere 
collides with world-sphere, Himalaya Mountain with Himalaya Mountain, 
Sineru with Sineru, till they are broken to bits and disappear. 

62. The wind takes possession from the earth up to the plane of the third 
jhana. There, after destroying three Brahma-worlds, it stops at the Vehapphala- 
world. When it has destroyed all formed things in this way, it spends itself too. 

16. Kutagara: see Ch. XII, n.14; here this seems the most likely of the various meanings 
of the word. 

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Then all happens as already described in the way beginning, "The upper space 
is all one with the lower space in a vast gloomy darkness ..." (§42). But here the 
world begins its reappearance with the Subhakinha Brahma-world. And beings 
falling from the Vehapphala Brahma-world are reborn in the places beginning 
with the Subhakinha Brahma-world. 

63. Herein, the period from the time of the great cloud heralding the aeon's 
destruction up till the ceasing of the aeon-destroying wind is one incalculable. 
That from the ceasing of the wind up till the great cloud of rehabilitation is the 
second incalculable . . . These four incalculables make up one great aeon. This is 
how the destruction by wind and reconstitution should be understood. 

64. What is the reason for the world's destruction in this way? The [three] roots 
of the unprofitable are the reason. When any one of the roots of the unprofitable 
becomes conspicuous, the world is destroyed accordingly. When greed is more 
conspicuous, it is destroyed by fire. When hate is more conspicuous, it is destroyed 
by water — though some say that it is destroyed by fire when hate is more 
conspicuous and by water when greed is more conspicuous. And when delusion 
is more conspicuous, it is destroyed by wind. 

65. Destroyed as it is in this way, it is destroyed for seven turns in succession by 
fire and the eighth turn by water; then again seven turns by fire and the eighth 
turn by water; then, when it has been seven times destroyed by water at each 
eighth [422] turn, it is again destroyed for seven turns by fire. Sixty-three eons 
pass in this way. And now the air takes the opportunity to usurp the water's turn 
for destruction, and in destroying the world it demolishes the Subhakinha 
Brahma-world where the life span is the full sixty-four eons. 

66. Now, when a bhikkhu capable of recollecting eons is recollecting his former 
lives, then of such eons as these he recollects many eons of world contraction, many 
eons of world expansion, many eons of world contraction and expansion. How? In the 
way beginning, There I was ... 

Herein, There I was: in that eon of contraction I was in that kind of becoming 
or generation or destiny or station of consciousness or abode of beings or order 
of beings. 

67. So named: [such forenames as] Tissa, say, or Phussa. Of such a race: [such 
family names as] Kaccana, say, or Kassapa. This is said of the recollection of his 
own name and race (surname) in his past existence. But if he wants to recollect 
his own appearance at that time, or whether his life was a rough or refined one, 
or whether pleasure or pain was prevalent, or whether his life span was short or 
long, he recollects that too. Hence he said with such an appearance . . . such the end 
of my life span. 

68. Here, with such an appearance means fair or dark. Such was my food: with 
white rice and meat dishes as food or with windfall fruits as food. Such my 
experience of pleasure and pain: with varied experience of bodily and mental 
pleasure and pain classed as worldly and unworldly, and so on. Such the end of 
my life span: with such a life span of a century or life span of eighty-four thousand 



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69. And passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere: having passed away 
from that becoming, generation, destiny, station of consciousness, abode of beings 
or order of beings, I again appeared in that other becoming, generation, destiny, 
station of consciousness, abode of beings or order of beings. And there too I was: 
then again I was there in that becoming, generation, destiny, station of 
consciousness, abode of beings or order of beings. So named, etc., are as already 
stated. 

70. Furthermore, the words there I was refer to the recollection of one who has 
cast back retrospectively as far as he wishes, and the words and passing away 
from there refer to his reviewing after turning forward again; consequently, the 
words / appeared elsewhere can be understood to be said with reference to the 
place of his reappearance next before his appearance here, which is referred to 
by the words J appeared here. But the words there too I was, etc., [423] are said in 
order to show the recollection of his name, race, etc., there in the place of his 
reappearance next before this appearance. And passing away from there, I reappeared 
here: having passed away from that next place of reappearance, I was reborn here 
in this khattiya clan or brahman clan. 

71. Thus: so. With its aspects and particulars: with its particulars consisting in 
name and race; with its aspects consisting in appearance, and so on. For it is by 
means of name and race that a being is particularized as, say Tissa Kassapa; but 
his distinctive personality is made known by means of appearance, etc., as dark 
or fair. So the name and race are the particulars, while the others are the aspects. 
He recollects his manifold past lives: the meaning of this is clear. 

The explanation of the knowledge of recollection of past lives is ended. 

[(5) The Divine Eye — Knowledge of Passing Away and 
Reappearance of Beings] 

72. As to the explanation of the knowledge of passing away and reappearance 
of beings, [here is the text: "He directs, he inclines, his mind to the knowledge of 
the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the divine eye, which is 
purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and 
reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, happy or unhappy in their 
destiny; he understands beings as faring according to their deeds: 'These worthy 
beings who were ill-conducted in body, speech and mind, revilers of Noble 
Ones, wrong in their views, acquirers of kamma due to wrong view, have, on the 
breakup of the body, after death, appeared in a state of loss, in an unhappy 
destiny, in perdition in hell; but these worthy beings, who are well conducted in 
body, speech and mind, not revilers of Noble Ones, right in their views, acquirers 
of kamma due to right view, have, on the breakup of the body, after death, appeared 
in a happy destiny, in the heavenly world.' Thus with the divine eye, which is 
purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and 
reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, happy or unhappy in their 
destiny; he understands beings as faring according to their deeds" (D I 82). 
Herein,] to the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance: cutupapatananaya= 
cutiya ca upapate ca nanaya (resolution of compound); [the meaning is,] for the 



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kind of knowledge by means of which beings' passing away and reappearance 
is known; for knowledge of the divine eye, is what is meant. He directs, he inclines 
his mind: he both directs and inclines preliminary-work consciousness. He is 
the bhikkhu who does the directing of his mind. 

73. But as regards with the divine eye, etc., it is divine because of its similarity to 
the divine; for deities have as divine eye the sensitivity that is produced by 
kamma consisting in good conduct and is unimpeded by bile, phlegm, blood, 
etc., and capable of receiving an object even though far off because it is liberated 
from imperfections. And this eye, consisting in knowledge, which is produced 
by the power of this bhikkhu's energy in development, is similar to that, so it is 
"divine" because it is similar to the divine. Also it is "divine" because it is 
obtained by means of divine abiding, and because it has divine abiding as its 
support. And it is "divine" because it greatly illuminates by discerning light. 
And it is "divine" because it has a great range through seeing visible objects 
that are behind walls, and so on. All that should be understood according to the 
science of grammar. It is an eye in the sense of seeing. Also it is an eye since it is 
like an eye in its performance of an eye's function. It is purified since it is a cause 
of purification of view, owing to seeing passing away and reappearance. 

74. One who sees only passing away and not reappearance assumes the 
annihilation view; and one who sees only reappearance and not passing away 
assumes the view that a new being appears. But since one who sees both outstrips 
that twofold [false] view, that vision of his is therefore a cause for purification of 
view. And the Buddhas' sons see both of these. Hence it was said above: [424] "It 
is 'purified' since it is a cause of purification of view, owing to seeing passing 
away and reappearance." 

75. It surpasses the human in the seeing of visible objects by surpassing the 
human environment. Or it can be understood that it surpasses the human in 
surpassing the human fleshly eye. With that divine eye, which is purified and 
superhuman, he sees beings, he watches beings as men do with the fleshly eye. 

76. Passing away and reappearing: he cannot see them with the divine eye actually 
at the death moment of reappearance. 17 But it is those who, being on the verge of 
death, will die now that are intended as "passing away" and those who have 
taken rebirth-linking and have just reappeared that are intended by 

17. "'He cannot see them with the divine eye' — with the knowledge of the divine eye — 
because of the extreme brevity and extreme subtlety of the material moment in 
anyone. Moreover, it is present materiality that is the object of the divine eye, and that 
is by prenascence condition. And there is no occurrence of exalted consciousness 
without adverting and preliminary work. Nor is materiality that is only arising able to 
serve as object condition, nor that which is dissolving. Therefore, it is rightly said that 
he cannot see with the divine eye materiality at the moments of death and reappearance. 
If the knowledge of the divine eye has only materiality as its object, then why is it said 
that he 'sees beings'? It is said in this way since it is mainly concerned with instances 
of materiality in a being's continuity, or because that materiality is a reason for 
apprehending beings. Some say that this is said according to conventional usage" 
(Vism-mht 417). 

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"reappearing." What is pointed out is that he sees them as such passing away 
and reappearing. 

77. Inferior: despised, disdained, looked down upon, scorned, on account of 
birth, clan, wealth, etc., because of reaping the outcome of delusion. Superior: the 
opposite of that because of reaping the outcome of non-delusion. Fair: having a 
desirable, agreeable, pleasing appearance because of reaping the outcome of 
non-hate. Ugly: having undesirable, disagreeable, unpleasing appearance 
because of reaping the outcome of hate; unsightly, ill-favoured, is the meaning. 
Happy in their destiny: gone to a happy destiny; or rich, very wealthy, because of 
reaping the outcome of non-greed. Unhappy in their destiny: gone to an unhappy 
destiny; or poor with little food and drink because of reaping the outcome of 
greed. 

78. Faring according to their deeds: moving on in accordance with whatever deeds 
(kamma) may have been accumulated. Herein, the function of the divine eye is 
described by the first expressions beginning with "passing away." But the 
function of knowledge of faring according to deeds is described by this last 
expression. 

79. The order in which that knowledge arises is this. Here a bhikkhu extends 
light downwards in the direction of hell, and he sees beings in hell undergoing 
great suffering. That vision is only the divine eye's function. He gives it attention 
in this way, "After doing what deeds do these beings undergo this suffering?" 
Then knowledge that has those deeds as its object arises in him in this way, "It 
was after doing this." Likewise he extends light upwards in the direction of the 
[sensual-sphere] divine world, and he sees beings in the Nandana Grove, the 
Missaka Grove, the Pharusaka Grove, etc., enjoying great good fortune. That 
vision also is only the divine eye's function. He gives attention to it in this way, 
"After doing what deeds do these beings enjoy this good fortune?" Then 
knowledge that has those deeds as its object arises in him in this way, "It was 
after doing this." This is what is called knowledge of faring according to deeds. 

80. There is no special preliminary work for this. And as in this case, so too in 
the case of knowledge of the future; for these have the divine eye as their basis 
and their success is dependent on that of the divine eye. [425] 

81. As to ill-conducted in body, etc., it is bad conduct (dutthu caritam), or it is 
corrupted conduct (duttham caritam) because it is rotten with defilements, thus it 
is ill-conduct (duccarita). The ill-conduct comes about by means of the body, or 
the ill-conduct has arisen due to the body, thus it is ill-conduct in body; so too 
with the rest. Ill-conducted is endowed with ill-conduct. 

82. Revilers of Noble Ones: being desirous of harm for Noble Ones consisting of 
Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and disciples, and also of householders who are 
stream-enterers, they revile them with the worst accusations or with denial of 
their special qualities (see Ud 44 and MN 12); they abuse and upbraid them, is 
what is meant. 

83. Herein, it should be understood that when they say, "They have no 
asceticism, they are not ascetics," they revile them with the worst accusation; 



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and when they say, "They have no jhana or liberation or path of fruition, etc.," 
they revile them with denial of their special qualities. And whether done 
knowingly or unknowingly it is in either case reviling of Noble Ones; it is weighty 
kamma resembling that of immediate result, and it is an obstacle both to heaven 
and to the path. But it is remediable. 

84. The following story should be understood in order to make this clear. An 
elder and a young bhikkhu, it seems, wandered for alms in a certain village. At 
the first house they got only a spoonful of hot gruel. The elder's stomach was 
paining him with wind. He thought, "This gruel is good for me; I shall drink it 
before it gets cold." People brought a wooden stool to the doorstep, and he sat 
down and drank it. The other was disgusted and remarked, "The old man has 
let his hunger get the better of him and has done what he should be ashamed to 
do." The elder wandered for alms, and on returning to the monastery he asked 
the young bhikkhu, "Have you any footing in this Dispensation, friend?" — 
"Yes, venerable sir, I am a stream-en terer." — "Then, friend, do not try for the 
higher paths; one whose cankers are destroyed has been reviled by you." The 
young bhikkhu asked for the elder's forgiveness and was thereby restored to his 
former state. 

85. So one who reviles a Noble One, even if he is one himself, should go to him; 
if he himself is senior, [426] he should sit down in the squatting position and get 
his forgiveness in this way, "I have said such and such to the venerable one; may 
he forgive me." If he himself is junior, he should pay homage, and sitting in the 
squatting position and holding out his hand palms together, he should get his 
forgiveness in this way, "I have said such and such to you, venerable sir; forgive 
me." If the other has gone away, he should get his forgiveness either by going to 
him himself or by sending someone such as a co-resident. 

86. If he can neither go nor send, he should go to the bhikkhus who live in that 
monastery, and, sitting down in the squatting position if they are junior, or 
acting in the way already described if they are senior, he should get forgiveness 
by saying, "Venerable sirs, I have said such and such to the venerable one named 
so and so; may that venerable one forgive me." And this should also be done 
when he fails to get forgiveness in his presence. 

87. If it is a bhikkhu who wanders alone and it cannot be discovered where he 
is living or where he has gone, he should go to a wise bhikkhu and say, "Venerable 
sir, I have said such and such to the venerable one named so and so. When I 
remember it, I am remorseful. What shall I do?" He should be told, "Think no 
more about it; the elder forgives you. Set your mind at rest." Then he should 
extend his hands palms together in the direction taken by the Noble One and 
say, "Forgive me." 

88. If the Noble One has attained the final Nibbana, he should go to the place 
where the bed is, on which he attained the final Nibbana, and should go as far 
as the charnel ground to ask forgiveness. When this has been done, there is no 
obstruction either to heaven or to the path. He becomes as he was before. 

89. Wrong in their views: having distorted vision. Acquirers of kamma due to 
wrong view: those who have kamma of the various kinds acquired through wrong 



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view, and also those who incite others to bodily kamma, etc., rooted in wrong 
view. And here, though reviling of Noble Ones has already been included by the 
mention of verbal misconduct, and though wrong view has already been 
included by the mention of mental misconduct, it may be understood, 
nevertheless, that the two are mentioned again in order to emphasize their great 
reprehensibility 

90. Reviling Noble Ones is greatly reprehensible because of its resemblance to 
kamma with immediate result. For this is said: "Sariputta, just as a bhikkhu 
possessing virtuous conduct, concentration and understanding could here and 
now attain final knowledge, so it is in this case, I say; if he does not abandon 
such talk and such thoughts and renounce such views, he will find himself in 
hell as surely as if he had been carried off and put there" (M I 71). ls [427] And 
there is nothing more reprehensible than wrong view, according as it is said: 
"Bhikkhus, I do not see any one thing so reprehensible as wrong view" (A I 33). 

91. On the breakup of the body: on the giving up of the clung-to aggregates. 
After death: in the taking up of the aggregates generated next after that. Or 
alternatively, on the breakup of the body is on the interruption of the life faculty, 
and after death is beyond the death consciousness. 

92. A state of loss and the rest are all only synonyms for hell. Hell is a state of loss 
(apaya) because it is removed (apeta) from the reason (aya) 19 known as merit, 
which is the cause of [attaining] heaven and deliverance; or because of the absence 
(abhava) of any origin {aya) of pleasures. The destiny {gati, going), the refuge, of 
suffering (dukkha) is the unhappy destiny (duggati); or the destiny (gati) produced 
by kamma that is corrupted (duttha) by much hate (dosa) is an unhappy destiny 
(duggati). Those who commit wrongdoings, being separated out (vivasa) fall 
(nipatanti) in here, thus it is perdition (vinipata); or alternatively, when they are 
destroyed (vinassanto), they fall (patanti) in here, all their limbs being broken up, 
thus it is perdition (vinipata). There is no reason (aya) reckoned as satisfying here, 
thus it is hell (niraya). 

93. Or alternatively, the animal generation is indicated by the mention of states 
of loss; for the animal generation is a state of loss because it is removed from the 
happy destiny; but it is not an unhappy destiny because it allows the existence 
of royal nagas (serpents), who are greatly honoured. The realm of ghosts is 
indicated by the mention of the unhappy destiny; for that is both a state of loss and 
an unhappy destiny because it is removed from the happy destiny and because 
it is the destiny of suffering; but it is not perdition because it is not a state of 
perdition such as that of the asura demons. The race of asura demons is indicated 
by the mention of perdition; for that is both a state of loss and an unhappy 
destiny in the way already described, and it is called "perdition" (deprivation) 
from all opportunities. Hell itself in the various aspects of Avici, etc., is indicated 
by the mention of hell. 

18. In rendering yathabhatam here in this very idiomatic passage M-a II 32 has been 
consulted. 

19. For the word aya see XVI. 17. 

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Have ... appeared: have gone to; have been reborn there, is the intention. 

94. The bright side should be understood in the opposite way. But there is this 
difference. Here the mention of the happy destiny includes the human destiny 
and only the divine destiny is included by the mention of heavenly. Herein, a 
good (sundara) destiny (gati) is a happy destiny (sugati). It is the very highest 
(sutthu aggo) in such things as the objective fields comprising visible objects, etc., 
thus it is heavenly (sagga). All that is a world (loka) in the sense of crumbling and 
disintegrating (lujjana-palujjana). This is the word meaning. 

Thus with the divine eye, etc., is all a summing-up phrase; the meaning here in 
brief is this: so with the divine eye ... he sees. 

95. Now, a clansman who is a beginner and wants to see in this way should 
make sure that the jhana, which has a kasina as its object and is the basis for 
direct-knowledge, is made in all ways susceptible of his guidance. Then one of 
these three kasinas, that is to say, the fire kasina, white kasina, [428] or light 
kasina, should be brought to the neighbourhood [of the arising of divine-eye 
knowledge]. He should make this access jhana his resort and stop there to 
extend [the kasina]; the intention is that absorption should not be aroused here; 
for if he does induce absorption, the [kasina] will become the support for basic 
jhana, but not for the [direct-knowledge] preliminary work. The light kasina is 
the best of the three. So either that, or one of the others, should be worked up in 
the way stated in the Description of the Kasinas, and it should be stopped at the 
level of access and extended there. And the method for extending it should be 
understood in the way already described there too. It is only what is visible 
within the area to which the kasina has been extended that can be seen. 

96. However, while he is seeing what is visible, the turn of the preliminary 
work runs out. Thereupon the light disappears. When that has disappeared, he 
no longer sees what is visible (cf. M III 158). Then he should again and again 
attain the basic jhana, emerge and pervade with light. In this way the light 
gradually gets consolidated till at length it remains in whatever sized area has 
been delimited by him in this way, "Let there be light here." Even if he sits 
watching all day he can still see visible objects. 

97. And here there is the simile of the man who set out on a journey by night 
with a grass torch. Someone set out on a journey by night, it seems, with a grass 
torch. His torch stopped flaming. Then the even and uneven places were no 
more evident to him. He stubbed the torch on the ground and it again blazed up. 
In doing so it gave more light than before. As it went on dying out and flaring up 
again, eventually the sun rose. When the sun had risen, he thought, "There is 
no further need of the torch," and he threw it away and went on by daylight. 

98. Herein, the kasina light at the time of the preliminary work is like the light 
of the torch. His no more seeing what is visible when the light has disappeared 
owing to the turn of the preliminary work running out while he is seeing what 
is visible is like the man's not seeing the even and uneven places owing to the 
torch's stopping flaming. His repeated attaining is like the stubbing of the 
torch. His more powerful pervasion with light by repeating the preliminary 
work is like the torch's giving more light than before. The strong light's 



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remaining in as large an area as he delimits is like the sun's rising. His seeing 
even during a whole day what is visible in the strong light after throwing the 
limited light away is like the man's going on by day after throwing the torch 
away. 

99. Herein, when visible objects that are not within the focus of the bhikkhu's 
fleshly eye come into the focus of his eye of knowledge — that is to say visible 
objects that are inside his belly belonging to the heart basis, belonging to what 
is below the earth's surface, behind walls, mountains and enclosures, or in 
another world-sphere — [429] and are as if seen with the fleshly eye, then it 
should be understood that the divine eye has arisen. And only that is capable of 
seeing the visible objects here, not the preliminary-work consciousnesses. 

100. But this is an obstacle for an ordinary man. Why? Because wherever he 
determines, "Let there be light," it becomes all light, even after penetrating 
through earth, sea and mountains. Then fear arises in him when he sees the 
fearful forms of spirits, ogres, etc., that are there, owing to which his mind is 
distracted and he loses his jhana. So he needs to be careful in seeing what is 
visible (see M III 158). 

101. Here is the order of arising of the divine eye: when mind-door adverting, 
which has made its object that visible datum of the kind already described, has 
arisen and ceased, then, making that same visible datum the object, all should be 
understood in the way already described beginning, "Either four or five 
impulsions impel ..." (§5) Here also the [three or four] prior consciousnesses 
are of the sense sphere and have applied and sustained thought. The last of 
these consciousnesses, which accomplishes the aim, is of the fine-material sphere 
belonging to the fourth jhana. Knowledge conascent with that is called 
"knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings" and "knowledge 
of the divine eye." 

The explanation of knowledge of passing away and reappearance is ended. 

[General] 

102. The Helper, knower of five aggregates, 
Had these five direct-knowledges to tell; 

When they are known, there are concerning them 
These general matters to be known as well. 

103. Among these, the divine eye, called knowledge of passing away and 
reappearance, has two accessory kinds of knowledge, that is to say, "knowledge 
of the future" and "knowledge of faring according to deeds." So these two along 
with the five beginning with the kinds of supernormal power make seven kinds 
of direct-knowledge given here. 

104. Now, in order to avoid confusion about the classification of their objects: 

The Sage has told four object triads 
By means of which one can infer 
Just how these seven different kinds 
Of direct-knowledges occur. 



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105. Here is the explanation. Four object triads have been told by the Greatest 
of the Sages. What four? The limited-object triad, the path-object triad, the past- 
object triad, and the internal-object triad. 20 

106. (1) Herein, knowledge of supernormal -power [430] occurs with respect to 
seven kinds of object, that is to say, as having a limited or exalted, a past, future 
or present, and an internal or external object. How? 

When he wants to go with an invisible body after making the body dependent 
on the mind, and he converts the body to accord with the mind (XII. 119), and he 
sets it, mounts it, on the exalted consciousness, then taking it that the [word in 
the] accusative case is the proper object, 21 it has a limited object because its object 
is the material body. When he wants to go with a visible body after making the 
mind dependent on the body and he converts the mind to accord with the body 
and sets it, mounts it, on the material body, then taking it that the [word in the] 
accusative case is the proper object, it has an exalted object because its object is the 
exalted consciousness. 

107. But that same consciousness takes what has passed, has ceased, as its 
object, therefore it has a past object. In those who resolve about the future, as in the 
case of the Elder Maha Kassapa in the Great Storing of the Relics, and others, it 
has a future object. When the Elder Maha Kassapa was making the great relic 
store, it seems, he resolved thus, "During the next two hundred and eighteen 
years in the future let not these perfumes dry up or these flowers wither or these 
lamps go out," and so it all happened. When the Elder Assagutta saw the 
Community of Bhikkhus eating dry food in the Vattaniya Lodging he resolved 
thus, "Let the water pool become cream of curd every day before the meal," and 
when the water was taken before the meal it was cream of curd; but after the meal 
there was only the normal water. 22 

20. See Abhidhamma Matika ("schedule"), Dhs If. This consists of 22 sets of triple 
classifications (tika) and 100 sets of double ones (duka). The first triad "profitable, 
unprofitable, and [morally] indeterminate," and the first dyad is "root-cause, not- 
root-cause." The Matika is used in the Dhammasarigam (for which it serves as the 
basic structure), in the Vibhariga (in some of the "Abhidhamma Sections" and in the 
"Questionnaires") and in the Patthana. All dhammas are either classifiable according 
to these triads and dyads, under one of the headings, if the triad or dyad is all- 
embracing, or are called "not-so-classifiable" (na-vattabba), if the triad or dyad is not. 
The four triads mentioned here are: no. 13, "dhammas with a limited object, with an 
exalted object, with a measureless object"; no. 16, "dhammas with a path as object, 
with a path as root-cause, with path as predominance"; no. 19, "dhammas with a past 
object, with a future object, with a present object"; and no. 21, "dhammas with an 
internal object, with an external object, with an internal-external object." 

21. The "word in the accusative case" is in the first instance "body," governed by the 
verb "converts" (kayam parinameti); see Vism-mht. 

22. Vism-mht comments: "Although with the words: 'These perfumes,' etc., he 
apprehends present perfumes, etc., nevertheless the object of his resolving 
consciousness is actually their future materiality that is to be associated with the 
distinction of not drying up. This is because the resolve concerns the future ... 'Cream 
of curd': when resolving, his object is the future appearance of curd." 

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108. At the time of going with an invisible body after making the body 
dependent on the mind it has a -present object. 

At the time of converting the mind to accord with the body or the body to 
accord with the mind, and at the time of creating one's own appearance as a boy 
etc., it has an internal object because it makes one's own body and mind its object. 
But at the time of showing elephants, horses, etc., externally it has an external 
object. 

This is how, firstly, the kinds of supernormal power should be understood to 
occur with respect to the seven kinds of object. 

109. (2) Knowledge of the divine ear element occurs with respect to four kinds of 
object, that is to say, as having a limited, and a present, and an internal or 
external object. How? 

Since it makes sound its object and since sound is limited (see Vibh 74), it 
therefore has a limited object. 23 But since it occurs only by making existing 
sound its object, it has a present object. At the time of hearing sounds in one's own 
belly it has an internal object. At the time of hearing the sounds of others it has an 
external object. [431] This is how the knowledge of the divine ear element should 
be understood to occur with respect to the four kinds of object. 

110. (3) Knowledge of penetration of minds occurs with respect to eight kinds of 
object, that is to say, as having a limited, exalted or measureless object, path as 
object, and a past, future or present object, and an external object. How? 

At the time of knowing others' sense-sphere consciousness it has a limited 
object. At the time of knowing their fine-material-sphere or immaterial-sphere 
consciousness it has an exalted object. At the time of knowing path and fruition it 
has a measureless object. And here an ordinary man does not know a stream- 
enterer's consciousness, nor does a stream-enterer know a once-returner's, and 
so up to the Arahant's consciousness. But an Arahant knows the consciousness 
of all the others. And each higher one knows the consciousnesses of all those 
below him. This is the difference to be understood. At the time when it has path 
consciousness as its object it has path as object. But when one knows another's 
consciousness within the past seven days, or within the future seven days, then 
it has a past object and has a future object respectively. 

111. How does it have a present object? "Present" (paccuppanna) is of three 
kinds, that is to say, present by moment, present by continuity, and present by 
extent. Herein, what has reached arising (uppada), presence (thiti), and dissolution 
(bhanga) is present by moment. What is included in one or two rounds of continuity 
is present by continuity. 

112. Herein, when someone goes to a well-lit place after sitting in the dark, an 
object is not clear at first; until it becomes clear, one or two rounds of continuity 



Vattanlyasenasana was apparently a monastery in the Vindhya Hills (Vinjatavl): 
see Mhv XIX. 6; Dhs-a 419. The Elders Assagutta and Rohana instructed Kajarigala 
who was sent to convert Menander (Lamotte, Histoire de la Bouddhisme Indien, p. 440). 
23. Cf. also Vibh 62 and 91. 

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should be understood [to pass] meanwhile. And when he goes into an inner 
closet after going about in a well-lit place, a visible object is not immediately 
evident at first; until it becomes clear, one or two rounds of continuity should be 
understood [to pass] meanwhile. When he stands at a distance, although he 
sees the alterations (movements) of the hands of washer-men and the alterations 
(movements) of the striking of gongs, drums, etc., yet he does not hear the sound 
at first (see Ch. XIV n. 22); until he hears it, one or two rounds of continuity 
should be understood [to pass] meanwhile. This, firstly, is according to the 
Majjhima reciters. 

113. The Samyutta reciters, however, say that there are two kinds of continuity, 
that is to say, material continuity and immaterial continuity: that a material 
continuity lasts as long as the [muddy] line of water touching the bank when 
one treads in the water takes to clear, 24 as long as the heat of the body in one who 
has walked a certain extent takes to die down, as long as the blindness in one 
who has come from the sunshine into a room does not depart, as long as when, 
after someone has been giving attention to his meditation subject in a room and 
then opens the shutters by day and looks out, the dazzling in his eyes does not 
die down; and that an immaterial continuity consists in two or three rounds of 
impulsions. Both of these are [according to them] called "present by continuity." 
[432] 

114. What is delimited by a single becoming (existence) is called present by 
extent, with reference to which it is said in the Bhaddekaratta Sutta: "Friends, the 
mind and mental objects are both what is present. Consciousness is bound by 
desire and greed for what is present. Because consciousness is bound by desire 
and greed he delights in that. When he delights in that, then he is vanquished 
with respect to present states" (M III 197). 

And here, "present by continuity" is used in the Commentaries while "present 
by extent" is used in the Suttas. 

115. Herein, some 25 say that consciousness "present by moment" is the object 
of knowledge of penetration of minds. What reason do they give? It is that the 
consciousness of the possessor of supernormal power and that of the other arise 
in a single moment. Their simile is this: just as when a handful of flowers is 
thrown into the air, the stalk of one flower is probably struck by the stalk of 
another, and so too, when with the thought, "I will know another's mind," the 
mind of a multitude is adverted to as a mass, then the mind of one is probably 
penetrated by the mind of the other either at the moment of arising or at the 
moment of presence or at the moment of dissolution. 

116. That, however, is rejected in the Commentaries as erroneous, because even 
if one went on adverting for a hundred or a thousand years, there is never co- 
presence of the two consciousnesses, that is to say, of that with which he adverts 

24. Vism-mht adds: "Some however explain the meaning in this way: It is as long as, 
when one has stepped on the dry bank with a wet foot, the water line on the foot does 
not disappear." 

25. The residents of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura (Vism-mht). 

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and that [of impulsion] with which he knows, and because the flaw of plurality 
of objects follows if presence [of the same object] to both adverting and impulsion 
is not insisted on. What should be understood is that the object is present by 
continuity and present by extent. 

117. Herein, another's consciousness during a time measuring two or three 
cognitive series with impulsions extending before and after the [strictly] 
currently existing cognitive series with impulsions, is all called "present by 
continuity." But in the Samyutta Commentary it is said that "present by extent" 
should be illustrated by a round of impulsions. 

118. That is rightly said. Here is the illustration. The possessor of supernormal- 
power who wants to know another's mind adverts. The adverting [consciousness] 
makes [the other's consciousness that is] present by moment its object and ceases 
together with it. After that there are four or five impulsions, of which the last is 
the supernormal-power consciousness, the rest being of the sense sphere. That 
same [other's] consciousness, which has ceased, is the object of all these too, and 
so they do not have different objects because they have an object that is "present 
by extent." And while they have a single object it is only the supernormal-power 
consciousness that actually knows another's consciousness, not the others, just 
as in the eye-door it is only eye-consciousness that actually sees the visible 
datum, not the others. 

119. So this has a present object in what is present by continuity and what is 
present by extent. [433] Or since what is present by continuity falls within what 
is present by extent, it can therefore be understood that it has a present object 
simply in what is present by extent. 

It has an external object because it has only another's mind as its object. 

This is how knowledge of penetration of minds should be understood to 
occur with respect to the eight kinds of objects. 

120. (4) Knowledge of past lives occurs with respect to eight kinds of object, that 
is to say, as having a limited, exalted, or measureless object, path as object, a past 
object, and an internal, external, or not-so-classifiable object. How? 

At the time of recollecting sense-sphere aggregates it has a limited object. At 
the time of recollecting fine-material-sphere or immaterial-sphere aggregates it 
has an exalted object. At the time of recollecting a path developed, or a fruition 
realized, in the past either by oneself or by others, it has a measureless object. At the 
time of recollecting a path developed it has a path as object. But it invariably has a 
past object. 

121. Herein, although knowledge of penetration of minds and knowledge of 
faring according to deeds also have a past object, still, of these two, the object of 
the knowledge of penetration of minds is only consciousness within the past 
seven days. It knows neither other aggregates nor what is bound up with 
aggregates [that is, name, surname, and so on]. It is said indirectly that it has a 
path as object since it has the consciousness associated with the path as its 
object. Also, the object of knowledge of faring according to deeds is simply past 
volition. But there is nothing, whether past aggregates or what is bound up 



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with aggregates, that is not the object of knowledge of past lives; for that is on a 
par with omniscient knowledge with respect to past aggregates and states bound 
up with aggregates. This is the difference to be understood here. 

122. This is the method according to the Commentaries here. But it is said in 
the Patthana: "Profitable aggregates are a condition, as object condition, for 
knowledge of supernormal power, for knowledge of penetration of minds, for 
knowledge of past lives, for knowledge of faring according to deeds, and for 
knowledge of the future" (Patth 1 154), and therefore four aggregates are also the 
objects of knowledge of penetration of minds and of knowledge of faring 
according to deeds. And there too profitable and unprofitable [aggregates are 
the object] of knowledge of faring according to deeds. 

123. At the time of recollecting one's own aggregates it has an internal object. At 
the time of recollecting another's aggregates it has an external object. At the time 
of recollecting [the concepts consisting in] name, race (surname) in the way 
beginning, "In the past there was the Blessed One Vipassin. His mother was 
Bhandumati. His father was Bhandumant" (see D II 6-7), and [the concept 
consisting in] the sign of the earth, etc., it has a not-so-classifiable object. And here 
the name and race (surname, lineage) must be regarded not as the actual words 
but as the meaning of the words, which is established by convention and bound 
up with aggregates. For the actual words [434] are "limited" since they are 
included by the sound base, according as it is said: "The discrimination of 
language has a limited object" (Vibh 304). Our preference here is this. 

This is how the knowledge of past lives should be understood to occur with 
respect to the eight kinds of object. 

124. (5) Knowledge of the divine eye occurs with respect to four kinds of object, 
that is to say, as having a limited, a present, and an internal or external object. 
How? Since it makes materiality its object and materiality is limited (see Vibh 62) 
it therefore has a limited object. Since it occurs only with respect to existing 
materiality it has a present object. At the time of seeing materiality inside one's 
own belly, etc., it has an internal object. At the time of seeing another's materiality 
it has an external object. This is how the knowledge of the divine eye should be 
understood to occur with respect to the four kinds of object. 

125. (6) Knowledge of the future occurs with respect to eight kinds of object, that 
is to say, as having a limited or exalted or immeasurable object, a path as object, 
a future object, and an internal, external, or not-so classifiable object. How? At 
the time of knowing this, "This one will be reborn in the future in the sense 
sphere," it has a limited object. At the time of knowing, "He will be reborn in the 
fine-material or immaterial sphere," it has an exalted object. At the time of knowing, 
"He will develop the path, he will realize fruition," it has an immeasurable object. 
At the time of knowing, "He will develop the path," it has a path as object too. But 
it invariably has a future object. 

126. Herein, although knowledge of penetration of minds has a future object 
too, nevertheless its object is then only future consciousness that is within seven 
days; for it knows neither any other aggregate nor what is bound up with 



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aggregates. But there is nothing in the future, as described under the knowledge 
of past lives (§121), that is not an object of knowledge of the future. 

127. At the time of knowing, "I shall be reborn there," it has an internal object. At 
the time of knowing, "So-and-so will be reborn there," it has an external object. 
But at the time of knowing name and race (surname) in the way beginning, "In 
the future the Blessed One Metteyya will arise. His father will be the brahman 
Subrahma. His mother will be the brahmani Brahmavati" (see D III 76), it has a 
not-so-classifiable object in the way described under knowledge of past lives 
(§123). 

This is how the knowledge of the future should be understood. 

128. (7) Knowledge of faring according to deeds occurs with respect to five kinds 
of object, that is to say, as having a limited or exalted, a past, and an internal or 
external object. How? At the time of knowing sense-sphere kamma (deeds) it has 
a limited object. [435] At the time of knowing fine-material-sphere or immaterial- 
sphere kamma it has an exalted object. Since it knows only what is past it has a past 
object. At the time of knowing one's own kamma it has an internal object. At the 
time of knowing another's kamma it has an external object. This is how the 
knowledge of faring according to deeds should be understood to occur with 
respect to the five kinds of object. 

129. And when [the knowledge] described here both as "having an internal 
object" and "having an external object" knows [these objects] now internally 
and now externally, it is then said that it has an internal-external object as well. 

The thirteenth chapter concluding "The Description of 
Direct-knowledge" in the Path of Purification composed 
for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Understanding (Panna) 






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Chapter XIV 

The Aggregates 
(Khandha-niddesa) 

[A. Understanding] 

1. [436] Now, concentration was described under the heading of consciousness 
in the stanza: 

When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding (1.1). 
And that has been developed in all its aspects by the bhikkhu who is thus 
possessed of the more advanced development of concentration that has acquired 
with direct-knowledge the benefits [described in Chs. XII and XIII]. But 
understanding comes next and that has still to be developed. Now, that is not easy, 
firstly even to know about, let alone to develop, when it is taught very briefly. In 
order, therefore, to deal with the detailed method of its development there is the 
following set of questions: 

(i) What is understanding? 

(ii) In what sense is it understanding? 

(iii) What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and 
proximate cause? 

(iv) How many kinds of understanding are there? 

(v) How is it developed? 

(vi) What are the benefits of developing understanding? 

2. Here are the answers: 

(i) What is understanding? Understanding (panna) is of many sorts and has various 
aspects. An answer that attempted to explain it all would accomplish neither its 
intention nor its purpose, and would, besides, lead to distraction; so we shall confine 
ourselves to the kind intended here, which is understanding consisting in insight 
knowledge associated with profitable consciousness. 

3. (ii) In what sense is it understanding? It is understanding {panna) in the sense 
of act of understanding (pajanana)} What is this act of understanding? It is 

1. Cf. Patis I 42, etc.; Abhidhamma definitions very commonly make use of the Pali 
forms of verbal nouns, here instanced by panna (understanding = state of under- 
standing) and pajanana (understanding = act of understanding), both from the verb 

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knowing (janana) in a particular mode separate from the modes of perceiving 
(sanjanana) and cognizing (vijanana). [437] For though the state of knowing 
(janana-bhava) is equally present in perception (sanna), in consciousness 
(vinnana), and in understanding (panna), nevertheless perception is only the 
mere perceiving of an object as, say blue or yellow; it cannot bring about the 
penetration of its characteristics as impermanent, painful, and not-self. 
Consciousness knows the objects as blue or yellow, and it brings about the 
penetration of its characteristics, but it cannot bring about, by endeavouring, the 
manifestation of the [supramundane] path. Understanding knows the object in 
the way already stated, it brings about the penetration of the characteristics, and 
it brings about, by endeavouring, the manifestation of the path. 

4. Suppose there were three people, a child without discretion, a villager, and a 
money-changer, who saw a heap of coins lying on a money-changer's counter. The 
child without discretion knows merely that the coins are figured and ornamented, 
long, square or round; he does not know that they are reckoned as valuable for 
human use and enjoyment. And the villager knows that they are figured and 
ornamented, etc., and that they are reckoned as valuable for human use and 
enjoyment; but he does not know such distinctions as, "This one is genuine, this is 
false, this is half-value." The money-changer knows all those kinds, and he does so 
by looking at the coin, and by listening to the sound of it when struck, and by 
smelling its smell, tasting its taste, and weighing it in his hand, and he knows that 
it was made in a certain village or town or city or on a certain mountain or by a 
certain master. And this may be understood as an illustration. 

5. Perception is like the child without discretion seeing the coin, because it 
apprehends the mere mode of appearance of the object as blue and so on. 
Consciousness is like the villager seeing the coin, because it apprehends the 
mode of the object as blue, etc., and because it extends further, reaching the 
penetration of its characteristics. Understanding is like the money-changer 
seeing the coin, because, after apprehending the mode of the object as blue, etc., 
and extending to the penetration of the characteristics, it extends still further, 
reaching the manifestation of the path. 

That is why this act of understanding should be understood as "knowing in a 
particular mode separate from the modes of perceiving and cognizing." For that is 
what the words "it is understanding in the sense of act of understanding" refer to. 

6. However, it is not always to be found where perception and consciousness are. 2 
[438] But when it is, it is not disconnected from those states. And because it cannot 
be taken as disconnected thus: "This is perception, this is consciousness, this is 
understanding," its difference is consequently subtle and hard to see. Hence the 
venerable Nagasena said: "A difficult thing, O King, has been done by the Blessed 
One." — "What, venerable Nagasena, is the difficult thing that has been done by the 
Blessed One?" — "The difficult thing, O King, done by the Blessed One was the 

pajanati (he understands). English does not always, as in this case, distinguish between 
the two. Similarly, for example, from the verb socati (he sorrows) we find soka (sorrow, 
state of sorrowing) and socana (sorrowing, act of sorrowing), and here the English 
differentiates. Cf. parallel treatment of panna at M-a II 343f. 

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defining of the immaterial states of consciousness and its concomitants, which 
occur with a single object, and which he declared thus: 'This is contact, this is 
feeling, this is perception, this is volition, this is consciousness'" (Mil 87). 

7. (iii) What are its characteristic, function, manifestation and proximate cause? 
Understanding has the characteristic of penetrating the individual essences of 
states. 3 Its function is to abolish the darkness of delusion, which conceals the 
individual essences of states. It is manifested as non-delusion. Because of the 
words, "One who is concentrated knows and sees correctly" (A V 3), its proximate 
cause is concentration. 

8. (iv) How many kinds of understanding are there? 

1 . Firstly, as having the characteristic of penetrating the individual 

essences of states, it is of one kind. 

2. As mundane and supramundane it is of two kinds. 

3. Likewise as subject to cankers and free from cankers, and so on, 

4. As the defining of mentality and of materiality, 

5. As accompanied by joy or by equanimity, 

6. As the planes of seeing and of development. 

7. It is of three kinds as consisting in what is reasoned, consisting 

in what is learnt (heard), and consisting in development. 

8. Likewise as having a limited, exalted, or measureless object, 

9. As skill in improvement, detriment, and means, 

10. As interpreting the internal, and so on. 

11. It is of four kinds as knowledge of the four truths, 

12. And as the four discriminations. 4 

9. 1. Herein, the singlefold section is obvious in meaning. 

2. As regards the twofold section, the mundane is that associated with the 
mundane path and the supramundane is that associated with the supramundane 
path. So it is of two kinds as mundane and supramundane. 

2. "In arisings of consciousness with two root-causes [i.e. with non-greed and non- 
hate but without non-delusion], or without root-cause, understanding does not occur" 
(Vism-mht 432). "Just as pleasure is not invariably inseparable from happiness, so 
perception and consciousness are not invariably inseparable from understanding. 
But just as happiness is invariably inseparable from pleasure, so understanding is 
invariably inseparable from perception and consciousness" (Vism-mht 432). 

3. "A phenomenon's own essence (sako bhavo) or existing essence (samano va bhava) 
is its individual essence (sabhava)" (Vism-mht 433). Cf. Ch. VIII, note 68, where Vism- 
mht gives the definition from saha-bhava (with essence). 

4. Patisambhida is usually rendered by "analysis" (see e.g. Points of Controversy — 
Kathavatthu translation — pp. 377ff). But the Tipitaka explanations of the four patisambhida 
suggest no emphasis on analysis rather than synthesis. Vism-mht gives the following 
definition of the term: "Knowledge that is classified (pabheda-gata = put into a division) 
under meaning (attha) as capable of effecting the explanation and definition of specific 



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10. 3. In the second dyad, that subject to cankers is that which is the object of 
cankers. That free from cankers is not their object. This dyad is the same in meaning 
as the mundane and supramundane. The same method applies to the dyads 
subject to cankers and free from cankers, associated with cankers and dissociated 
from cankers (Dhs 3), and so on. So it is of two kinds as subject to cankers and 
free from cankers, and so on. 

11. 4. In the third dyad, when a man wants to begin insight, his understanding 
of the defining of the four immaterial aggregates is understanding as defining of 
mentality, [439] and his understanding of the defining of the material aggregate 
is understanding as defining of materiality. So it is of two kinds as the defining of 
mentality and of materiality. 

12. 5. In the fourth dyad, understanding belonging to two of the kinds of 
sense-sphere profitable consciousness, and belonging to sixteen 5 of the kinds of 
path consciousness with four of the jhanas in the fivefold method, is accompanied 
by joy. Understanding belonging to two of the kinds of sense-sphere profitable 
consciousness, and belonging to (the remaining) four kinds of path 
consciousness with the fifth jhanas is accompanied by equanimity. So it is of two 
kinds as accompanied by joy or by equanimity. 

13. 6. In the fifth dyad, understanding belonging to the first path is the plane of 
seeing. Understanding belonging to the remaining three paths is the plane of 
development (see XXII. 127). So it is of two kinds as the planes of seeing and of 
development. 

14. 7. As regards the triads, understanding acquired without hearing from 
another is that consisting in what is reasoned because it is produced by one's own 
reasoning. Understanding acquired by hearing from another is that consisting 
in what is heard, because it is produced by hearing. Understanding that has 
reached absorption, having been somehow produced by (meditative) 
development, is that consisting in development. And this is said: Herein, what 
is understanding consisting in what is reasoned? In the spheres of work invented 
by ingenuity, or in the spheres of craft invented by ingenuity, or in the sorts of 
science invented by ingenuity, any preference, view, choice, opinion, judgment, 
liking for pondering over things, that concerns ownership of deeds (kamma) or is 
in conformity with truth or is of such kind as to conform with (the axioms) 
'Materiality is impermanent' or 'Feeling ... perception ... formations ... 

characteristics of the meaning class (meaning division) is called attha-patisambhida; 
and so with the other three" (Vism-mht 436). "Discrimination" has been chosen for 
patisambhida because, while it has the sense of "division," it does not imply an opposite 
process as "analysis" does. Also it may be questioned whether the four are well 
described as "entirely logical": "entirely epistemological" might perhaps be both less 
rigid and nearer; for they seem to cover four interlocking fields, namely: meanings of 
statements and effects of causes (etc.), statements of meanings and causes of effects 
(etc.), language as restricted to etymological rules of verbal expression, and clarity (or 
perspicuous inspiration) in marshalling the other three. 

5. I.e. the four paths with the first jhana and those with the second, third, and fourth, 
out of the five (Vism-mh 434). 

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consciousness is impermanent' that one acquires without hearing it from 
another — that is called understanding consisting in what is reasoned. 

(In the spheres ) that one acquires by hearing it from another — that is called 
understanding consisting in what is learnt (heard). 

And all understanding in anyone who has attained (an attainment) is 
understanding consisting in development (Vibh 324-25). 

So it is of three kinds as consisting in what is thought out, in what is heard, 
and in development. 

15. 8. In the second triad, the understanding that occurs contingent upon 
sense-sphere states has a limited object. That which occurs contingent upon 
fine-material-sphere states or immaterial-sphere states has an exalted object. That 
is mundane insight. That which occurs contingent upon Nibbana has a 
measureless object. That is supramundane insight. So it is of three kinds as having 
a limited, an exalted, or a measureless object. 

16. 9. In the third triad, it is increase that is called improvement. That is twofold 
as the elimination of harm and the arousing of good. Skill in improvement is 
skill in these, according as it is said: Herein, what is skill in improvement? When 
a man brings these things to mind both unarisen unprofitable things do not 
arise and arisen unprofitable things are abandoned in him; or when he brings 
these things to mind [440] both unarisen profitable things arise and arisen 
profitable things advance to growth, increase, development, and perfection in 
him. Whatever here is understanding, act of understanding [for words elided 
see Dhs 16] non-delusion, investigation of states, right view, is called skill in 
improvement (Vibh 325-26). 

17. Non-increase is what is called detriment. That also is twofold as the 
diminution of good and the arousing of harm. Skill in detriment is skill in these, 
according as it is said: "Herein, what is skill in detriment? When a man brings 
these things to mind, both unarisen profitable things do not arise ..." (Vibh 
326), and so on. 

18. But in either of these cases any skill in means to cause the production of 
such and such things, which skill occurs at that moment and is aroused on that 
occasion, is what is called skill in means, according as it is said: "And all 
understanding of means thereto is skill in means" (Vibh 326). 

So it is of three kinds as skill in improvement, in detriment, and in means. 

19. 10. In the fourth triad, insight-understanding initiated by apprehending 
one's own aggregates is interpreting the internal. 6 That initiated by apprehending 
another's aggregates or external materiality not bound up with the faculties, 
[that is, inanimate matter], is interpreting the external. That initiated by 
apprehending both is interpreting the internal and external. So it is of three kinds 
as interpreting the internal, and so on. 



6. The word abhinivisati with its noun abhinivesa means literally "to dwell on," and so 
"to adhere," or "insist." In the Tipitaka it always appears in a bad sense and always 



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20. 11. As regards the tetrads, in the first tetrad, knowledge that occurs 
contingent upon the truth of suffering is knowledge of suffering; knowledge that 
occurs contingent upon the origin of suffering is knowledge of the origin of 
suffering; knowledge that occurs contingent upon the cessation of suffering is 
knowledge of the cessation of suffering; and knowledge that occurs contingent upon 
the way leading to the cessation of suffering is knowledge of the way leading to the 
cessation of suffering. So it is of four kinds as knowledge of the four truths. 

21. 12. In the second tetrad, the four kinds of knowledge classed as that 
concerned with meaning, etc., are called the four discriminations. For this is said: 
"Knowledge about meaning is the discrimination of meaning (attha- 
patisambhida) . Knowledge about law is the discrimination of law (dhamma- 
patisambhida). Knowledge about enunciation of language dealing with meaning 
and law is the discrimination of language (nirutti-patisambhida). Knowledge 
about kinds of knowledge is discrimination of perspicuity (patibhana- 
patisambhida)" (Vibh 293). 

22. Herein, meaning (attha) is briefly a term for the fruit of a cause (hetu). For in 
accordance with the cause it is served 7 arrived at, reached, therefore it is called 
"meaning" (or "purpose"). But in particular the five things, namely, (i) anything 
conditionally produced, [441] (ii) Nibbana, (iii) the meaning of what is spoken, 
(iv) (kamma-) result, and (v) functional (consciousness), should be understood 
as meaning. When anyone reviews that meaning, any knowledge of his, falling 
within the category (pabheda) concerned with meaning, is the discrimination of 
meaning. 

23. Law (dhamma) is briefly a term for a condition (paccaya). For since a condition 
necessitates (dahati) whatever it may be, makes it occur or allows it to happen, it 
is therefore called "law" (dhamma). But in particular the five things, namely, (i) 
any cause that produces fruit, (ii) the noble path, (iii) what is spoken, (iv) what is 
profitable, and (v) what is unprofitable, should be understood as law. When 
anyone reviews that law, any knowledge of his, falling within the category 
concerned with law, is the discrimination of law. 

appears in contexts with wrong view and clinging (see e.g. M III 30-31, Nidd I 436, 
and also Vism-mht quoted above at I. 140). However, in the Commentaries, the word 
appears also in a good sense as at XIV130, XXI. 73 and 83f., and at M-a I 250 (cf. 
saddham nivisati, M II 173). In this good sense it is synonymous with right interpretation 
of experience. All the bare experience of perception is interpreted by the mind either 
in the sense of permanence, pleasure, self, which is wrong because it is not confirmed 
by experience, or in the sense of impermanence, etc., which is right because it is 
confirmed by experience (see XIV 130). There is no not interpreting experience, and it 
is a function of the mind that the interpretation adopted is "dwelt upon," i.e. insisted 
upon. And so it is this insistence or interpretation in accordance with reality as 
confirmed by experience that is the abhinivesa of the Commentaries in the good sense. 
For these reasons the words interpretation, misinterpretation and insistence have been 
chosen here as renderings. 

7. Anyati — "to honour, to serve." Not in PED. Cf. ger. aranlya (M-a I 21,173), also not 
in PED, explained by the Majjhima Nidaya tika as "to be honoured" (payirupasitabba). 



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24. This same meaning is shown in the Abhidhamma by the following analysis: 

(a) "Knowledge about suffering is the discrimination of meaning. Knowledge 
about the origin of suffering is the discrimination of law. [Knowledge about 
the cessation of suffering is the discrimination of meaning. Knowledge about 
the way leading to the cessation of suffering is the discrimination of law] ... 

(b) "Knowledge about cause is the discrimination of law. Knowledge about the 
fruit of a cause is the discrimination of meaning ... 

(c) "Knowledge about whatever things are born, become, brought to birth, 
produced, completed, made manifest, is the discrimination of meaning. 
Knowledge about the things from which those things were born, became, 
were brought to birth, produced, completed, made manifest, is the 

discrimination of law ... 

(d) "Knowledge about ageing and death is the discrimination of meaning. 
Knowledge about the origin of ageing and death is the discrimination of law. 
[Knowledge about the cessation of ageing and death is the discrimination of 
meaning. Knowledge about the way leading to the cessation of ageing and 
death is the discrimination of law. Knowledge about birth ... becoming ... 
clinging ... craving ... feeling ... contact ... the sixfold base ... mentality- 
materiality ... consciousness ... knowledge about formations is the 
discrimination of meaning. Knowledge about the origin of formations is the 
discrimination of laiv.] Knowledge about the cessation of formations is the 
discrimination of meaning. Knowledge about the way leading to the cessation 
of formations is the discrimination of law ... 

(e) "Here a bhikkhu knows the Dhamma (Law) — the Discourses, Songs, 
[Expositions, Stanzas, Exclamations, Sayings, Birth Stories, Marvels, and] 
Answers to Questions — this is called the discrimination of law. He knows the 
meaning of whatever is said thus: 'This is the meaning of this that was said; 
this is the meaning of this that was said' — this is called the discrimination of 
meaning ... 

(f) "What states are profitable? On an occasion when profitable 
consciousness of the sense sphere has arisen [that is accompanied by joy 
and associated with knowledge, having a visible datum as its object ... or a 
mental datum as its object, or contingent upon whatever it may be, on that 
occasion there is contact ... (for elision see Dhs §1) ... there is non-wavering] — 
these things are profitable. Knowledge about these things is the discrimination 
of law. Knowledge about their result is the discrimination of meaning" ... 
(Vibh 293-95). 8 

25. Knowledge about enunciation of language dealing with meaning and law (§21): 
there is the language that is individual essence, the usage that has no exceptions, 9 
and deals with that meaning and that law. Any knowledge falling within the 
category concerned with the enunciation of that, with the speaking, with the 
utterance of that, concerned with the root-speech of all beings, the Magadhan 

8. This quotation has been filled out from the Vibhanga text for clarity. 

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language that is individual essence, in other words, the language of law 
(dhamma), [any knowledge that] as soon as it hears it spoken, pronounced, uttered, 
knows, "This is the individual-essence language; this is not the individual- 
essence language" — [such knowledge] is discrimination of language. 10 [442] One 
who has reached the discrimination of language knows, on hearing the words 
"phasso, vedana," etc., that that is the individual-essence language, and on hearing 
"phassa, vedano," etc., he knows that that is not the individual-essence language. 

26. Knowledge about kinds of knowledge (§21): when a man is reviewing and makes 
any of the foregoing kinds of knowledge the object [of his knowledge], then any 
knowledge in him that has knowledge as its object is discrimination of perspicuity, 
and so is any knowledge about these aforesaid kinds of knowledge, which is 
concerned with details of their individual domains, functions, and so on. 

27. And these four kinds of discrimination can be placed in two categories: the 
plane of the trainer and the plane of the non-trainer. Herein, those of the chief 
disciples and great disciples come into the category of the non-trainer's plane. 
Those of the Elder Ananda, the householder Citta, the layman Dhammika, the 
householder Upali, the laywoman Khujjuttara, etc., come into the category of the 
trainer's plane. 

28. And though they come into the categories of the two planes thus, they are 
nevertheless distinguishable in five aspects, that is to say, as achievement, mastery 
of scriptures, hearing, questioning, and prior effort. Herein, achievement is the 
reaching of Arahantship Mastery of scriptures is mastery of the Buddha's word. 
Hearing is learning the Dhamma carefully and attentively. Questioning is 
discussion of knotty passages and explanatory passages in the texts, 
commentaries, and so on. Prior effort is devotion to insight in the dispensation of 
former Buddhas, up to the vicinity of [the stages of] conformity and change-of- 
lineage by one who has practiced [the duty of] going [with the meditation subject 
on alms round] and coming back [with it]. 11 

29. Others have said: 

A prior effort, and great knowledge, 
[Knowledge of] dialects, of scriptures, 
And questioning, and then achievement, 
And likewise waiting on a teacher, 
Success in friends — these are conditions 
Productive of discriminations. 



9. Byabhicara (vyabhicara): not in PED; normal grammarian's term for an "exception." 

10. The idea behind the term "individual-essence language" (sabhavanirutti), that is 
to say, that there is a real name for each thing that is part of that thing's individual 
essence, is dealt with at Dhs-a 391-92. Magadhan as "the root speech of all beings" 
and the "individual-essence language" is dealt with in greater detail at Vibh-a 387. 

11. The expression garapaccagatikabhava refers to the practice of "carrying the 
meditation subject to and from the alms round," which is described at M-a I 257 in 
detail. The same expression is also used of a certain kind of refuse-rag (see II. 17). 



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30. Herein, prior effort is the same as that already stated. Great learning is skill 
in some science or sphere of craft. Dialects means skill in the hundred-and-one 
tongues, particularly in that of Magadha. Scriptures means mastery of the 
Buddha's word, even if only of the Chapter of Similes. 12 Questioning is questioning 
about defining the meaning of even a single stanza. Achievement is stream-entry 
... or Arahantship Waiting on a teacher is living with very learned intelligent 
teachers. Success in friends is acquisition of friends such as that. [443] 

31. Herein, Buddhas and Paccekabuddhas reach the discriminations through 
prior effort and through achievement. Disciples do so through all these means. 
And there is no special way of developing a meditation subject in order to attain 
discriminations. But in trainers the attaining of the discriminations comes about 
next upon the liberation consisting in trainers' fruition, and in non-trainers it 
does so next upon the liberation consisting in non-trainers' fruition. For the 
discriminations come to success in Noble Ones only through the noble fruition 
as the ten powers do in Perfect Ones. 

So these were the discriminations referred to when it was said above: "It is of 
four kinds ... as the four discriminations" (§8). 

32. (v) How is it developed? Now, tHE things CLASsed as aggregates, bases, 
elements, faculties, truths, dependent origination, etc., are the soil of this 
understanding, and the [first] two purifications, namely, purification of virtue 
and purification of consciousness, are its roots, while the five purifications, 
namely, purification of view, purification by overcoming doubt, purification by 
knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not the path, purification 
by knowledge and vision of the way, and purification by knowledge and vision, 
are the trunk. Consequently, one who is perfecting these should first fortify his 
knowledge by learning and questioning about those things that are the "soil" 
after he has perfected the two purifications that are the "roots," then he can 
develop the five purifications that are the "trunk." This is in brief. The detail is as 
follows. 

[B. Description of the Ftve Aggregates] 

33. When it was said above "the things classed as aggregates, bases, elements, 
faculties, truths, dependent origination, etc., are the soil," the aggregates here 
are the five aggregates, that is to say, the materiality aggregate, the feeling 
aggregate, the perception aggregate, the formations aggregate, and the 
consciousness aggregate. 

[The Materiality Aggregate] 

34. Herein, all kinds of states whatsoever that have the characteristic of "being 
molested" (ruppana) by cold, etc., taken all together should be understood as the 
materiality (rupa) aggregate. 



12. "The 'Chapter of Similes' is the Chapter of Twin Verses in the Dhammapada 
(Dhp 1-20), they say. Others say that it is the Book of Pairs in the First Fifty (MN 31- 
40)" (Vism-mht 436). 



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1. That is of one kind with the characteristic of "being molested." 

2. It is also of two kinds when classed as (a) primary entity (bhttta) and (b) 
derived [by clinging] (upadaya). 

35. Herein (a) primary materiality is of four kinds as the earth element, water 
element, fire element, and air element. Their characteristic, function, and 
manifestation have been given under the definition of the four elements (XI.87, 
93); but as to the proximate cause, each has the other three as its proximate 
cause. [444] 

36. (b) Derived materiality is of twenty-four kinds as eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, 
visible datum, sound, odour, flavour; 13 femininity faculty, masculinity faculty, life 
faculty, heart-basis; bodily intimation, verbal intimation; space element; lightness of 
matter, malleability of matter, wieldiness of matter, growth of matter, continuity of 
matter, ageing of matter, impermanence of matter, and physical nutriment. 

37. 1. Herein, the eye's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that is 
ready for the impact of visible data; or its characteristic is sensitivity of primary 
elements originated by kamma sourcing from desire to see. 14 Its function is to 

13. "Tangible data are omitted from this list because, not being derived matter, they 
are included in the primaries" (Vism-mht 442). They are described as consisting of 
three of the four primaries, excluding the water (cohesion) element. "What is the 
materiality of the great primaries? It is the tangible-data base and the water-element" 
(Dhs 663). For the whole list see Dhs 596, in which (N.B.) the heart-basis does not 
appear. See also note 32 and Ch. Xy n. 15. 

14. "Here the first-mentioned characteristic of the eye is described according to the 
kamma that produces a selfhood, and is common to all of it, and this without touching 
on differentiation is the cause. The second is according to the specialized kamma 
generated thus, "Let my eye be thus." This is what they say. But it can be taken that the 
first-mentioned characteristic is stated as sensitivity's interest in lighting up its own 
objective fields, the five senses' state of sensitivity being taken as a generality; and 
that the second is stated as the seeing that is due to the particular division of its own 
cause, the sensitivities' cause as the state of kamma being taken as a generality or as 
a unity. The same method applies to the ear and so on. 

"Here it may be asked, 'Is the arising of the faculties of the eye, etc., due to kamma 
that is one or to kamma that is different?' Now, the Ancients say "In both ways." 
Herein, firstly, in the case of the arising of an eye, etc., due to kamma that is different 
there is nothing to be explained since the cause is divided up. But when their arising 
is due to kamma that is one, how does there come to be differentiation among them? 
It is due to dividedness in the cause too. For it is craving, in the form of longing for this 
or that kind of becoming that, itself having specific forms owing to hankering after the 
sense-bases included in some kind of becoming or other, contrives, acting as decisive- 
support, the specific divisions in the kamma that generates such a kind of becoming. 
As soon as the kamma has acquired the differentiation induced by that [hankering] it 
generates through effort consisting in appropriate ability a multiple fruit with 
differentiated individual essences, as though it had itself taken on a multiple form. 
And the ability here need not be understood as anything other than the able state; for 
it is simply the effort of producing fruit that is differentiated by the differentiation due 
to the differentiation in its cause. And the fact of this differentiating effort on the part 

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pick up [an object] 15 among visible data. It is manifested as the footing of eye- 
consciousness. Its proximate cause is primary elements born of kamma sourcing 
from desire to see. 

38. 2. The ear's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that is ready for the 
impact of sounds; or its characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements originated 
by kamma sourcing from desire to hear. Its function is to pick up [an object] among 
sounds. It is manifested as the footing of ear-consciousness. Its proximate cause is 
primary elements born of kamma sourcing from desire to hear. 

39. 3. The nose's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that is ready 
for the impact of odours; or its characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements 
originated by kamma sourcing from desire to smell. Its function is to pick up [an 
object] among odours. It is manifested as the footing of nose-consciousness. Its 
proximate cause is primary elements born of kamma sourcing from desire to smell. 

40. 4. The tongue's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that is ready 
for the impact of flavours; or its characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements 
originated by kamma sourcing from desire to taste. Its function is to pick up [an 
object] among flavours. It is manifested as the footing of tongue-consciousness. Its 
proximate cause is primary elements born of kamma sourcing from desire to taste. 

41. 5. The body's characteristic is sensitivity of primary elements that is ready 
for the impact of tangible data; or its characteristic is sensitivity of primary 
elements originated by kamma sourcing from desire to touch. Its function is to 
pick up [an object] among tangible data. It is manifested as the footing of body- 
consciousness. Its proximate cause is primary elements born of kamma sourcing 
from desire to touch. 

42. Some, 16 however, say that the eye is sensitivity of primary elements that have 
fire in excess, and that the ear, nose, and tongue are sensitivity of primary elements 
that have [respectively] air, earth, and water in excess, and that the body is that of 
all [four equally]. Others say that the eye is sensitivity of those that have fire in 
excess, and that the ear, nose, tongue, and body are [sensitivity] of those that 
have [respectively] aperture, air, water, and earth in excess. They should be asked 
to quote a sutta. They will certainly not find one. 

43. But some give as their reason that it is because these [several sensitivities] 
are [respectively] aided by visible data, etc., as qualities of fire, and so on. 17 They 

of kamma that is one being the cause of the multiple faculties will be dealt with below 
as to logic and texts (note 21). Besides, it is told how one kind of consciousness only 
is the cause of the generation of the sixteen kinds of resultant consciousness and so 
on; and in the world it is also found that a single paddy seed is the cause of the 
generation of the ripe, the unripe, the husked, and the unhusked fruit. But what is the 
use of logical thinking? For the eye, etc., are the fruit of kamma; and kamma-result is 
exclusively the province of a Buddha's knowledge" (Vism-mht 444). 

15. Avinjana — "picking up": see avijjhati in PED. 

16. "'Some' are certain Mahasarighikas; for among these Vasudhamma says this: Tn 
the eye fire is in excess; in the ear, air; in the nose, earth; in the tongue, water; in the 
body all are equal'" (Vism-mht 444). 

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should be asked, "But who has said that visible data, etc., are qualities of fire and so 
on? [445] For it is not possible to say of primary elements, which remain always 
inseparable, 18 that 'This is a quality of this one, that is a quality of that one.'" 

44. Then they may say: "Just as you assume, from excess of some primary 
element in such and such material things, the [respective] functions of upholding 
(sandharana), etc., for earth, etc., so from finding visibility, etc., [respectively] in a 
state of excess 19 in material things that have fire in excess, one may assume that 
visible data, etc., are [respectively] qualities of these." They should be told: "We 
might assume it if there were more odour in cotton, which has earth in excess, 
than in fermented liquor, which has water in excess, and if the colour of cold 
water were weaker than the colour of hot water, which has heat in excess. 

45. "But since neither of these is a fact, you should therefore give up conjecturing 
the difference to be in the supporting primary elements. Just as the natures of visible 
objects, etc., are dissimilar from each other though there is no difference in the 
primaries that form a single group, so too are eye-sensitivity etc., though no other 
cause of their difference exists." 20 This is how it should be taken. 



17. "'As qualities of fire, and so on': [aided] by visible data as the illuminating [quality] of 
heat, which is called lighting up; by sound [as a quality] of air, by odour [as a quality] of 
earth, by flavour [as a quality] of the water called spittle — so according to the first theory 
[that of 'some']; and it can be suitably adjusted to accord with the second [that of 'others'] 
because they need to be assisted by such and such qualities of primaries what is meant is 
that they have to be helped in apprehending visible data and so on. This theory holds that 
the quality is the ability of the eye, etc., to light up [respectively] visible data, etc., only when 
associated with the reasons that are their accessories consisting of light, etc., and aperture's 
state of decisive support for ear-consciousness. Aperture is taken in due order, as are fire, 
etc., since it is absence of primaries. Or alternatively when others intend that aperture is a 
quality of primaries, as visible data, etc., are, then the qualities of primaries are construable 
in their order thus: [aided] by visible data and light [as a quality] of fire, by sound [as a 
quality] of aperture called space, by odour [as a quality] of air, by flavour [as a quality] of 
water, by tangible data [as a quality] of earth" (Vism-mht 445). 

18. The four primaries are held to be inseparable and not to exist separate from each 
other; cf. quotation from the "Ancients" in §45. Vism-mht says: "Excess is in capability, 
not in quantity, otherwise their inseparability would be illogical" (Vism-mht 451). 

19. "'From finding visibility, etc., [respectively] in a state of excess': from finding them 
associated with these differences, namely, the bright visible datum in fire, sound 
audible through its individual essence in air, the odour beginning with surabhi perfume 
in earth, and the sweet taste in water, thus 'visible data, etc., are the [respective] qualities 
of these.' This is according to the first theory and he has stated the conclusion (uttara) 
that follows, beginning with 'we might assume' in terms of that. The second is confuted 
in the same way. Or alternatively, 'Then they may say,' etc., can be taken as said 
emphasizing, in order to confute it, the theory of Kanada, which asserts that the eye, 
etc., are respectively made by fire, space, earth, water, and air, that have visible data, 
etc., as their respective qualities" (Vism-mht 445). 

20. In the PT.S. text and Sinhalese Hewavitarne text the word ekakalape, "that form a 
single group," occurs in this sentence but is not in the Harvard text. 



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But what is it that is not common to them all? 21 It is the kamma itself that is the 
reason for their difference. Therefore their difference is due to difference of kamma, 
not to difference of primary elements; for if there were difference of primary 
elements, sensitivity itself would not arise, since the Ancients have said: 
"Sensitivity is of those that are equal, not of those that are unequal." 

46. Now, among these [sensitivities thus] possessed of difference due to differ- 
ence of kamma, the eye and the ear apprehend non-contiguous objective fields, 
since consciousness is caused even if the supporting [primaries] of the objective 
fields do not adhere to the [faculties'] own supporting primaries. 22 The nose, 

21. "If there is no differentiation according to primaries, what then is the reason for 
the differentiation of the eye, and so on? Though the kamma that is produced by the 
longing for a selfhood (individual personality) with five sense-bases is one only still 
it should be taken as called 'not common to them all' and 'difference of kamma' because it is 
the cause of the differentiation of the eye, and so on. For it is not a condition for the ear 
through the same particular difference through which it is a condition for the eye, 
since, if it were, it would then follow that there was no distinction between the faculties. 
Because of the words, 'At the moment of rebirth-linking, exalted volition is a condition, 
as kamma condition, for the kinds of materiality due to kamma performed' (Patth) it 
must be recognized that a single volition is kamma condition for all the kinds of 
materiality due to kamma performed that come into existence at the moment of 
rebirth-linking. For if the volition were different, then, when there came to be the 
arising of the faculties, it would follow that the materiality due to kamma performed 
was generated by limited and exalted kamma. And rebirth-linking that is one is not 
generated by a plurality of kinds of kamma. Thus it is established that the arising of 
the plurality of the faculties is due to a single kamma" (Vism-mht 446). 

22. See also §134 and notes 60, 61. The amplification in this paragraph is from Vism- 
mht, which continues: "There is another method: the eye and the ear have 
non-contiguous objective fields because arising of consciousness is caused while 
their objective fields are separated by an interval and apart (adhika). Some say that the 
ear has a contiguous objective field. If it did, then sound born of consciousness would 
not be the object of ear-consciousness, for there is no arising externally of what is 
consciousness-originated. And in the texts sound as object is spoken of as being the 
object of ear-consciousness without making any distinction. Besides, there would be 
no defining the direction and position of the sound because it would then have to be 
apprehended in the place occupied by the possessor of the objective field, as happens 
in the case of an odour. Consequently it remains in the same place where it arose, if it 
comes into focus in the ear avenue (so the Burmese ed.). Are not the sounds of 
washermen [beating their washing on stones] heard later by those who stand at a 
distance? No; because there is a difference in the way of apprehending a sound 
according to the ways in which it becomes evident to one nearby and to one at a 
distance. For just as, because of difference in the way of apprehending the sound of 
words according to the ways in which it becomes evident to one at a distance and to 
one nearby, there comes to be [respectively] not apprehending, and apprehending of 
the differences in the syllables, so also, when the sound of washermen (a) becomes 
[an occurrence] that is evident throughout from beginning to end to one who is 
nearby, and (b) becomes an occurrence that is evident in compressed form in the end 
or in the middle to one who is at a distance, it is because there is a difference in the 



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tongue and body apprehend contiguous objective fields, because consciousness 
is caused only if their objective fields' [primaries] adhere to their own supporting 
[primaries], [that is to say, if the objective fields' primaries adhere] as support [in 
the case of odours and flavours], and themselves [directly in the case of tangible 
data, which are identical with the three primaries excluding water]. 

47. 1. There is what is called the "eye" in the world. That looks like a blue lotus 
petal and is surrounded by black eyelashes and varied with dark and light 
circles. The eye [sensitivity as meant] here is to be found in the place in the 
middle of the black circle surrounded by the white circle in that [feature of the] 
eye with its accessories where there appears the image of the bodies of those 
who stand in front of it. It pervades the eye's seven layers like oil sprinkled on 
seven layers of cotton. It is assisted by the four primary elements whose 
[respective] functions are upholding, cohering, maturing, and moving, as a 
warrior prince is by four nurses whose functions are holding, bathing, dressing, 
and fanning. It is consolidated by temperature, consciousness, and nutriment; it 
is maintained by life; it is fu rnished with colour, odour, flavour, etc. (see Ch. 
XVIII, §5); it is the size of a mere louse's head; and it duly serves both as physical 
basis and as door for eye-consciousness, and the rest [of the consciousness of 
the cognitive series]. [446] 

48. And this is said by the General of the Dhamma: 

"The sensitivity with which he sees a visible object 

Is small and it is subtle, too, no bigger, than a louse's head."(?) 

49. 2. The ear [sensitivity] is to be found inside the [feature of the] ear-hole with 
its accessories in the place that is shaped like a finger-stall and surrounded by 
fine brown hairs. It is assisted by the elements in the way aforesaid. It is 
consolidated by temperature, consciousness, and nutriment; it is maintained by 
life; it is equipped with colour, etc.; and it duly serves both as physical basis and 
as door for ear-consciousness, and the rest. 

50. 3. The nose [sensitivity] is to be found inside the [feature of the] nose-hole 
with its accessories in the place shaped like a goat's hoof. It has assistance, 
consolidation and maintenance in the way aforesaid; and it duly serves both as 
physical basis and as door for nose-consciousness, and the rest. 

51. 4. The tongue [sensitivity] is to be found in the middle of the [feature of the] 
tongue with its accessories in the place shaped like a lotus petal tip. It has assistance, 
consolidation and maintenance in the way aforesaid; and it duly serves both as 
physical basis and as door for tongue-consciousness, and the rest. 

apprehending and definition, which occur later in the cognitive series of ear- 
consciousness, that there comes to be the assumption (abhimana) 'Heard faintly is 
heard later.' But that sound comes into the ear's focus at the moment of its own 
existence and in dependence on the place where it arises (see XIII. 112; Dhs-a 313). If 
there is absolutely no successive becoming of sound, how does an echo arise? The 
sound, though it remains at a distance, is a condition for the arising of an echo and for 
the vibration of vessels, etc., elsewhere as a magnet (ayo-kanta) is for the movement of 
iron" (Vism-mht 446-47). 

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52. 5. The body [sensitivity] is to be found everywhere, like a liquid that soaks a 
layer of cotton, in this physical body where there is matter that is clung to. 23 It has 
assistance, consolidation and maintenance in the way aforesaid too; and it duly 
serves both as physical basis and as door for body-consciousness, and the rest. 

53. Like snakes, crocodiles, birds, dogs, and jackals that gravitate to their own 
respective resorts, that is to say, termite-mounds, water, space, villages, and charnel 
grounds, so the eye, etc., should be regarded as gravitating to their own respective 
resorts, that is to say, visible data, and so on (cf. Dhs-a 314). 

54. 6. As regards visible data, etc., which come next, a visible datum has the 
characteristic of impinging on the eye. Its function is to be the objective field of 
eye-consciousness. It is manifested as the resort of that too. Its proximate cause is 
the four great primaries. And all the [following] kinds of derived materiality are 
the same as this. Where there is a difference we shall mention it. This [visible 
datum] is of various kinds as "blue, yellow" (Dhs §617) and so on. 

55. 7. Sound has the characteristic of impinging on the ear. Its function is to be 
the object of ear-consciousness. It is manifested as the resort of that too. It is of 
various kinds as "drum sound, tabour sound" (Dhs §621) and so on. [447] 

56. 8. Odour has the characteristic of impinging on the nose. Its function is to 
be the object of nose-consciousness. It is manifested as the resort of that too. It is 
of various kinds as "root odour, heartwood odour" (Dhs §625) and so on. 

57. 9. Flavour has the characteristic of impinging on the tongue. Its function is 
to be the object of tongue-consciousness. It is manifested as the resort of that too. 
It is of various kinds as "root flavour, trunk flavour" (Dhs §629) and so on. 

58. 10. The femininity faculty has the female sex as its characteristic. Its function 
is to show that "this is a female." It is manifested as the reason for the mark, 
sign, work, and ways of the female (cf. Dhs §633). 

11. The masculinity faculty has the male sex as its characteristic. Its function is 
to show that "this is a male." It is manifested as the reason for the mark, sign, 
work, and ways of the male (cf. Dhs §634). 

Both these last are coextensive with the whole body, as body-sensitivity is. But 
it does not follow that they have to be called either "located in the space where 
body-sensitivity is located" or "located in the space where that is not located." 
Like the natures of visible data, etc., these are not confoundable one with the 
other. 24 



23. Upadinna (also upadinnaka) is pp. of upadiyati (he clings), from which the noun 
upadana (clinging) also comes. Upadinna-(ka-)rupa (clung-to matter) = kammaja-rupa 
(kamma-born matter): see Dhs §653. It is vaguely renderable by "organic or sentient 
or living matter"; technically, it is matter of the four primaries that is "clung to" 
(upadinna) or "derived" (upadaya) by kamma. Generally taken as a purely Abhidhamma 
term (Dhs 1), it nevertheless occurs in the Suttas at M I 185 in the same sense. 

24. Ee reads annamannam sankaro natthi. Ae omits sahkaro natthi. The word sahkara in 
the sense of "confounding" or "error" is not in PED; see Vism concluding verses, PTS 
ed.,p.711: 



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59. 12. The life faculty has the characteristic of maintaining conascent kinds of 
matter. Its function is to make them occur. It is manifested in the establishing of 
their presence. Its proximate cause is primary elements that are to be sustained. 
And although it has the capacity consisting in the characteristic of maintaining, 
etc., yet it only maintains conascent kinds of matter at the moment of presence, as 
water does lotuses and so on. Though states (dhamma) arise due to their own 
conditions, it maintains them, as a wet-nurse does a prince. And it occurs itself 
only through its connection with the states that occur, like a pilot; it does not 
cause occurrence after dissolution, because of its own absence and that of what 
has to be made to occur. It does not prolong presence at the moment of dissolution 
because it is itself dissolving, like the flame of a lamp when the wick and the oil 
are getting used up. But it must not be regarded as destitute of power to maintain, 
make occur, and make present, because it does accomplish each of these functions 
at the moment stated (cf. Dhs §635). 25 



"Though these things, that is to say, the 'mark ... of the female,' etc., arise each due 
to its own condition consisting in kamma, etc., they mostly only do so as modes in a 
continuity accompanied by the femininity faculty. And so 'it is manifested as the 
reason for the mark,' etc., is said making the femininity faculty their cause. 

"As regards the 'mark of the female,' etc., too, its 'facultiness' is stated as 
predominance, in other words, as a state of cause, because the conditions for the 
modal matter (akara-rupa) consisting of the mark of the female, etc., in a continuity 
accompanied by faculties do not arise otherwise, and because these kinds of materiality 
are a condition for apprehending the female. But because the femininity faculty does 
not generate even the material instances in its own group or maintain or consolidate 
them, and because it does not so act for the material instances of other groups, it is 
therefore not called in the text faculty presence, and non-disappearance conditions, as 
the life faculty is for the material instances of its group, and as nutriment is for the material 
instances in succeeding groups. And it is because the mark, etc., are dependent on other 
conditions that wherever they have predominance its shape is encountered, even in dead 
and sculptured matter that resembles it. And so too with the masculinity faculty. 

"And since these two do not occur together in a single continuity because of the 
words, 'Does the masculinity faculty arise in one in whom the femininity faculty 
arises? — No' (Yamaka), etc., therefore even in a hermaphrodite there is only one of 
them at a given moment (see also Dhs-a 323)" (Vism-mht 448). 

25. "Since the life faculty is itself entirely kamma-born it is established, by taking 
them as conascent, that the things to be protected by it are kamma-born too; this is 
why there is no inclusion of the term 'kamma-born.' It maintains as if it were its own 
that kamma-born matter by being the cause of its occurrence even though only lasting 
for a moment; that is why it has the characteristic of maintaining conascent kinds of 
matter. For kamma alone is not competent to be the cause of kamma-born things" 
presence, as nutriment, etc., are of the nutriment-born. Why? Because it is no longer 
existent at that moment. 

'"Because it does accomplish each of those functions': it does so because it is a 
condition for distinguishing what is living. For it is the life faculty that distinguishes 
matter that is bound up with faculties from dead matter, and kamma-born matter and 
what is bound up with that from matter that is temperature originated, and so on. 

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60. 13. The heart-basis has the characteristic of being the (material) support for the 
mind-element and for the mind-consciousness-element. Its function is to observe 
them. It is manifested as the carrying of them. It is to be found in dependence on the 
blood, of the kind described in the treatise on mindfulness of the body (VIII. Ill), 
inside the heart. It is assisted by the primaries with their functions of upholding, 
etc.; it is consolidated by temperature, consciousness, and nutriment; it is maintained 
by life; and it serves as physical basis for the mind-element and mind-consciousness- 
element, and for the states associated with them. 26 

"And the life faculty must be regarded as the reason not only for presence during 
a moment but also for non-interruption of connection; otherwise death as the 
termination of a life span would be illogical" (Vism-mht 448). 

26. '"The heart-basis ... the support for the mind-element and for the mind- 
consciousness-element': how is that to be known? (i) From scriptures and (ii) from 
logical reasoning. 

"The scripture is this: 'The materiality dependent on which the mind-element and 
mind-consciousness-element occur is a condition, as a support condition, for the 
mind-element and the mind-consciousness-element and what is associated therewith' 
(Patth 1.4). If that is so, why is it not mentioned in the Rupakanda of the 
Dhammasarigani? (Dhs §583ff.). Its not being mentioned there is for another reason. 
What is that? Non-inconsistency of the teaching. For while eye consciousness, etc., 
have the eye, etc., as their respective supports absolutely mind-consciousness does 
not in the same way have the heart-basis as its support absolutely. And the teaching 
in the physical-basis dyad (vatthu-duka) is given by way of the material support thus, 
'There is matter that is the physical basis of eye-consciousness, there is matter that is 
not the physical basis of eye-consciousness' (Dhs §585) and so on; and if the dyads 
were stated by way of what had the heart-basis absolutely as its support thus, 'There 
is matter that is the physical basis of mind-consciousness' and so on, then the object 
dyads (arammana-diika) do not fall into line: for one cannot say: 'There is matter that is 
the object of mind-consciousness, there is matter that is not the object of mind- 
consciousness.' So the physical-basis dyads and object dyads being thus made 
inconsistent, the teaching would lack unity, and the Master's wish was to give the 
teaching here in a form that has unity. That is why the heart-basis is not mentioned, 
not because it is unapprehendable. 

"(ii) But the logical reasoning should be understood in this way In the five constituent 
becoming, [that is, in the sense sphere and fine-material sphere,] these two elements 
have as their support produced (nipphanna) derived matter. Herein, since the visible- 
data base, etc., and nutritive essence, are found to occur apart from what is bound up 
with faculties, to make them the support would be illogical. And since these two 
elements are found in a continuity that is devoid of the femininity and masculinity 
faculties [i.e. in the Brahma-world], to make them the support would be illogical too. 
And in the case of the life faculty that would have to have another function, so to make 
it the support would be illogical too. So it is the heart-basis that remains to be recognized 
as their support. For it is possible to say that these two elements have as their support 
produced derived matter, since existence is bound up with matter in the five-constituent 
becoming. Whatever has its existence bound up with matter is found to have as its 
support produced derived matter, as the eye-consciousness-element does. And the 
distinction 'in the five-constituent becoming' is made on account of the mind- 
consciousness-element; in the four-constituent becoming, [that is, the immaterial 

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61. 14. Bodily intimation is the mode (conformation) and the alteration (deformation) 
in the consciousness-originated air element that causes the occurrence of moving 
forward, etc., which mode and alteration are a condition for the stiffening, upholding, 
and moving of the conascent material body. [448] Its function is to display intention. 
It is manifested as the cause of bodily excitement. Its proximate cause is the 
consciousness-originated air element. But it is called "bodily intimation" (kaya- 
vinnatti) because it is the cause of the intimating (vinnapana) of intention by means 
of bodily excitement, and because it is itself intimatable through the body, in other 
words, through that bodily excitement. Moving forward, etc., should be understood 
to occur owing to the movement of the [kinds of matter] that are temperature-born, 
etc., which are interlocked with the consciousness-born kinds moved by that 
[intimation] 27 (See Dhs §636). 

sphere,] there is no mind-element. Does there not follow contradiction of the middle 
term (hetu) because of establishing faculties as their support? No; because that is 
disproved by what is seen. For these two elements are not, as in the case of eye- 
consciousness, controlled by the slackness and keenness, etc., of their physical basis; 
and accordingly it is not said in the texts that they have the faculties as their condition. 
Hence their having faculties as their support, in other words, their being controlled by 
them, is disproved. 

"Granted that these two elements have as their support the derived matter consisting 
of the heart-basis, how is it to be known that it is kamma-originated, has an invariable 
function, and is to be found located in the heart? It may be said to be kamma-originated 
because, like the eye, it is the materiality of a physical basis; and because of that it has 
an invariable function; because it is the materiality of a physical basis and because it is 
a support for consciousness, is the meaning. It is known that its location is there 
because of the heart's exhaustion (khijjana) in one who thinks of anything, bringing it 
to mind intently and directing his whole mind to it" (Vism-mht 449-50). 

The word hadaya (heart), used in a purely mental and not physical sense, occurs in 
the definitions of the mind-element and mind-consciousness-element in the Vibhahga 
(Vibh 88-89). The brain (matthalunga) , which seems to have been first added as the 
32nd part of the body in the Patisambhida (Patis 1 7), was ignored, and the Visuddhimagga 
is hard put to it to find a use for it. The Pitakas (e.g. Patth 1,4 quoted above) connect the 
mind with the matter of the body without specifying. 

27. "It is the mode and the alteration of what? Of consciousness-originated primary 
elements that have the air-element in excess of capability. What is that capability? It is 
the state of being consciousness-born and the state of being derived matter. Or 
alternatively, it can be taken as the mode alteration of the air element. If that is so, then 
intimation is illogical as derived matter, for there is no derived matter with a single 
primary as its support, since 'matter derived from the four great primaries' (M I 53) is 
said. That is not wrong. Alteration of one of the four is that of all four, as with wealth 
shared among four. And excess of air element in a material group (kalapa) does not 
contradict the words 'of the air element'; and excess is in capability, not in quantity, 
otherwise their inseparability would be illogical. According to some it is that of the air 
element only. In their opinion the state of derived matter is inapplicable (duriipapada) 
to intimation, since the alteration of one is not that of all. But this [air element] is 
apprehended by mind-door impulsion that is next to the non-intimating [apprehension] 
that is next to the apprehension of the appearance of motion in the movement of the 



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hands, and so on. There is a certain kind of alteration that is separate from the 
appearance of motion. And the apprehension of the former is next to the apprehension 
of the latter. How is that to be known? By the apprehension of intention. For no 
apprehension of intention such as, 'He is getting this done, it seems' is met with in the 
case of trees' movements, etc., which are devoid of intention. But it is met with in the 
case of hand movements and so on. Therefore there is a certain kind of alteration that 
is separate from the appearance of motion, and it is known as the 'intimator of the 
intention.' Also it is known by inference that the apprehension of the alteration is next 
to the apprehension of the appearance thus: The intimator intimates the meaning to 
be intimated only when it is apprehended as a cause, not merely as present. For they 
say accordingly: 

Sounds that have entered no objective field 

Do not awaken any kind of meaning; 

And also beings merely recognized 

As such communicate no meanings either. 

"If just the apprehension of the alteration is the reason for the apprehension of the 
intention, why is there no apprehension of intention in unapprehended communication 
(sanketa)l It is not only just the apprehension of the alteration that is the reason for the 
apprehension of the intention; but rather it should be taken that the apprehension of 
the previously-established connection is the decisive support for this. The stiffening, 
upholding, and movement are due to the air-element associated with the alteration 
belonging to the intimation, is what is said. What, is it all the air-element that does all 
those things? It is not like that. For it is the air element given rise to by the seventh 
impulsion that, by acquiring as its reinforcing conditions the air elements given rise to 
by the preceding impulsions, moves consciousness-originated matter by acting as 
cause for its successive arisings in adjacent locations, (desantaruppatti — cf. Ch. VIII, n. 
54) not the others. The others, however, help it by doing the stiffening and upholding, 
the successive arising in adjacent locations being itself the movement. So the 
instrumentality should be taken as attributed when there is the sign [of movement]; 
otherwise there would not be uninterestedness and momentariness of dhammas. 
And here the cart to be drawn by seven yokes is given as simile in the Commentary. 
But when consciousness-born matter moves, the kinds of matter born of temperature, 
kamma, and nutriment move too because they are bound up with it, like a piece of dry 
cow-dung thrown into a river's current. 

"Since it has been said that the apprehension of intimation is next to the 
apprehension of the appearance of motion, how then, is the air element itself as the 
maker of the movement accompanied by the alteration consisting in the intimation? It 
is not like that. It is the air elements given rise to by the first impulsion, etc., and which 
are unable to cause movement in that way and perform only the stiffening and 
upholding, that should be taken as only accompanied by the alteration belonging to 
intimation. For it is the alteration coexistent with the intention that is the intimation, 
because of giving rise to alteration in whatever direction it wishes to cause the 
occurrence of moving forward and so on. Taking it in this way, it is perfectly logical to 
say that the origination of intimation belongs to mind-door adverting. Since the 
intention possessed of the aforesaid alteration is intimated through the apprehension 
of that alteration, it is said that 'Its function is to display intention.' The air element 
being the cause of the motion of the bodily intimation, is figuratively said, as a state of 
alteration, to be 'manifested as the cause of bodily motion.' 'Its proximate cause is the 
consciousness-originated air-element' is said since the air element's excessive function 

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62. 15. Verbal intimation is the mode (conformation) and the alteration 
(deformation) in the consciousness-originated earth element that causes that 
occurrence of speech utterance which mode and alteration are a condition for 
the knocking together of clung-to matter. 28 Its function is to display intention. It 
is manifested as the cause of the voice in speech. Its proximate cause is the 
consciousness-originated earth element. But it is called "verbal intimation" 
because it is the cause of the intimating of intention by means of the voice in 
speech, and because it is itself intimatable through speech, in other words, 
through that voice in speech. For, just as, on seeing a sign for water consisting of 
an ox skull, etc., hung up in the forest, it is intimated that "there is water here," 
so too, on noticing either the bodily shaking or the voice in speech thus, they 
intimate. 29 (See Dhs §637.) 

63. 16. The space element has the characteristic of delimiting matter. Its function 
is to display the boundaries of matter. It is manifested as the confines of matter; 
or it is manifested as untouchedness, as the state of gaps and apertures (cf. Dhs 
§638). Its proximate cause is the matter delimited. And it is on account of it that 
one can say of material things delimited that "this is above, below, around, that." 

64. 17. Lightness of matter has the characteristic of non-slowness. Its function is 
to dispel heaviness of matter. It is manifested as light transformability Its 
proximate cause is light matter (cf. Dhs §639). 

18. Malleability of matter has the characteristic of non-stiffenedness. Its function 
is to dispel stiffness of matter. It is manifested as non-opposition to any kind of 
action. Its proximate cause is malleable matter (cf. Dhs §640). 

19. Wieldiness of matter has the characteristic of wieldiness that is favourable 
to bodily action. Its function is to dispel unwieldiness. It is manifested as non- 
weakness. Its proximate cause is wieldy matter (cf. Dhs §641). 

65. These three, however, are not found apart from each other. Still their 
difference may be understood as follows. Lightness of matter is alteration of matter 
such as any light (agile) state in material instances, as in one who is healthy, any 

is the cause of intimating intention by movement of the body" (Vism-mht 450-52). Cf. 
Dhs-a 83f. 

28. Vaclbheda — "speech utterance" is not in PED, which does not give this use of 
bheda. Vism-mht (p. 452) explains: "The function ( — 'knocking together') of the vocal 
apparatus ( — 'clung-to matter')." 

29. "The question, 'It is the mode and the alteration of what?,' should be handled in 
the same way as for bodily intimation, with this difference: for 'next to the apprehension 
of the appearance of movement' substitute 'next to the hearing of an audible sound.' 
And here, because of the absence of stiffening, etc., the argument beginning, 'For it is 
the air element given rise to by the seventh impulsion' does not apply; for the sound 
arises together with the knocking together, and the knocking together only applies in 
the case of the first impulsion, and so on. The knocking together is the arising of 
groups of primaries (bhuta-kalapa) in proximity to each other due to conditions. The 
movement is the progression of the successive arising in adjacent locations. This is the 
difference. The earth element's knocking together is parallel to the air element's 
moving as regards function" (Vism-mht 452). 

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non-slowness, any manner of light transformability in them, which is originated 
by conditions that prevent any disturbance of elements capable of creating 
sluggishness of matter. Malleability of matter is alteration of matter such as any 
malleable state in material instances, as in a well-pounded hide, any pliable 
manner consisting in amenableness to exercise of power over them in all kinds 
of work without distinction, which [449] is originated by conditions that prevent 
any disturbance of elements capable of creating stiffness of matter. Wieldiness of 
matter is alteration of matter such as any wieldy state in material instances, as in 
well-refined gold, any manner in them consisting in favourableness to the work 
of the body, which is originated by conditions that prevent any disturbance of 
elements capable of creating unfavourableness to the work of the body. 

66. 20. Groivth of matter has the characteristic of setting up. Its function is to 
make material instances emerge in the first instance. It is manifested as launching; 
or it is manifested as the completed state. Its proximate cause is grown matter. 

21. Continuity of matter has the characteristic of occurrence. Its function is to 
anchor. It is manifested as non-interruption. Its proximate cause is matter that is 
to be anchored. 

Both of these are terms for matter at its birth; but owing to difference of mode, 
and according to [different persons'] susceptibility to instruction, the teaching 
in the summary (uddesa) in the Dhammasangani is given as "growth and 
continuity" (cf. Dhs §596); but since there is here no difference in meaning, 
consequently in the description (niddesa) of these words, "the setting up of the 
sense-bases is the growth of matter" and "the growth of matter is the continuity 
of matter" is said (Dhs §642, 732, 865). 

67. And in the Commentary, after saying, "It is genesis that is called 'setting 
up,' increase that is called 'growth,' occurrence that is called 'continuity'" this 
simile is given: "Genesis as setting up is like the time when water comes up in a 
hole dug in a river bank; increase as growth is like the time when it fills [the 
hole]; occurrence as continuity is like the time when it overflows." And at the end 
of the simile it is said: "So what is stated? Setting up is stated by sense-base; 
sense-base is stated by setting up." Consequently, it is the first genesis of material 
instances that is their setting up; the genesis also of others that are generated in 
addition to those is groivth since it appears in the aspect of increase; the repeated 
genesis also of others that are generated in addition to those is continuity since it 
appears in the aspect of anchoring. This is how it should be understood to have 
been declared thus. 

68. 22. Ageing has the characteristic of maturing (ripening) material instances. 
Its function is to lead on towards [their termination]. It is manifested as the loss 
of newness without the loss of individual essence, like oldness in paddy. Its 
proximate cause is matter that is maturing (ripening). This is said with reference 
to the kind of ageing that is evident through seeing alteration in teeth, etc., as 
their brokenness, and so on (cf. Dhs §644). But that of immaterial states, which 
has no such [visible] alteration, is called hidden ageing. And that in earth, water, 
rocks, the moon, the sun, etc., is called incessant ageing. [450] 



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69. 23. Impermanence of matter has the characteristic of complete breaking up. 
Its function is to make material instances subside. It is manifested as destruction 
and fall (cf. Dhs §645). Its proximate cause is matter that is completely breaking 
up. 

70. 24. Physical nutriment has the characteristic of nutritive essence. Its function 
is to feed kinds of matter. It is manifested as consolidating. Its proximate cause is 
a physical basis that must be fed with physical food. It is a term for the nutritive 
essence by means of which living beings sustain themselves (cf. Dhs §646). 

71. These, firstly are the material instances that have been handed down in the 
texts. 30 But in the Commentary others have been added as follows: matter as 
power, matter as procreation, matter as birth, matter as sickness; and, in the 
opinion of some, matter as torpor. 31 

In the first place, matter as torpor is rejected as non-existent by the words: 

Surely thou art a sage enlightened, 

There are no hindrances in thee (Sn 541). 
As to the rest, matter as sickness is included by ageing and by impermanence; 
matter as birth by growth and continuity; matter as procreation, by the water element; 
and matter as power by the air element. So taken separately not even one of these 
exists: this was the agreement reached. 

So this derived matter of twenty-four sorts and the aforesaid matter of the 
primary elements, which is of four sorts, together amount to twenty-eight sorts, 
neither more nor less. 

72. And all that [matter of twenty-eight sorts] is of one kind as "not-root-cause, 
root-causeless, dissociated from root-cause, with conditions, mundane, subject 
to cankers" (Dhs §584), and so on. 

It is of two kinds as internal and external, gross and subtle, far and near, 
produced (nipphanna) and unproduced, sensitive matter and insensitive matter, 
faculty and non-faculty clung to and not-clung to, and so on. 

73. Herein, the five kinds beginning with the eye are internal because they 
occur as an integral part of the selfhood (in oneself); the rest are external because 
they are external to that selfhood (personality). The nine beginning with the eye 
and the three elements excepting the water element, making twelve kinds in all, 
are to be taken as gross because of impinging; the rest are subtle because they are 
the opposite of that. What is subtle is far because it is difficult to penetrate, the 
other is near because it is easy to penetrate. The eighteen kinds of matter, that is 
to say, the four elements, the thirteen beginning with the eye, and physical 
nutriment, are produced because they can be discerned through their own 
individual essences, having exceeded the [purely conceptual] states of [matter 
as] delimitation, [matter as] alteration, and [matter as] characteristic (see §77); 
the rest, being the opposite, are unproduced. The five kinds beginning with the 

30. In actual fact the heart-basis is not in the Pitakas as such. 

31. "'Some' are the inmates of the Abhayagiri Monastery at Anuradhapura" (Vism- 
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eye are sensitive matter through their being conditions for the apprehension of 
visible data, etc., because they are, as it were, bright like the surface of a looking 
glass; the rest are insensitive matter because they are the opposite of that. [451] 
Sensitive matter itself, together with the three beginning with the femininity 
faculty, is faculty in the sense of predominance; the rest are not-faculty because 
they are the opposite of that. What we shall later describe as "kamma-born" (§75 
and XX. 27) is clung to because that is "clung to," [that is, acquired] by kamma. 
The rest are not-clung to because they are the opposite of that. 

74. Again, all matter is of three kinds according to the visible (sanidassana) 
triad, the kamma-born triad, etc. (see Dhs 2). Herein, as regards the gross, a 
visible datum is visible with impact; the rest are invisible with impact; all the 
subtle kinds are invisible without impact. So firstly it is of three kinds according 
to the visible triad. 

75. According to the kamma-born triad, etc., however, that born from kamma is 
kamma-born; that born from a condition other than that is not-kamma-born; that 
not born from anything is neither-kamma-born-nor-not-kamma-born. 

That born from consciousness is consciousness-born; that born from a condition 
other than consciousness is not-consciousness-born; that not born from anything 
is neither-consciousness-born-nor-not-consciousness-born. 

That born from nutriment is nutriment-born; that born from a condition other 
than that is not-nutriment-born; that not born from anything is neither-nutriment- 
born-nor-not-nutriment-born. 

That born from temperature is temperature-born; that born from a condition 
other than that is not-temperature-born; that not born from anything is neither- 
temperature-born-nor-not-temperature-born. 

So it is of three kinds according to the kamma-born triad, and so on. 

76. Again, it is of four kinds as seen, etc., as concrete matter, etc., and as the 
physical basis tetrads, and so on. 

Herein, the visible-data base is seen because it is the objective field of seeing. 
The sound base is heard because it is the objective field of hearing. The three, that 
is to say, odours, flavours, and tangible data, are sensed (lit. contacted) because 
they are the objective fields of faculties that take contiguous [objective fields]. 
The rest are cognized because they are the objective field of consciousness 
(cognition) only. So firstly it is of four kinds according to the seen, etc., tetrad. 32 



32. "'Sensed (muta)' means apprehendable by sensing (mutva), by reaching; hence 
he said 'because they are the objective fields of faculties that take contiguous [objective fields]' 
(cf. §46). But what is it that is called a tangible datum? It is the three elements, earth, 
heat, and air. But why is the water element not included here? Is not cold apprehended 
by touching; and that is the water element? Certainly it is apprehended but it is not the 
water element. What is it then? It is just the fire element. For there is the sensation 
(buddhi) of cold when heat is sluggish. There is no quality that is called cold; there is 
only the assumption (abhimana) of coldness due to the sluggishness of the state of 
heat. How is that to be known? Because of the unreliability of the sensation of cold, 

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77. Here, however, "produced matter" is concrete matter; the space-element is 
delimiting matter; those from "bodily intimation" up to "wieldiness" are matter as 
alteration; birth, ageing and dissolution are matter as characteristic. So it is of four 
kinds as concrete matter and so on. 

78. Here, however, what is called the materiality of the heart is physical basis, not 
door (see Dhs-a 82f.); the two intimations are door, not physical basis; sensitive 
matter is both physical basis and door; the rest are neither physical basis nor door. So 
it is four kinds according to the physical basis tetrad. 

79. Again, it is of five kinds as born of one, born of two, born of three, born of 
four, and not born of anything. 

Herein, what is kamma-born only or consciousness-born only is called born 
of one. Of these, materiality of the faculties, together with the heart-basis, is kamma- 
born only; the two intimations are consciousness-born only. But what is born 
[now] of consciousness and [now] of temperature is called born of two. That is the 
sound base only 33 What is born of temperature, consciousness, and nutriment 

like 'beyond and not beyond.' For in hot weather, while those who stand in the sun 
and go into the shade have the sensation of cold, yet those who go to the same place 
from an underground cave have the sensation of heat. And if coldness were the water 
element it would be found in a single group (kalapa) along with heat; but it is not so 
found. That is why it may be known that coldness is not the water element. And that 
is conclusive (uttara) for those who agree to the inseparable existence of the primary 
elements; and it is conclusive too even for those who do not agree because it is 
disproved by associate existence through seeing the functions of the four primaries in 
a single group. It is conclusive too for those who say that coldness is the characteristic 
of the air element; for if coldness were the air element, coldness would be found in a 
single group along with heat, and it is not so found. That is why it may be known that 
coldness is not the air element either. But those who hold the opinion that fluidity 
(dravata) is the water element and that that is apprehended by touching should be told: 
'That fluidity touched is merely the venerable ones' assumption as is the case with 
shape.' For this is said by the Ancients: 

'Three elements coexisting with fluidity 

Together form what constitutes a tangible; 

That "I succeed in touching this fluidity" 

Is a common misconception in the world. 

And as a man who touches elements, 

And apprehends a shape then with his mind, 

Fancies "I really have been touching shape," 

So too fluidity is recognized'" (Vism-mht 459). 
33. '"The sound base only': here some say, 'The consciousness-born is always 
intimative (savinnattika).' The Ancients say, 'There is sound due to the intervention 
(vipphara) of applied thought that does not intimate.' While depending on the word of 
the Great Commentary that puts it thus, Tntimatable (cognizable) through the ear by 
means of the sound due to applied thought's intervention,' still there is also need of 
the arising of consciousness-originated sound without intimation (cognition) for 
because of the words, 'For the intimation (cognition) is not due to intimating speech' 
(?), it arises together with sound not intimatable (cognizable) through the ear. That 

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[452] is called born of three. But that is the three beginning with "lightness" only. 
What is born from the four beginning with kamma is called born of four. That is 
all the rest except "matter as characteristic." 

80. But "matter as characteristic" is called not born of anything. Why? Because 
there is no arising of arising, and the other two are the mere maturing and 
breakup of what has arisen. Though in the passage, "The visible-data base, the 
sound base, the odour base, the flavour base, the tangible-data base, the space 
element, the water element, lightness of matter, malleability of matter, wieldiness 
of matter, growth of matter, continuity of matter, and physical food — these states 
are consciousness-originated" (cf. Dhs §667) and so on, a state of birth [that is, 
growth] being born from somewhere can be understood as allowable since the 
point of view here is the moment when the conditions that are giving birth to the 
kinds of materiality are exercising their function. 

This, firstly, is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the 
materiality aggregate. 

[The Consciousness Aggregate] 

81. Among the remaining aggregates, however, whatever has the characteristic 
of being felt 34 should be understood, all taken together, as the feeling aggregate; 
and whatever has the characteristic of perceiving, all taken together, as the 
perception aggregate; and whatever has the characteristic of forming, all taken 
together, as the formations aggregate; and whatever has the characteristic of 
cognizing, all taken together, as the consciousness aggregate. Herein, since the 
rest are easy to understand when the consciousness aggregate has been 

being so, there would have to be a consciousness-born sound-ennead. And that theory 
is rejected by Sahghakaras who imagine that it is self-contradictory to say that there 
is sound not intimatable (cognizable) through the ear. Others, however, do not reject 
the Great Commentary's statement and they comment on its intention. How? [They 
say that] the non-intimation (non-cognition) through the ear of the sound activated 
due to applied thought's intervention is stated in the Suttas with this intention, 'He 
tells by hearing with the divine ear the subtle sound that is conascent with the 
intimation, originated by applied thought, and consisting in movement of the tongue and 
palate, and so on' (cf. A I 171), and that in the Patthana (Patth 1, 7) the state of object 
condition for ear-consciousness is stated with reference to gross sound" (Vism-mht 460). 
34. "'Has the characteristic of being felt' means that it has as its characteristic what is 
felt, what is experienced as the 'taste (stimulus)' of the object. 'Characteristic of perceiving' 
means that it has as its characteristic the perceiving of an object classed as blue, etc., 
and the knowing, the apprehending, of it by arousing the perception of it as blue, 
yellow, long, short, and so on. Forming (abhisankharana) is accumulating, or it is 
contriving by becoming interested. And it is because volition is basic in both of these 
ways that the formations aggregate is said thus to have the characteristic of forming. For 
in expounding the formations aggregate in the Suttanta-Bhajaniya of the Vibhanga, 
volition was expounded by the Blessed One thus, 'Eye-contact-born volition' (Vibh 8) 
and so on. 'Has the characteristic of cognizing' means that it has as its characteristic that 
kind of knowing called apprehension of an object in a mode in which the objective field 
is apprehended differently from the mode of perceiving" (Vism-mht 462). 

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understood, we shall therefore begin with the commentary on the consciousness 
aggregate. 

82. "Whatever has the characteristic of cognizing should be understood, all 
taken together, as the consciousness aggregate" was said above. And what has 
the characteristic of cognizing (vijanana)? Consciousness (vinnana); according 
as it is said, "It cognizes, friend, that is why 'consciousness' is said" (M I 292). 
The words vinnana (consciousness), citta (mind, consciousness), and mano (mind) 
are one in meaning. 

[The 89 Kinds of Consciousness — see Table III] 

That same [consciousness], though one in its individual essence with the 
characteristic of cognizing, is threefold according to kind, namely, (I) profitable, 
(II) unprofitable, and (III) indeterminate. 35 

83. I. Herein, the profitable is fourfold according to plane, namely, (A) of the 
sense sphere, (B) of the fine-material sphere, (C) of the immaterial sphere, and (D) 
supramundane. 36 

35. Profitable in the sense of health, blamelessness, and pleasant result (see Vism- 
mht 463). Unprofitable in the opposite sense. Indeterminate because not describable as 
either profitable or unprofitable (see Vism-mht 464). This is the first of the twenty- 
two triads in the Abhidhamma Matika (Dhs 1). 

Pali has five principal words, nama, vinnana, mano, citta, and ceto, against the normal 
English consciousness and mind. While their etymology can be looked up in the 
dictionary, one or two points need noting here. Nama (rendered by "mentality" when 
not used to refer to a name) is almost confined in the sense considered to the expression 
nama-rupa ("mentality-materiality") as the fourth member of the dependent origination, 
where it comprises the three mental aggregates of feeling, perception and formations, 
but not that of consciousness (vinnana). Vinnana (rendered by "consciousness") is, 
loosely, more or less a synonym for mano and citta; technically, it is bare cognition 
considered apart from feeling, perception or formations. Mano (rendered by "mind"), 
when used technically, is confined to the sixth internal base for contact (Ch. XV). Citta 
(rendered by "mind" and "consciousness" or "[manner of] consciousness"), when 
used technically, refers to a momentary type-situation considered as vinnana in relation 
to the tone of its concomitant feeling, perception and formations. Possibly a better 
rendering would have been "cognizance" throughout. It carries a flavour of its 
etymological relative, cetana ("volition"). Ceto (another etymological relative, rendered 
by "heart" — i.e. "seat of the emotions," — "will" or "mind"), when used loosely is 
very near to citta; but technically it is restricted to one or two such expressions as ceto- 
vimutti ("mind-deliverance" or "heart-deliverance"). 

36. "'Sense sphere' (kamavacara): here there are the two kinds of sense desire (kama), 
sense desire as basis (vatthu-kama) and sense desire as defilement (kilesakama) . Of 
these, sense desire as [objective] basis particularized as the five cords of sense desire 
(panca-kama-guna = dimensions of sensual desires), is desired (kamiyati). Sense desire 
as defilement, which is craving, desires (kameti). The sense sphere (kamavacara) is 
where these two operate (avacaranti) together. But what is that? It is the elevenfold 
sense-desire becoming, i.e. hell, asura demons, ghosts, animals, human beings, and 
six sensual-sphere heavens. So too with the fine-material sphere and the immaterial 
sphere, taking "fine-material" as craving for the fine-material too, and "immaterial" as 



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I. A. Herein, (l)-(8) that of the sense sphere is eightfold, being classified 
according to joy, equanimity, knowledge, and prompting, that is to say: (1) when 
accompanied-by-joy it is either associated-with-knowledge and unprompted, 
or (2) prompted; or (3) it is dissociated-from-knowledge and likewise 
[unprompted, or (4) prompted]; and (5) when accompanied-by-equanimity it is 
either associated-with-knowledge and prompted, or (6) unprompted; or (7) it is 
dissociated-from-knowledge [453] and likewise [unprompted, or (8) prompted]. 

84. (1) When a man is happy on encountering an excellent gift to be given, or 
recipient, etc., or some such cause for joy, and by placing right view foremost 
that occurs in the way beginning "There is [merit in] giving" (M I 288), he 
unhesitatingly and unurged by others performs such merit as giving, etc., then 
his consciousness is accompanied by joy, associated with knowledge, and unprompted. 
(2) But when a man is happy and content in the way aforesaid, and, while 
placing right view foremost, yet he does it hesitantly through lack of free 
generosity, etc., or urged on by others, then his consciousness is of the same kind 
as the last but prompted; for in this sense "prompting" is a term for a prior effort 
exerted by himself or others 

85. (3) But when young children have a natural habit due to seeing the behav- 
iour of relatives and are joyful on seeing bhikkhus and at once give them whatever 
they have in their hands or pay homage, then the third kind of consciousness 
arises. (4) But when they behave like this on being urged by their relatives, "Give; 
pay homage," then the fourth kind of consciousness arises. (5)-(8) But when the 
consciousnesses are devoid of joy in these four instances through encountering 
no excellence in the gift to be given, or in the recipient, etc., or through want of 
any such cause for joy, then the remaining four, which are accompanied by 
equanimity, arise. 

So sense-sphere profitable [consciousness] should be understood as of eight 
kinds, being classed according to joy, equanimity, knowledge, and prompting. 

86. I. B. The consciousness of the fine-material sphere is fivefold, being classed 
according to association with the jhana factors. That is to say, (9) the first is 
associated with applied thought, sustained thought, happiness, bliss, and 
concentration, (10) the second leaves out applied thought from that, (11) the 
third leaves out sustained thought from that, (12) the fourth makes happiness 
fade away from that, (13) the fifth is associated with equanimity and 
concentration, bliss having subsided. 

87. I. C. That of the immaterial sphere is fourfold by association with the four 
immaterial states; for (14) the first is associated with the jhana of the base 
consisting of boundless space in the way aforesaid, while (15)-(17) the second, 
third, and fourth, are [respectively] associated with those of the base consisting 
of boundless consciousness, and so on. 

88. I. D. The supramundane is fourfold (18)-(21) by association with the four paths. 



craving for the immaterial too. It crosses over (uttarati) from the world (loka), thus it is 
supramundane (lokuttara)" (Vism-mht 464). 



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So firstly, profitable consciousness itself is of twenty-one kinds. [454] 

89. II. The unprofitable is one kind according to plane, being only of the sense 
sphere. It is of three kinds according to root, as (a) rooted in greed, (b) rooted in 
hate, and (c) rooted in delusion. 

90. II. (a) Herein, (22)-(29) that rooted in greed is of eight kinds, being classed 
according to joy, equanimity, [false] view, and prompting, that is to say: (22) when 
accompanied by joy it is either associated-with-[false-]view and unprompted, or 
(23) prompted; or (24) it is dissociated-from-[false-]view and likewise [unprompted 
or (25) prompted]; and (26) when accompanied-by-equanimity it is either associated- 
with-[false-]view and unprompted, or (27) prompted; or (28) it is dissociated-from- 
[false-]view and likewise [unprompted, or (29) prompted]. 

91. (22) When a man is happy and content in placing wrong view foremost of 
the sort beginning "There is no danger in sense desires" (M I 307), and either 
enjoys sense desires with consciousness that in its own individual essence is 
eager without being urged, or believes auspicious sights, etc., have a [real 
substantial] core, then the first kind of unprofitable consciousness arises (23); 
when it is with consciousness that is sluggish and urged on, then it is the 
second kind (24). But when a man is happy and content only, without placing 
wrong view foremost, and indulges in sexual intercourse, or covets others' good 
fortune, or steals others' goods, with consciousness that in its own individual 
essence is eager without being urged, then it is the third kind (25). When it is 
with consciousness that is sluggish and urged on, then it is the fourth kind 
(26)-(29). But when the consciousnesses are devoid of joy in these four instances 
through encountering no excellence in the sense desires, or through want of 
any such cause for joy, then the remaining four, which are accompanied by 
equanimity, arise. 

So that rooted in greed should be understood as of eight kinds, being classed 
according to joy, equanimity, [false] view and prompting. 

92. II. (b) That rooted in hate is of two kinds: (30)-(31) being accompanied-by-grief 
and associated-with-resentment, it is either prompted or unprompted. It should be 
understood to occur at the times when [consciousness] is either keen [if 
unprompted] or sluggish [if prompted] in the killing of living things, and so on. 

93. II. (c) That rooted in delusion is of two kinds: (32)-(33) being accompanied-by- 
equanimity, it is either associated-with uncertainty or associated-with-agitation. 
It should be understood to occur at the time of indecision or of distraction. 

So unprofitable consciousness is of twelve kinds. 

94. III. The indeterminate is of two kinds: (i) resultant and (ii) functional. Herein, 
III. i. resultant is of four kinds according to plane; namely, (A) of the sense sphere, 
(B) of the fine-material sphere, (C) of the immaterial sphere, and (D) 
supramundane. Herein, III. i. A. that of the sense sphere is of two kinds, namely, (a) 
profitable result and (b) unprofitable result. And III. i. A. (a) the profitable resultant 
is of two kinds, namely, (1) without root-cause and (2) with root-cause. 

95. III. i. A. (a) i. Herein, that without root-cause is that devoid of non-greed, etc., 
as the cause of result. It is of eight kinds as (34) eye-consciousness (35)-(38), 

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ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousness (39), mind-element with the 
function of receiving (40)-(41), the two mind-consciousness-elements with the 
functions of investigating, and so on. [455] 

96. Herein, (34) eye-consciousness has the characteristic of being supported by 
the eye and cognizing visible data. Its function is to have only visible data as its 
object. It is manifested as occupation with visible data. Its proximate cause is the 
departure of (70) the functional mind-element that has visible data as its object. 

(35)-(38) Ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousness [respectively] have the 
characteristic of being supported by the ear, etc., and of cognizing sounds, and 
so on. Their functions are to have only sounds, etc., as their [respective] objects. 
They are manifested as occupation with [respectively] sounds, and so on. Their 
proximate cause is the departure of (70) the functional mind-element that has 
[respectively] sounds, etc., as its object. 

97. (39) [The resultant] mind-element has the characteristic of cognizing 
[respectively] visible data, etc., immediately next to (34)-(38) eye-consciousness, 
and so on. Its function is to receive visible data, and so on. It is manifested as the 
state [of receiving] corresponding to that [last-mentioned function]. 37 Its proximate 
cause is the departure of eye-consciousness, and so on. 

(40)-(41) Also the twofold resultant mind-consciousness-element without root- 
cause with the function of investigating, etc., has as its characteristic the 
cognizing of the six kinds of objects. Its function is that of investigating, and so 
on. It is manifested as the state [of investigating] corresponding to that [last- 
mentioned function]. Its proximate cause is the heart-basis. 

98. But it is classed according to its association with joy or with equanimity, 
and according to its being divisible into that with two positions and that with 
five positions [in the cognitive series]. For of these, (40) one is associated-with- 
joy because of its presence when entirely desirable objects occur; and it has two 
positions [in the cognitive series] because it occurs as investigating at the five 
doors and as registration at the end of impulsion. (41) The other kind is 
associated-with-equanimity because of its presence when desirable-neutral 
objects occur, and it has five positions since it occurs as investigation, registration, 
rebirth-linking, life-continuum, and death. 

99. And this eightfold resultant consciousness without root-cause is of two kinds 
as well because of having an invariable object and a variable object. It is of three 
kinds as classed according to [bodily] pleasure, [mental] joy, and equanimity For 
(34)-(38) the five consciousnesses have each an invariable object since they occur 
respectively only with respect to visible data, and so on. The others (39)-(41) have a 
variable object. For here (39) the mind-element occurs with respect to the five 
beginning with visible data, and (40)-(41) the two mind-consciousness-elements 

37. The meaning of the expression tathabhava-paccupatthana appears more clearly 
where it is used again at §108. In this definition (sadhana) the function (kicca-rasa) in fact 
describes the verb action (kicca) while the manifestation (paccupatthana) describes the 
relevant nounal state (bhava). So "tathabhava" means that what has just been taken as 
a function (e.g. "receiving") is to be taken also as a state ("reception"). 

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occur with respect to [all] six. Here, however, body-consciousness is associated with 
[bodily] pleasure. The mind-consciousness-element (40) with two positions is 
associated with [mental] joy; the other (41) is associated with equanimity 

So firstly, the profitable resultant without root-cause should be understood as 
of eight kinds. 

100. III. i. A. (a) 2. But that with root-cause is (42)-(49) that associated with 
non-greed, etc., as the cause of the result. It is of eight kinds because it is classed 
according to joy, etc., like the profitable of the sense sphere (l)-(8). But it does not 
occur with respect to the six objects 38 through giving, etc., as the profitable does; 
for it occurs only with respect to the six objects that are included among limited 
states, 39 as rebirth-linking, life-continuum, death, and registration. But the 
prompted and unprompted states should be understood here as due to the source 
it has come from, and so on. 40 [456] And while there is no difference in the 
associated states, the resultant should be understood as passive like the reflection 
of a face in a looking-glass while the profitable is active like the face. 

101. III. i. A. (b) Unprofitable resultant, though, is without root-cause only. It is 
of seven kinds as (50) eye-consciousness, (51)-(54) ear-, nose-, tongue-, and 
body-consciousness, (55) mind-element with the function of receiving, and (56) 
mind-consciousness-element with the function of investigating, etc., and having 
five positions. It should be understood as to characteristic, etc., in the same way 
as the profitable resultant without root-cause (34)-(41). 

102. Profitable resultant, though, has desirable or desirable-neutral objects 
only, while these have undesirable or undesirable-neutral objects only. The former 
are of three kinds, being classed according to equanimity, bodily pleasure, and 
mental joy, while these are of two kinds, being classed according to bodily pain 
and equanimity. For here it is only body-consciousness that is accompanied by 
bodily pain; the rest are accompanied by equanimity. And the equanimity in 
these is inferior, and not very sharp as the pain is; while in the former it is 
superior, and not very sharp as the pleasure is. 

So with these seven kinds of unprofitable resultant and the previous sixteen 
kinds of profitable resultant, sense-sphere resultant consciousness is of twenty- 
three kinds. 



38. "To the six kinds of objects all classed as limited, etc., past, etc., internal, etc" 
(Vism-mht 474). 

39. Registration consciousness does not, it is stated, occur with an object of exalted 
consciousness — see Vibh-a 154. 

40. '"The source it has come from, and so on' means the source it has come from and its 
condition. Here, in the opinion of certain teachers the result of the unprompted 
profitable is unprompted and the result of the prompted is prompted, like the movement 
of the face's reflection in a looking-glass when the face moves; thus it is due to the 
source it has come from. But in the opinion of other teachers the unprompted arises due 
to powerful kamma as condition and the prompted does so due to weak kamma; thus 
it is due to its condition" (Vism-mht 474). 

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103. III. i. B. That of the fine-material sphere, however, is of five kinds (57)-(61) 
like the profitable (9)-(13). But the profitable occurs in a cognitive series with the 
impulsions as an attainment [of jhana], while this occurs in an existence [in the 
fine-material sphere] as rebirth-linking, life-continuum, and death. 

104. III. i. C. And as that of the fine-material sphere [was like the profitable of 
that sphere] so that of the immaterial sphere (62)-(65) is of four kinds like the 
profitable too (14)-(17). And its occurrence is classed in the same way as that of 
the fine-material sphere. 

105. III. i. D. The supramundane resultant is of four kinds (66)-(69) because it is 
[respectively] the fruitions of the consciousnesses associated with the four paths 
(18)-(21). It occurs in two ways, that is to say, as [fruition in] the cognitive series 
of the path and as fruition attainment (see Ch. XXII). 

So resultant consciousness in all the four planes is of thirty-six kinds. 

106. III. ii. The functional, however, is of three kinds according to plane: (A) of 
the sense sphere, (B) of the fine-material sphere, (C) of the immaterial sphere. 
Herein, III. ii. A., that of the sense sphere, is of two kinds, namely, (1) without root- 
cause, and (2) with root-cause. 

III. ii. A. 1. Herein, that without root-cause is that devoid of non-greed, etc., as 
the cause of result. That is of two kinds, being classed as (70) mind-element, and 
(71)-(72) mind-consciousness-element. 

107. Herein, (70) the mind-element has the characteristics of being the forerunner 
of eye-consciousness, etc., and of cognizing visible data and so on. Its function is 
to advert. It is manifested as confrontation of visible data, and so on. Its proximate 
cause is the interruption of [the continued occurrence of consciousness as] life- 
continuum. It is associated with equanimity only. 

108. But the mind-consciousness-element is of two kinds, namely, shared by all 
and not shared by all. [457] Herein, (71) that shared by all is the functional [mind- 
consciousness-element] accompanied by equanimity without root-cause. It has the 
characteristic of cognizing the six kinds of objects. Its function is to determine at the 
five doors and to advert at the mind door. It is manifested as the states [of determining 
and adverting] corresponding to those [last-mentioned two functions]. Its proximate 
cause is the departure either of the resultant mind-consciousness-element without 
root-cause (40)-(41) [in the first case], or of one among the kinds of life-continuum 
[in the second]. (72) That not shared by all is the functional [mind-consciousness- 
element] accompanied by joy without root-cause. It has the characteristic of 
cognizing the six kinds of objects. Its function is to cause smiling 41 in Arahants 
about things that are not sublime. It is manifested as the state corresponding to that 
[last-mentioned function]. Its proximate cause is always the heart-basis. 

So the sense-sphere functional without root-cause is of three kinds. 

109. III. ii. A. 2. That, however, with root cause is of eight kinds (73)-(80), like the 
profitable (l)-(8), being classed according to joy and so on. While the profitable 

41. "With respect to such unsublime objects as the forms of skeletons or ghosts" 
(Vism-mht 476). See e.g. Vin III 104. 

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arises in trainers and ordinary men only, this arises in Arahants only. This is the 
difference here. 

So firstly that of the sense sphere is of eleven kinds. 

III. ii. B., III. ii. C. That, however, of the fine-material sphere (81)-(85), and that of 
the immaterial sphere (86)-(89) are [respectively] of five kinds and of four kinds 
like the profitable. But they should be understood to differ from the profitable in 
that they arise only in Arahants. 

So functional consciousness in the three planes is of twenty kinds in all. 

110. So the 21 kinds of profitable, the 12 kinds of unprofitable, the 36 kinds of 
resultant, and the 20 kinds of functional, amount in all to 89 kinds of 
consciousness. And these occur in the fourteen modes of (a) rebirth-linking, (b) 
life-continuum, (c) adverting, (d) seeing, (e) hearing, (f) smelling, (g) tasting, (h) 
touching, (i) receiving, (j) investigating, (k) determining, (1) impulsion, (m) 
registration, and (n) death. 

[The 14 Modes of Occurrence of Consciousness] 

111. How so? (a) When, through the influence of the eight kinds of sense-sphere 
profitable [consciousness] (l)-(8), beings come to be reborn among deities and 
human beings, then the eight kinds of sense-sphere resultant with root-cause (42)- 
(49) occur, and also the resultant mind-consciousness-element without root-cause 
associated with equanimity (41), which is the weak profitable result with two root- 
causes in those who are entering upon the state of eunuchs, etc., among human 
beings — thus nine kinds of resultant consciousness in all occur as rebirth-linking; 
and they do so making their object whichever among the kamma, sign of kamma, or 
sign of destiny has appeared at the time of dying (see also XVII.120). 42 

112. When, through the influence of the profitable of the fine-material sphere 
(9)-(13) and the immaterial sphere (14)-(17), beings are reborn [respectively] in 
the fine-material and immaterial kinds of becoming, then the nine kinds of fine- 
material (57)-(61) and immaterial (62)-(65) resultant occur as rebirth-linking; 
and they do so making their object only the sign of kamma that has appeared at 
the time of dying. 43 

113. When, through the influence of the unprofitable (22)-(33), they are reborn 
in a state of loss, then the one kind of unprofitable resultant mind-consciousness- 
element without root-cause (56) occurs as rebirth-linking; and it does so making 
its object whichever among the kamma, sign of kamma, and sign of destiny has 
appeared at the time of dying. [458] 



42. See also M-a IV 124f. "Here 'kamma' is stored-up profitable kamma of the sense 
sphere that has got an opportunity to ripen; hence he said 'that has appeared.' 'Sign of 
kamma' is the gift to be given that was a condition for the volition at the moment of 
accumulating the kamma. 'Sign of destiny' is the visible-data base located in the destiny 
in which he is about to be reborn" (Vism-mht 477). See XVII. 136ff. 

43. "'The sign of kamma" here is only the kamma's own object consisting of an earth 
kasina, etc" (Vism-mht 478). 

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This firstly is how the occurrence of nineteen kinds of resultant consciousness 
should be understood as rebirth-linking. 

114. (b) When the rebirth-linking consciousness has ceased, then, following on 
whatever kind of rebirth-linking it may be, the same kinds, being the result of that 
same kamma whatever it may be, occur as life-continuum consciousness with that 
same object; and again those same kinds. 44 And as long as there is no other kind of 
arising of consciousness to interrupt the continuity, they also go on occurring 
endlessly in periods of dreamless sleep, etc., like the current of a river. 45 

This is how the occurrence of those same [nineteen kinds of] consciousness 
should be understood as life-continuum. 

115. (c) With the life-continuum continuity occurring thus, when living beings' 
faculties have become capable of apprehending an object, then, when a visible 
datum has come into the eye's focus, there is impinging upon the eye-sensitivity 
due to the visible datum. Thereupon, owing to the impact's influence, there 
comes to be a disturbance in [the continuity of] the life-continuum. 46 Then, when 
the life-continuum has ceased, the functional mind-element (70) arises making that 
same visible datum its object, as it were, cutting off the life-continuum and 
accomplishing the function of adverting. So too in the case of the ear door and so on. 

116. When an object of anyone of the six kinds has come into focus in the mind 
door, then next to the disturbance of the life-continuum the functional mind- 
consciousness-element without root-cause (71) arises accompanied by 



44. '"With that same object': if kamma is the life-continuum's object, then it is that 
kamma; if the sign of the kamma, or the sign of the destiny, then it is one of those" 
(Vism-mht 478). 

45. "'Occurring endlessly': this is, in fact, thus called 'bhavanga' (life-continuum, lit. 
'limb' (or 'practice' — see II. 11) of becoming) because of its occurring as the state of an 
anga ('limb' or 'practice') of the rebirth-process becoming (uppatti-bhava)" (Vism-mht 
478). 

For the commentarial description of dream consciousness and kamma effected 
during dreams, see Vibh-a (commentary to Nana-Vibhanga, Ekaka) and A-a, 
(commentary to AN 5:196) which largely but not entirely overlap. Vism-mht says 
here: "The seeing of dreams is done with consciousness consisting only of the 
functional" (Vism-mht 478). 

46. "'A disturbance in the life-continuum' is a wavering of the life-continuum 
consciousness; the meaning is that there is the arrival at a state that is a reason for 
dissimilarity in its occurrence twice in that way. For it is called disturbance (calana) 
because it is like a disturbance (movement) since there seems to be a cause for an 
occasion (avattha) in the mind's continuity different from the previous occasion. 
Granted, firstly, that there is impact on the sensitivity owing to confrontation with an 
object, since the necessity for that is established by the existence of the objective field 
and the possessor of the objective field, but how does there come to be disturbance 
(movement) of the life-continuum that has a different support? Because it is connected 
with it. And here the example is this: when grains of sugar are put on the surface of a 
drum and one of the grains of sugar is tapped, a fly sitting on another grain of sugar 
moves" (Vism-mht 478). 



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equanimity, as it were, cutting off the life-continuum and accomplishing the 
function of adverting. 

This is how the occurrence of two kinds of functional consciousness should 
be understood as adverting. 

117. (d)-(h) Next to adverting, 47 taking the eye door first, eye-consciousness (d) 
arises accomplishing the function of seeing in the eye door and having the eye- 
sensitivity as its physical basis. And [likewise] (e) ear-, (f) nose-, (g) tongue-, and 
(h) body-consciousness arise, accomplishing respectively the functions of hearing, 
etc., in the ear door and so on. 

These comprise the profitable resultant [consciousnesses] (34)-(38) with respect 
to desirable and desirable-neutral objective fields, and the unprofitable resultant 
(50)-(54) with respect to undesirable and undesirable-neutral objective fields. 

This is how the occurrence of ten kinds of resultant consciousness should be 
understood as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. 

118. (i) Because of the words, "Eye-consciousness having arisen and ceased, 
next to that there arises consciousness, mind, mentation . . . which is appropriate 
mind-element" (Vibh 88), etc., next to eye-consciousness, etc., and receiving the 
same objective fields as they [deal with], mind-element arises as (39) profitable 
resultant next to profitable resultant [eye-consciousness, etc.,] and as (55) 
unprofitable resultant next to [459] unprofitable resultant [eye-consciousness, 
and so on]. 

This is how the occurrence of two kinds of resultant consciousness should be 
understood as receiving. 

119. (j) Because of the words, "Mind-element having arisen and ceased, also, 
next to that there arises consciousness, mind, mentation . . . which is appropriate 
mind-element" (Vibh 89), 48 then resultant mind-consciousness-element without 
root-cause arises investigating the same objective field as that received by the 
mind-element. When next to (55) unprofitable-resultant mind-element it is (56) 
unprofitable-resultant, and when next to (39) profitable-resultant [mind-element] 
it is either (40) accompanied by joy in the case of a desirable object, or (41) 
accompanied by equanimity in the case of a desirable-neutral object. 

This is how the occurrence of three kinds of resultant consciousness should 
be understood as investigating. 

120. (k) Next to investigation, (71) functional mind-consciousness-element 
without root-cause arises accompanied by equanimity determining that same 
objective field. 



47. '"Next to adverting' means next to five-door adverting. For those who do not 
admit the cognitive series beginning with receiving, just as they do not admit the 
heart basis, the Pali has been handed down in various places in the way beginning, 
'For the eye-consciousness element as receiving (satnpaticchanaya cakkhuvinnana- 
dhatuya)' (see Ch. IV, n. 13); for the Pali cannot be contradicted" (Vism-mht 479). The 
quotation as it stands is not traced to the Pitakas. 

48. See Ch. IV, note 13. 



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This is how the occurrence of one kind of resultant consciousness should be 
understood as determining. 

121. (1) Next to determining, if the visible datum, etc., as object is vivid, 49 then 
six or seven impulsions impel with respect to the objective fields as determined. 
These are one among (l)-(8) the eight kinds of sense-sphere profitable, or (22)- 
(33) the twelve kinds of unprofitable, or (72)-(80) the nine remaining sense- 
sphere functional. This, firstly, is the way in the case of the five doors. 

But in the case of the mind door those same [impulsions arise] next to (71) 
mind-door adverting. 

Beyond [the stage of] change-of-lineage 50 any [of the following 26 kinds of 
impulsion] that obtains a condition 51 impels; that is, any kind among (9)-(13) 
the five profitable, and (81)-(85) the five functional, of the fine-material sphere, 
and (14)-(17) the four profitable, and (86)-(89) the four functional of the 
immaterial sphere, and also (18)-(21) the four path consciousnesses and (66)- 
(69) four fruition consciousnesses of the supramundane. 

This is how the occurrence of fifty-five kinds of profitable, unprofitable, 
functional, and resultant consciousness should be understood as impulsion. 

122. (m) At the end of the impulsions, if the object is a very vivid one 52 in the five 
doors, or is clear in the mind door, then in sense-sphere beings at the end of 
sense-sphere impulsions resultant consciousness occurs through any condition 
it may have obtained such as previous kamma, impulsion consciousness, etc., 
with desirable, etc., object. 53 [It occurs thus] as one among the eight sense-sphere 
resultant kinds with root cause (42)-(49) or the three resultant mind- 
consciousness elements without root-cause (40), (41), (56), and it [does so] twice 



49. '"If ... vivid (lit. large)': this is said because it is the occurrence of consciousness at 
the end of the impulsions that is being discussed. For an object is here intended as 
'vivid' when its life is fourteen conscious moments; and that should be understood as 
coming into focus when it has arisen and is two or three moments past" (Vism-mht 479). 

50. "This includes also the preliminary-work and the cleansing (see Ch. XXII, note 
7), not change-of-lineage only" (Vism-mht 479). See also IV74 and XXI. 129. 

51. '"That obtains a condition': any impulsion that has obtained a condition for arising next 
to change-of-lineage, as that of the fine-material sphere, and so on" (Vism-mht 479). 

52. '"A very vivid one' is one with a life of sixteen conscious moments. For registration 
consciousness arises with respect to that, not with respect to any other. 'Clear' means 
very evident, and that is only in the sense sphere; for registration arises with respect 
to that" (Vism-mht 479). 

53. '"Previous kamma': this is said in order to show the differences in kinds of 
registration; for kamma that generates rebirth-linking is not the only kind to generate 
registration; other kinds of kamma do so too. But the latter generates registration 
unlike that generatable by the kamma that generates rebirth-linking. 'Impulsion 
consciousness': this is said in order to show what defines the registration; for it is said, 
'Registration is definable by impulsion' (?). The word 'etc' includes rebirth-linking, 
however; for that is not a condition for registration that is more outstanding than 
itself. Any condition': any condition from among the desirable objects, etc., that has 
combined (samaveta) to produce the arising of registration" (Vism-mht 479). 

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or [460] once, following after the impulsions that have impelled, and with respect 
to an object other than the life-continuum's object, like some of the water that 
follows a little after a boat going upstream. Though ready to occur with the life- 
continuum's object after the impulsions have ended, it nevertheless occurs making 
the impulsions' object its object. Because of that it is called registration 
(tadarammana — lit. "having-that-as-its-object"). 

This is how the occurrence of eleven kinds of resultant consciousness should 
be understood as registration. 

123. (n) At the end of registration the life-continuum resumes its occurrence. 
When the [resumed occurrence of the] life-continuum is again interrupted, 
adverting, etc., occur again, and when the conditions obtain, the conscious 
continuity repeats its occurrence as adverting, and next to adverting seeing, etc., 
according to the law of consciousness, again and again, until the life-continuum 
of one becoming is exhausted. For the last life-continuum consciousness of all 
in one becoming is called death (cuti) because of falling (cavanatta) from that 
[becoming]. So that is of nineteen kinds too [like rebirth-linking and life- 
continuum]. 

This is how the occurrence of nineteen kinds of resultant consciousness should 
be understood as death. 

124. And after death there is rebirth-linking again; and after rebirth-linking, 
life-continuum. Thus the conscious continuity of beings who hasten through 
the kinds of becoming, destiny, station [of consciousness], and abode [of beings] 
occurs without break. But when a man attains Arahantship here, it ceases with 
the cessation of his death consciousness. 

This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the consciousness 
aggregate. 

[The Feeling Aggregate] 

125. Now, it was said above, "Whatever has the characteristic of being felt 
should be understood, all taken together, as the feeling aggregate" (§81). And 
here too, what is said to have the characteristic of being felt is feeling itself, 
according as it is said, "It is felt, friend, that is why it is called feeling" (M I 293). 

126. But though it is singlefold according to its individual essence as the 
characteristic of being felt, it is nevertheless threefold as to kind, that is to say, 
profitable, unprofitable, and indeterminate. Herein, it should be understood that 
when associated with the profitable consciousness described in the way 
beginning "(l)-(8) That of the sense sphere is eight-fold, being classified 
according to joy, equanimity, knowledge, and prompting" (§83), it is profitable; 54 

54. "This should be regarded as a secondary characteristic (upalakkhana) of profitable 
feeling, that is to say, the fact that whatever profitable feeling there is, is all associated 
with profitable consciousness. That, however, is not for the purpose of establishing its 
profitableness. For the profitableness of profitable feeling is not due to its association 
with profitable consciousness, but rather to wise attention and so on. That is why he 
said 'as to kind.' So too in the case of the unprofitable and so on" (Vism-mht 481). 

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Chapter XIV The Aggregates 

that associated with unprofitable consciousness is unprofitable; that associated 
with indeterminate consciousness is indeterminate. [461] 

127. It is fivefold according to the analysis of its individual essence into [bodily] 
pleasure, [bodily] pain, [mental] joy, [mental] grief, and equanimity. 

Herein, pleasure is associated with profitable resultant body-consciousness 
(38) and pain with unprofitable resultant body-consciousness (54). Joy is 
associated with 62 kinds of consciousness, namely, as to sense sphere, with 4 
kinds of profitable (l)-(4), with 4 resultant with root-cause (42)-(45), with 1 
resultant without root-cause (40), with 4 functional with root-cause (73)-(76), 
with 1 functional without root-cause (72), and with 4 unprofitable (22)-(25); 
and as to the fine-material-sphere, with 4 kinds of profitable (9)-(12), 4 resultant 
(57)-(60), and 4 functional (81)-(84), leaving out that of the fifth jhana in each 
case; but there is no supramundane without jhana and consequently the [eight] 
kinds of supramundane (18)-(21) and (66)-(69) multiplied by the five jhana 
make forty; but leaving out the eight associated with the fifth jhana, it is associated 
with the remaining 32 kinds of profitable resultant. Grief is associated with two 
kinds of unprofitable (30)-(31). Equanimity is associated with the remaining 
fifty-five kinds of consciousness. 

128. Herein, pleasure has the characteristic of experiencing a desirable tangible 
datum. Its function is to intensify associated states. It is manifested as bodily 
enjoyment. Its proximate cause is the body faculty. 

Pain has the characteristic of experiencing an undesirable tangible datum. Its 
function is to wither associated states. It is manifested as bodily affliction. Its 
proximate cause is the body faculty. 

Joy has the characteristic of experiencing a desirable object. Its function is to 
exploit 55 in one way or another the desirable aspect. It is manifested as mental 
enjoyment. Its proximate cause is tranquillity. 

Grief has the characteristic of experiencing an undesirable object. Its function 
is to exploit in one way or another the undesirable aspect. It is manifested as 
mental affliction. Its proximate cause is invariably the heart-basis. 

Equanimity has the characteristic of being felt as neutral. Its function is not to 
intensify or wither associated states much. It is manifested as peacefulness. Its 
proximate cause is consciousness without happiness. 56 

55. Sambhoga — "exploiting": not in this sense in PED (see also XVII. 51). 

56. "Pleasure and pain respectively gratify and afflict by acting in one way on the 
body and in another way on the mind, but not so equanimity which is why the latter 
is described as of one class. 

"Just as, when a man places a piece of cotton wool on an anvil and strikes it with an 
iron hammer, and his hammer goes right through the cotton and hits the anvil, the 
violence of the blow is great, so too because the violence of the impact's blow is great, 
body-consciousness is accompanied by pleasure when the object is a desirable or 
desirable-neutral one, and by pain when the object is an undesirable or undesirable- 
neutral one. [It is the impact of primary matter (tangible object) on the primaries of 
the body] 

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This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the feeling 
aggregate. 

[The Perception Aggregate] 

129. Now, it was said above, "Whatever has the characteristic of perceiving 
should be understood, all taken together, as the perception aggregate" (§81). 
And here too, what is said to have the characteristic of perceiving is perception 
itself, according as it is said, "It perceives, friend, that is why it is called 
perception" (M I 293). 

But though it is singlefold according to its individual essence as the characteristic 
of perceiving, it is nevertheless threefold as to kind, that is to say, profitable, 
unprofitable, and indeterminate. Herein, [462] that associated with profitable 
consciousness is profitable, that associated with unprofitable consciousness is 
unprofitable, that associated with indeterminate consciousness is indeterminate. Since 
there is no consciousness dissociated from perception, perception therefore has the 
same number of divisions as consciousness [that is to say, eighty-nine]. 

130. But though classed in the same way as consciousness, nevertheless, as to 
characteristic, etc., it all has just the characteristic of perceiving. Its function is to 
make a sign as a condition for perceiving again that "this is the same," as 
carpenters, etc., do in the case of timber, and so on. It is manifested as the action 
of interpreting by means of the sign as apprehended, like the blind who "see" 
an elephant (Ud 68-69). Its proximate cause is an objective field in whatever way 
that appears, like the perception that arises in fawns that see scarecrows as men. 

This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the perception 
aggregate. 

[The Formations Aggregate — see Tables II & IV] 

131. Now, it was said above, "Whatever has the characteristic of forming should 
be understood, all taken together, as the formations aggregate" (§81). And here 
too, what is said to have the characteristic of forming is that which has the 
characteristic of agglomerating. 57 What is that? It is formations themselves, 
according as it is said, "They form the formed, bhikkhus, that is why they are 
called formations" (S III 87). 

132. They have the characteristic of forming. Their function is to accumulate. 
They are manifested as intervening. 58 Their proximate cause is the remaining 

"Herein, though profitable-resultant and unprofitable-resultant consciousness 
discriminated according to the desirable and undesirable might logically be associated 
with pleasure and pain, nevertheless the eight kinds of consciousness that have the eye, 
etc., as their support ((34)-(37) and (50)-(53)) are invariably associated only with equanimity, 
because of the gentleness of the impact's blow in the case of two instances of derived 
matter, like that of two pieces of cotton wool" (Vism-mht 482). For a simile see Dhs-a 263. 
57. "'The characteristic of agglomerating' means the characteristic of adding together 
(sampindana); then they are said to have the function of accumulating, for the dhammas 
in the formations aggregate are so described because volition is their basis" (Vism- 
mht 484). 

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The Aggregates 



three [immaterial] aggregates. So according to characteristic, etc., they are 
singlefold. And according to kind they are threefold, namely, (I) profitable, (II) 
unprofitable, and (III) indeterminate. As regards these, when associated with 
profitable consciousness they are profitable, when associated with unprofitable 
consciousness they are unprofitable, when associated with indeterminate 
consciousness they are indeterminate. 

[According to Association with Consciousness] 

133. I. (1) Herein, firstly, those associated with the first sense-sphere profitable 
consciousness (1) amount to thirty-six, that is to say, the constant ones, which 
are the twenty-seven given in the texts as such, and the four "or-whatever- 
states," 59 and also the five inconstant ones (cf. Dhs §1). 

Herein, the twenty-seven given as such are these: 

(i) contact, 

(ii) volition, 

(iii) applied thought, [463] 

(iv) sustained thought, 

(v) happiness (interest), 

(vi) energy, 

(vii) life, 

(viii) concentration, 

(ix) faith, 

(x) mindfulness, 

(xi) conscience, 

(xii) shame, 

(xiii) non-greed, 

(xiv) non-hate, 

(xv) non-delusion, 

(xvi) tranquillity of the [mental] body, 

(xvii) tranquillity of consciousness, 

(xviii) lightness of the [mental] body, 

(xix) lightness of consciousness, 

(xx) malleability of the [mental] body, 

(xxi) malleability of consciousness, 

(xxii) wieldiness of the [mental] body, 

(xxiii) wieldiness of consciousness, 

(xxiv) proficiency of the [mental] body, 

(xxv) proficiency of consciousness, 

(xxvi) rectitude of the [mental) body, 

58. Vipphara — "intervening" here is explained by Vism-mht (p. 484) as vyapara 
(interest or work); not in this sense in PED. See Ch. VI, note 6. 

59. Yevapanaka (ye-va-pana-ka) is commentarial shorthand derived from the 
DhammasanganI phrase "ye-va-pana tasmim samaye aitne pi atthi paticcasamuppanna 
arupino dhamma" — "Or whatever other immaterial conditionally-arisen states 
(phenomena) there are too on that occasion" (Dhs 1). Cf. also M I 85. 



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(xxvii) rectitude of consciousness. 

The four 'or-whatever-states' are these: 

(xxviii) zeal (desire), 

(xxix) resolution, 

(xxx) attention (bringing to mind), 

(xxxi) specific neutrality. 

And the five inconstant are these: 

(xxxii) compassion, 

(xxxiii) gladness, 

(xxxiv) abstinence from bodily misconduct, 

(xxxv) abstinence from verbal misconduct, 

(xxxvi) abstinence from wrong livelihood. 

These last arise sometimes [but not always], and when they arise they do not 
do so together. 

134. Herein, (i) it touches (phusati), thus it is contact (phassa). This has the 
characteristic of touching. Its function is the act of impingement. It is manifested as 
concurrence. Its proximate cause is an objective field that has come into focus. 

[As to its characteristic], although this is an immaterial state, it occurs with 
respect to an object as the act of touching too. 60 And [as to its function], although it 
is not adherent on anyone side 61 as eye-cum-visible-object and ear-cum-sound are, 
yet it is what makes consciousness and the object impinge. It is said to be manifested 
as concurrence because it has been described as its own action, namely, the 
concurrence of the three [(cf. M I 111), that is, eye, visible object, and eye-consciousness]. 
And it is said to have as its proximate cause an objective field that has come into 
focus because it arises automatically through the appropriate [conscious] reaction 
and with a faculty when the objective field is presented. But it should be regarded as 
like a hideless cow (S II 99) because it is the habitat 62 of feeling. 

135. (ii) It wills (cetayati), thus it is volition (cetana); it collects, is the meaning. 
Its characteristic is the state of willing. Its function is to accumulate. It is 

60. '"As the act of touching too': by this he shows that this is its individual essence even 
though it is immaterial. And the characteristic of touching is obvious in its occurrence in 
such instances as, say the watering of the mouth in one who sees another tasting vinegar 
or a ripe mango, the bodily shuddering in a sympathetic person who sees another being 
hurt, the trembling of the knees in a timid man standing on the ground when he sees a 
man precariously balanced on a high tree branch, the loss of power of the legs in one who 
sees something terrifying such as a pisaca (goblin)" (Vism-mht 484-85). 

61. For "non-adherent" see §46. '"On any one side' means on any one side of itself, 
like a pair of planks and so on. 'Non-adherent' means not sticking (asamsilissamana). It 
is only the impact without adherence that contact shares with visible data and sound, 
not the objective field. Just as, though eye and ear are non-adherent respectively to 
visible data and sounds still they have the word 'touched' used of them, so too it can 
be said of contact's touching and impinging on the object. Contact's impinging is the 
actual concurrence (meeting) of consciousness and object" (Vism-mht 485). 

62. Adhitthana — "habitat" (or site or location or foundation): this meaning not given 
inPED. 

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manifested as coordinating. It accomplishes its own and others' functions, as a 
senior pupil, a head carpenter, etc., do. But it is evident when it occurs in the 
marshalling (driving) of associated states in connection with urgent work, 
remembering, and so on. [464] 

136. (iii)-(v) What should be said about applied thought, sustained thought, and 
happiness has already been said in the commentary on the first jhana in the 
Description of the Earth Kasina (IV88-98). 

137. (vi) Energy (viriya) is the state of one who is vigorous (vlra). Its characteristic 
is marshalling (driving). Its function is to consolidate conascent states. It is 
manifested as non-collapse. Because of the words: "Bestirred, he strives wisely" 
(A II 115), its proximate cause is a sense of urgency; or its proximate cause is 
grounds for the initiation of energy. When rightly initiated, it should be regarded 
as the root of all attainments. 

138. (vii) By its means they live, or it itself lives, or it is just mere living, thus it 
is life. But its characteristic, etc., should be understood in the way stated under 
material life (§59); for that is life of material things and this is life of immaterial 
things. This is the only difference here. 

139. (viii) It puts (adhiyati) consciousness evenly (samam) on the object, or it 
puts it rightly (samma) on it, or it is just the mere collecting (samadhana) of the 
mind, thus it is concentration (samadhi). Its characteristic is non-wandering, or 
its characteristic is non-distraction. Its function is to conglomerate conascent 
states as water does bath powder. It is manifested as peace. Usually its proximate 
cause is bliss. It should be regarded as steadiness of the mind, like the steadiness 
of a lamp's flame when there is no draught. 

140. (ix) By its means they have faith (saddahanti), or it itself is the having of 
faith, or it is just the act of having faith (saddahana), thus it is faith (saddha). Its 
characteristic is having faith, or its characteristic is trusting. Its function is to 
clarify, like a water-clearing gem, or its function is to enter into, like the setting 
out across a flood (cf. Sn 184). It is manifested as non-fogginess, or it is manifested 
as resolution. Its proximate cause is something to have faith in, or its proximate 
cause is the things beginning with hearing the Good Dhamma (saddhamma) 
that constitute the factors of stream-entry 63 It should be regarded as a hand 
[because it takes hold of profitable things], as wealth (Sn 182), and as seed (Sn 77). 

141. (x) By its means they remember (saranti), or it itself remembers, or it is just 
mere remembering (sarana), thus it is mindfulness (sati). It has the characteristic of 
not wobbling. 64 Its function is not to forget. It is manifested as guarding, or it is 
manifested as the state of confronting an objective field. Its proximate cause is 

63. The four factors of stream-entry (see S V 347) are: waiting on good men, hearing 
the Good Dhamma, wise attention, and practice in accordance with the Dhamma. 
Again they are: absolute confidence in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and 
possession of noble virtue (S V 343). 

64. "Apilapana ('not wobbling') is the steadying of an object, the remembering and 
not forgetting it, keeping it as immovable as a stone instead of letting it go bobbing 
about like a pumpkin in water" (Vism-mht 487). 

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Path of Purification Part 3: Understanding (Panna) 

strong perception, or its proximate cause is the foundations of mindfulness 
concerned with the body, and so on (see MN 10). It should be regarded, however, 
as like a pillar because it is firmly founded, or as like a door-keeper because it 
guards the eye-door, and so on. 

142. (xi)-(xii) It has conscientious scruples (hiriyati) about bodily misconduct, 
etc., thus it is conscience (hiri). This is a term for modesty. It is ashamed (ottappati) 
of those same things, thus it is shame (ottappa). This is a term for anxiety about 
evil. Herein, conscience has the characteristic of disgust at evil, while shame has 
the characteristic of dread of it. Conscience has the function of not doing evil and 
that in the mode of modesty, while shame has the function of not doing it and that 
in the mode of dread. They are manifested as shrinking from evil in the way 
already stated. Their proximate causes are self-respect and respect of others 
[respectively]. [465] A man rejects evil through conscience out of respect for himself, 
as the daughter of a good family does; he rejects evil through shame out of 
respect for another, as a courtesan does. But these two states should be regarded 
as the guardians of the world (see A I 51). 

143. (xiii)-(xv) By its means they are not greedy (na lubbhanti), or it itself is not 
greedy, or it is just the mere not being greedy (alubbhana), thus it is non-greed 
(alobha). The same method applies to non-hate (adosa) and non-delusion (amoha) 
[na dussanti, adussana = adosa, and na muyhanti, amuyhana = amoha (see §§171,161)]. 
Of these, non-greed has the characteristic of the mind's lack of desire for an 
object, or it has the characteristic of non-adherence, like a water drop on a lotus 
leaf. Its function is not to lay hold, like a liberated bhikkhu. It is manifested as a 
state of not treating as a shelter, like that of a man who has fallen into filth. Non- 
hate has the characteristic of lack of savagery, or the characteristic of non- 
opposing, like a gentle friend. Its function is to remove annoyance, or its function 
is to remove fever, as sandalwood does. It is manifested as agreeableness, like the 
full moon. Non-delusion has the characteristic of penetrating [things] according 
to their individual essences, or it has the characteristic of sure penetration, like 
the penetration of an arrow shot by a skilful archer. Its function is to illuminate 
the objective field, like a lamp. It is manifested as non-bewilderment, like a guide 
in a forest. The three should be regarded as the roots of all that is profitable. 

144. (xvi)-(xvii) The tranquillizing of the body is tranquillity of the body. The 
tranquillizing of consciousness is tranquillity of consciousness. And here body 
means the three [mental] aggregates, feeling, [perception and formations] (see 
Dhs 40). But both tranquillity of that body and of consciousness have, together, 
the characteristic of quieting disturbance of that body and of consciousness. 
Their function is to crush disturbance of the [mental] body and of consciousness. 
They are manifested as inactivity and coolness of the [mental] body and of 
consciousness. Their proximate cause is the [mental] body and consciousness. 
They should be regarded as opposed to the defilements of agitation, etc., which 
cause unpeacefulness in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 

145. (xviii)-(xix) The light (quick) state of the [mental] body is lightness of the 
body. The light (quick) state of consciousness is lightness of consciousness. 
They have the characteristic of quieting heaviness in the [mental] body and in 



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consciousness. Their function is to crush heaviness in the [mental] body and in 
consciousness. They are manifested as non-sluggishness of the [mental] body 
and of consciousness. Their proximate cause is the [mental] body and 
consciousness. They should be regarded as opposed to the defilements of 
stiffness and torpor, which cause heaviness in the [mental] body and in 
consciousness. 

146. (xx)-(xxi) The malleable state of the [mental] body is malleability of body. 
The malleable state of consciousness is malleability of consciousness. They have 
the characteristic of quieting rigidity in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 
Their function is to crush stiffening in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 
They are manifested as non-resistance. Their proximate cause is the [mental 
body and consciousness. They should be regarded as opposed to the defilements 
of views, conceit (pride), etc., which cause stiffening of the [mental body and of 
consciousness. 

147. (xxii)-(xxiii) The wieldy state of the [mental] body is wieldiness of body. 
The wieldy state of consciousness is wieldiness of consciousness. They have the 
characteristic of quieting unwieldiness in the [mental] body and in 
consciousness. [466] Their function is to crush unwieldiness in the [mental] 
body and in consciousness. They are manifested as success in making 
[something] an object of the [mental] body and consciousness. Their proximate 
cause is the [mental] body and consciousness. As bringing trust in things that 
should be trusted in and as bringing susceptibility of application to beneficial 
acts, like the refining of gold, they should be regarded as opposed to the remaining 
hindrances, etc., that cause unwieldiness in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 

148. (xxiv)-(xxv) The proficient state of the [mental] body is proficiency of body. 
The proficient state of consciousness is proficiency of consciousness. They have the 
characteristic of healthiness of the [mental] body and of consciousness. Their 
function is to crush unhealthiness of the [mental] body and of consciousness. 
They are manifested as absence of disability. Their proximate cause is the [mental] 
body and consciousness. They should be regarded as opposed to faithlessness, 
etc., which cause unhealthiness in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 

149. (xxvi)-(xxvii) The straight state of the [mental] body is rectitude of body. 
The straight state of consciousness is rectitude of consciousness. They have the 
characteristic of uprightness of the [mental] body and of consciousness. Their 
function is to crush tortuousness in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 
They are manifested as non-crookedness. Their proximate cause is the [mental] 
body and consciousness. They should be regarded as opposed to deceit, fraud, 
etc., which cause tortuousness in the [mental] body and in consciousness. 65 



65. "And here by tranquilization, etc., of consciousness only consciousness is 
tranquillized and becomes light, malleable, wieldy proficient and upright. But with 
tranquilization, etc., of the [mental] body also the material body is tranquillized, and 
so on. This is why the twofoldness of states is given by the Blessed One here, but not 
in all places" (Vism-mht 489). 



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150. (xxviii) Zeal (desire) is a term for desire to act. So that zeal has the 
characteristic of desire to act. Its function is scanning for an object. It is manifested 
as need for an object. That same [object] is its proximate cause. It should be 
regarded as the extending of the mental hand in the apprehending of an object. 

151. (xxix) The act of resolving 66 is resolution. It has the characteristic of 
conviction. Its function is not to grope. It is manifested as decisiveness. Its 
proximate cause is a thing to be convinced about. It should be regarded as like a 
boundary-post owing to its immovableness with respect to the object. 

152. (xxx) It is the maker of what is to be made, it is the maker in the mind 
(manamhi kard), thus it is attention (bringing-to-mind — manasi-kara) . It makes the 
mind different from the previous [life-continuum] mind, thus it is attention. It 
has three ways of doing this: as the controller of the object, as the controller of 
the cognitive series, and as the controller of impulsions. Herein, the controller of 
the object is the maker in the mind, thus it is attention. That has the characteristic 
of conducting (sarana). Its function is to yoke associated states to the object. It is 
manifested as confrontation with an object. Its proximate cause is an object. It 
should be regarded as the conductor (sarathi) of associated states by controlling 
the object, itself being included in the formations aggregate. Controller of the 
cognitive series is a term for five-door adverting (70). Controller of impulsions is a 
term for mind-door adverting (71). These last two are not included here. 

153. (xxxi) Specific neutrality (tatra-majjhattata — lit. "neutrality in regard 
thereto") is neutrality (majjhattata) in regard to those states [of consciousness 
and consciousness-concomitants arisen in association with it]. It has the 
characteristic of conveying consciousness and consciousness-concomitants 
evenly. Its function is to prevent deficiency and excess, [467] or its function is to 
inhibit partiality. It is manifested as neutrality. It should be regarded as like a 
conductor (driver) who looks with equanimity on thoroughbreds progressing 
evenly. 

154. (xxxii)-(xxxiii) Compassion and gladness should be understood as given 
in the Description of the Divine Abodes (IX. §92, 94, 95), except that those are of 
the fine-material sphere and have attained to absorption, while these are of the 
sense sphere. This is the only difference. Some, however, want to include among 
the inconstant both loving-kindness and equanimity. That cannot be accepted 
for, as to meaning, non-hate itself is loving-kindness, and specific neutrality is 
equanimity. 

155. (xxxiv)-(xxxvi) Abstinence from bodily misconduct: the compound 
kayaduccaritavirati resolves as kayaduccaritato virati; so also with the other two. 
But as regards characteristic, etc., these three have the characteristic of non- 
transgression in the respective fields of bodily conduct, etc.; they have the 
characteristic of not treading there, is what is said. Their function is to draw 
back from the fields of bodily misconduct, and so on. They are manifested as the 
not doing of these things. Their proximate causes are the special qualities of 

66. '"The act of resolving' should be understood as the act of being convinced 
(sannitthana) about an object, not as trusting (pasadana)" (Vism-mht 489). See §140. 

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Chapter XIV The Aggregates 

faith, conscience, shame, fewness of wishes, and so on. They should be regarded 
as the mind's averseness from evil-doing. 

156. So these are the thirty-six formations that should be understood to come 
into association with the first profitable consciousness of the sense sphere (1). 
And as with the first, so with the second (2), the only difference here being 
promptedness. 

(3)-(4) Those associated with the third (3) should be understood as all the 
foregoing except non-delusion (xv). Likewise with the fourth (4), the only 
difference here being promptedness. 

(5)-(6) All those stated in the first instance, except happiness (v), come into 
association with the fifth (5). Likewise with the sixth (6), the only difference here 
being promptedness. 

(7)-(8) [Those associated] with the seventh (7) should be understood as [the 
last] except non-delusion (xv). Likewise with the eighth (8), the only difference 
here being promptedness. 

157. (9)-(13) All those stated in the first instance, except the three abstinences 
(xxxiv-xxxvi), come into association with the first of the fine-material profitable 
[kinds of consciousness] (9). With the second (10) applied thought (iii) is also 
lacking. With the third (11) sustained thought (iv) is also lacking. With the 
fourth (12) happiness (v) is also lacking. With the fifth (13) compassion (xxxii) 
and gladness (xxxiii), among the inconstant, are also lacking. 

(14)-(17) In the case of the four kinds of immaterial [profitable consciousness] 
these are the same as the last-mentioned, for it is only the immaterialness that is 
the difference here. 

158. (18)-(21) As regards the supramundane, firstly, in the case of the path 
consciousness having the first jhana they should be understood to be as stated 
in the case of the first fine-material-sphere consciousness (9). The paths classed 
as belonging to the second jhana, etc., should be understood to be as stated in 
the cases [respectively] of the second fine-material-sphere jhana, and so on (10)- 
(13). But the difference here is absence of compassion (xxxii) and gladness 
(xxxiii), 67 constancy of the abstinences (xxxiv-xxxvi), and supramundaneness. 
[468] 

159. II. (22) As regards the unprofitable, there are firstly seventeen associated 
with the first unprofitable consciousness rooted in greed (22), that is to say, 
thirteen constant given in the texts as such (see Dhs § 365) and four or-what- 
ever-states. 

Herein, the thirteen given as such are these: 

contact (i), 

volition (ii), 

applied thought (iii), 

67. "Because the path consciousnesses have Nibbana as their object and because 
compassion, gladness, etc., have living beings as their object, there is no compassion, 
etc., in the path" (Vism-mht 491). 

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sustained thought (iv), 
happiness (v), 
energy (vi), 
life (vii), 

concentration (viii), 
(xxxvii) consciencelessness, 
(xxxviii) shamelessness, 
(xxxix) greed, 
(xl) delusion, 
(xli) wrong view. 

The four or- whatever-states are these: 
zeal (xxviii), 
resolution (xxix), 
(xlii) agitation, 

attention (xxx). 

160. Herein, (xxxvii) it has no conscientious scruples, thus it is consciencelessness. 
(xxxviii) It is unashamed, thus it is shamelessness. Of these, consciencelessness has 
the characteristic of absence of disgust at bodily misconduct, etc., or it has the 
characteristic of immodesty. Shamelessness has the characteristic of absence of 
dread on their account, or it has the characteristic of absence of anxiety about 
them. This is in brief here. The detail, however, is the opposite of what was said 
above under conscience (xi) and shame (xii). 

161. (xxxix) By its means they are greedy, or it itself is greedy, or it is just the 
mere being greedy, thus is it greed, (xl) By its means they are deluded, or it itself 
is deluded, or it is just the mere being deluded, thus it is delusion. 

162. Of these, greed has the characteristic of grasping an object, like birdlime 
(lit. "monkey lime"). Its function is sticking, like meat put in a hot pan. It is 
manifested as not giving up, like the dye of lamp-black. Its proximate cause is 
seeing enjoyment in things that lead to bondage. Swelling with the current of 
craving, it should be regarded as taking [beings] with it to states of loss, as a 
swift-flowing river does to the great ocean. 

163. Delusion has the characteristic of blindness, or it has the characteristic of 
unknowing. Its function is non-penetration, or its function is to conceal the 
individual essence of an object. It is manifested as the absence of right theory 
(see Ch. XVII, §52), or it is manifested as darkness. Its proximate cause is unwise 
(unjustified) attention. It should be regarded as the root of all that is unprofitable. 

164. (xli) By its means they see wrongly, or it itself sees wrongly, or it is just the 
mere seeing wrongly, thus it is wrong view. Its characteristic [469] is unwise 
(unjustified) interpreting. Its function is to presume. It is manifested as wrong 
interpreting. Its proximate cause is unwillingness to see Noble Ones, and so on. 
It should be regarded as the most reprehensible of all. 

165. (xlii) Agitation is agitatedness. It has the characteristic of disquiet, like 
water whipped by the wind. Its function is unsteadiness, like a flag or banner 
whipped by the wind. It is manifested as turmoil, like ashes flung up by pelting 



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Chapter XIV The Aggregates 

with stones. Its proximate cause is unwise attention to mental disquiet. It should 
be regarded as distraction of consciousness. 

166. The remaining formations here should be understood as already stated under 
the profitable. For it is only the unprofitableness that differentiates them as bad. 

So these are the seventeen formations that should be understood to come into 
association with the first unprofitable consciousness (22). 

(23) And as with the first, so with the second (23), but here the difference is 
promptedness and inconstant [occurrence] of (xliii) stiffening and torpor. 

167. Herein, (xliii) stiffening (thlnanata) is stiffness (thina); making torpid 
(middhanata) is torpor (middha). The meaning is, paralysis due to lack of urgency, 
and loss of vigour. The compound thinamiddha (stiffness-and-torpor) should be 
resolved into thinan ca middhah ca. Herein, stiffness has the characteristic of lack 
of driving power. Its function is to remove energy. It is manifested as subsiding. 
Torpor has the characteristic of unwieldiness. Its function is to smother. It is 
manifested as laziness, or it is manifested as nodding and sleep 68 The proximate 
cause of both is unwise attention to boredom, sloth, and so on. 

168. (24) With the third [unprofitable consciousness] (24) there should be 
understood to be associated those given for the first (22), excepting wrong view 
(xli). But here the difference is that there is inconstant [occurrence] of (xliv) pride 
(conceit). 

That [pride] has the characteristic of haughtiness. Its function is arrogance. It 
is manifested as vain gloriousness. Its proximate cause is greed dissociated 
from views. It should be regarded as like madness. 

(25) With the fourth (25) should be understood to be associated those given 
for the second (23), excepting wrong view (xli). And here pride (xliv) is among 
the inconstant too. 

169. (26) Those given for the first (22), excepting happiness (v), come into 
association with the fifth (26). 

(27) And as with the fifth (26), so with the sixth too (27); but the difference 
here is promptedness and the inconstant [occurrence] of stiffness-and-torpor 
(xliii). 

(28) With the seventh (28) should be understood to be associated those given 
for the fifth (26), except views (xli); but pride (xliv) is inconstant here. (29) 
With the eighth (29) should be understood to be associated those given for the 
sixth (27), except views (xli); and here too pride (xliv) is among the inconstant. 

170. (30)-(31) As regards the two [kinds of unprofitable consciousness] rooted 
in hate, [470] there are, firstly, eighteen associated with the first (30), that is, 
eleven constant given in the texts as such (see Dhs § 413), four or-whatever- 
states, and three inconstant. Herein the eleven given as such are these: 



68. "Because the paralysis (samhanana) of consciousness comes about through 
stiffness, but that of matter through torpor like that of the three aggregates beginning 
with feeling, therefore torpor is manifested as nodding and sleep" (Vism-mht 493). 

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contact (i), 
volition (ii), 
applied thought (iii), 
sustained thought (iv), 
energy (vi), 
life (vii), 

concentration (viii), 
consciencelessness (xxxvii), 
shamelessness (xxxviii), 
(xiv) hate, 

delusion (xl). 

The four or- whatever-states are these: 

zeal (xxviii), 
resolution (xxix), 
agitation (xlii), 
attention (xxx). 

The three inconstant are these: 

(xlvi) envy, 
(xlvii) avarice, 
(xlviii) worry. 

171. Herein, (xlv) by its means they hate, or it itself hates, or it is just mere 
hating, thus it is hate (dosa). It has the characteristic of savageness, like a provoked 
snake. Its function is to spread, like a drop of poison, or its function is to burn up 
its own support, like a forest fire. It is manifested as persecuting (dusana), like an 
enemy who has got his chance. Its proximate cause is the grounds for annoyance 
(see A V 150). It should be regarded as like stale urine mixed with poison. 

172. (xlvi) Envying is envy. It has the characteristic of being jealous of other's 
success. Its function is to be dissatisfied with that. It is manifested as averseness from 
that. Its proximate cause is another's success. It should be regarded as a fetter. 

173. (xlvii) Avariciousness is avarice. Its characteristic is the hiding of one's 
own success that has been or can be obtained. Its function is not to bear sharing 
these with others. It is manifested as shrinking, or it is manifested as meanness. 
Its proximate cause is one's own success. It should be regarded as a mental 
disfigurement. 

174. (xlviii) The vile (kucchita) that is done (kata) is villainy (kukata). 69 The state of 
that is worry (kukkucca). It has subsequent regret as its characteristic. Its function is 
to sorrow about what has and what has not been done. It is manifested as remorse. 
Its proximate cause is what has and what has not been done. It should be regarded 
as slavery 



69. Kukata is not in PED. It is impossible to render into English this "portmanteau" 
etymology, e.g. kucchita-kata — kukata, kukutata . . . kukkucca, which depends mostly on a 
fortuitous parallelism of meaning and verbal forms in the Pali. While useless to strict 
modern etymologists, it has a definite semantic and mnemonic use. 

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175. The rest are of the kind already described. 

So these eighteen formations should be understood to come into association 
with the first [unprofitable consciousness] rooted in hate (30). 

(31) And as with the first (30), so with the second (31), the only difference, 
however, being promptedness and the presence of stiffness and torpor (xliii) 
among the inconstant. 

176. (32)-(33) As regards the two rooted in delusion, firstly: [associated] with 
[the consciousness that is] associated with uncertainty (32) [471] are the eleven 
given in the texts as such thus: 

contact (i), 
volition (ii), 
applied thought (iii), 
sustained thought (iv), 
energy (vi), 
life (vii), 
(xlix) steadiness of consciousness, 
consciencelessness (xxxvii), 
shamelessness (xxxviii), 
delusion (xl), 
(1) uncertainty. 

The or-whatever-states are these two: 

agitation (xlii), 
attention (xxx). 

And these together total thirteen. 

177. Herein, (xlix) steadiness of consciousness is weak concentration (viii) 
consisting in mere steadiness in occurrence.™ 

(1) It is without wish to cure (vigata cikiccha), thus it is uncertainty (vicikiccha) . 
It has the characteristic of doubt. Its function is to waver. It is manifested as 
indecisiveness, or it is manifested as taking various sides. Its proximate cause is 
unwise attention. It should be regarded as obstructive of theory (see XVII. 52). 

The rest are as already described. 

178. (33) [The consciousness] associated with agitation (33) has the same 
[formations as the consciousness] associated with uncertainty (32), except for 
uncertainty (1). But with the absence of uncertainty resolution (xxix) arises here. 
So with that they are likewise thirteen, and concentration (viii) is stronger because 
of the presence of resolution. Also agitation is given in the texts as such, while 
resolution (xxix) and attention (xxx) are among the or-whatever-states. 

70. '"Mere steadiness in occurrence' is mere presence for a moment. That it is only 
"mere steadiness in occurrence" owing to the mere condition for the steadiness of the 
mind (ceto) is because of lack of real steadiness due to absence of decidedness (nicchaya), 
and it is incapable of being a condition for such steadiness in continuity (see §188) as 
the steadiness of consciousness stated thus: 'like the steadiness of a flame sheltered 
from a draught' (XIV139)" (Vism-mht 495). 

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Thus should the unprofitable formations be understood. 

179. III. As regards the indeterminate, firstly, the resultant indeterminate (34)-(69) 
are twofold, classed as those without root-cause and those with root-cause. 
Those associated with resultant consciousness without root-cause (34)-(41), 
(50)-(56) are those without root-cause. 

Herein, firstly, those associated with the profitable resultant (34) and 
unprofitable resultant (50) eye-consciousness are the four given in the texts as 
such, namely: 

contact (i), 

volition (ii), 

life (vii), 

steadiness of consciousness (xlix), 

which amount to five with 

attention (xxx) 

as the only or-whatever-state. 

These same kinds are associated with ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body- 
consciousness (35)-(38), (51)-(54). 

180. Those associated with both kinds of resultant mind-element (39), (55) 
come to eight by adding applied thought (iii), sustained thought (iv) and 
resolution (xxix). Likewise those associated with the threefold mind- 
consciousness-element with root-cause (40), (41), (56). But here (40) that 
accompanied by joy should be understood to have happiness (v) also in addition 
to that. 

181. The [formations] associated with resultant consciousness with root-cause 
(42)-(49) are those with root-cause. Of these, firstly, those associated with the 
sense-sphere resultant [consciousness] with root-cause are similar to the 
formations associated with the eight sense-sphere [consciousnesses] (l)-(8). 
But of the inconstant ones, compassion (xxxii) and gladness (xxxiii) are not 
among the resultant because they have living beings as their object. For the 
resultant ones of the sense-sphere have only limited objects. And not only 
compassion and gladness but also the three abstinences (xxxiv)-(xxxvi) are not 
among the resultant; [472] for it is said that "the five training precepts are 
profitable only" (Vibh 291). 

182. (57)-(69) Those associated with the resultant consciousness of the fine- 
material sphere (57)-(61), the immaterial sphere (62)-(65), and the supramundane 
(66)-(69) are similar to the formations associated with the profitable 
consciousnesses of those kinds (9)-(21) too. 

183. (70)-(89) Functional indeterminate [formations] are also twofold classed as 
those without root-cause (70)-(72) and those with root-cause (73)-(80). Those 
without root-cause are associated with functional consciousness without root- 
cause; and they are the same as those associated [respectively] with profitable 
resultant mind-element (39) and the pair of mind-consciousness-elements 
without root-cause (40)-(41). But in the case of the two mind-consciousness- 



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Chapter XIV The Aggregates 

elements (71)-(72), energy (vi) is additional, and because of the presence of 
energy, concentration (viii) is strong. This is the difference here. 

184. Those associated with functional consciousness with root-cause (73)- 
(80) are those with root-cause. Of these, firstly, those associated with the eight 
sense-sphere functional consciousnesses (73)-(80) are similar to the formations 
associated with the eight sense-sphere profitable (l)-(8), except for the 
abstinences (xxxiv)-(xxxvi). 

Those associated with the functional [consciousnesses] of the fine-material 
sphere (81)-(85) and the immaterial sphere (86)-(89) are in all aspects similar to 
those associated with profitable consciousness (9)-(17). 

This is how formations should be understood as indeterminate. 
This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the formations 
aggregate. 

[C. Classification of the Aggregates] 

185. The foregoing section, firstly, is that of the detailed explanation of the 
aggregates according to the Abhidhamma-Bhajaniya [of the Vibhariga]. But the 
aggregates have been given in detail by the Blessed One [in the Suttanta- 
Bhajaniya] in this way: "Any materiality whatever, whether past, future or present, 
internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: all that 
together in the mass and in the gross is called the materiality aggregate. Any 
feeling whatever ... Any perception whatever ... Any formations whatever ... 
Any consciousness whatever, whether past, future or present ... all that together 
in the mass and in the gross is called the consciousness aggregate" (Vibh 1-9; 
cf. Mill 17). 

[Materiality] 

186. Herein, the word whatever includes without exception. Materiality prevents 
over-generalization. Thus materiality is comprised without exception by the two 
expressions. Then he undertakes its exposition as past, future and present, etc.; 
for some of it is classed as past and some as future, and so on. So also in the case 
of feeling, and so on. 

Herein, the materiality called (i) past is fourfold, according to (a) extent, (b) 
continuity, (c) period, and (d) moment. Likewise (ii) the future and (iii) the present. 71 



71. "Here when the time is delimited by death and rebirth-linking the term 'extent' 
is applicable. It is made known through the Suttas in the way beginning 'Was I in the 
past?' (M I 8); for the past state is likewise mentioned as 'extent' in the Bhaddekaratta 
Sutta too in the way beginning, 'He does not follow what is past (the past extent)' (M 
III 1 88). But when it is delimited in the ultimate sense as in the Addhaniruttipatha 
Sutta thus, 'Bhikkhus, there are three extents, the past extent, the future extent, and 
the present extent' (It 53), then it is appropriate as delimited by moment. Herein, the 
existingness of the present is stated thus, 'Bhikkhus, of matter that is born . . . manifested, 
it is said that: "It exists"' (S IV 72), and pastness and futureness are respectively called 
before and after that" (Vism-mht 496). 



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187. Herein, (a) firstly, according to extent: in the case of a single becoming of 
one [living being], previous to rebirth-linking is past, subsequent to death is 
future, between these two is present. 

188. (b) According to continuity: that [materiality] which has like or single 
origination 72 by temperature and single origination by nutriment, though it 
occurs successively, [473] is present. That which, previous to that, was of unlike 
origination by temperature and nutriment is past. That which is subsequent is 
future. That which is born of consciousness and has its origination in one 
cognitive series, in one impulsion, in one attainment, is present. Previous to that 
is past. Subsequent to that is future. There is no special classification into past 
continuity, etc., of that which has its origination in kamma, but its pastness, etc., 
should be understood according as it supports those which have their origination 
through temperature, nutriment, and consciousness. 

189. (c) According to period: any period among those such as one minute, 
morning, evening, day-and-night, etc., that occurs as a continuity, is called present. 
Previous to that is past . Subsequent is future. 

190. (d) According to moment: what is included in the trio of moments, [that is to 
say, arising, presence, and dissolution] beginning with arising is called present. 
At a time previous to that it is future. At a time subsequent to that it is past. 73 

191. Furthermore, that whose functions of cause and condition 74 have elapsed 
is past. That whose function of cause is finished and whose function of condition 



72. "Cold temperature is like with cold, and hot with hot. But that temperature which 
falls on the body whether hot or cold, and occurs as a continuity in one mode, being 
neither less nor more, is called 'single temperature.' The word 'single' is used because 
of the plurality of 'like' temperature. So too with nutriment. 'In one cognitive series, in 
one impulsion' refers respectively to five-door and mind-door consciousness. The 
explanations of continuity and period are given in the Commentaries for the purpose 
of helping the practice of insight" (Vism-mht 496). 

73. In these two paragraphs "past" and "future" refer not to time, as in the other 
paragraphs, but to the materiality. 

74. "'Cause' (hetit) is what gives birth (janaka); 'condition' (paccaya) is what consolidates 
(upatthambhaka). Their respective functions are arousing and consolidating. Just as the 
seed's function is to arouse the sprout and that of the earth, etc., is to consolidate it, 
and just as kamma's function is to arouse result as matter that is due to kamma 
performed, and that of nutriment is to consolidate it, so the function of those [conditions] 
that give birth to each material group and each thought-arising and serve as kamma 
and proximity-conditions, etc., for them, and the function of those that consolidate 
them and serve as conascence, prenascence, and postnascence conditions for them 
may be construed accordingly as appropriate. 

"Because there is similarity and dissimilarity in temperature, etc., in the way stated, 
the pastness, etc., of material instances originated by it are stated according to 
continuity. But there is no such similarity and dissimilarity in the kamma that gives 
birth to a single becoming, so instead of stating according to continuity the pastness, 
etc., of material instances originated by that, it is stated according to what consolidates. 
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is unfinished is present. That which has not attained to either function is future. 
Or alternatively, the moment of the function is present. At a time previous to that 
it is future. At a time subsequent to that it is past. 

And here only the explanations beginning with the moment are absolutely 
literal. The rest are in a figurative [or relative] sense. 

192. (iv)-(v) The division into internal and external is as already stated (§73). 
Besides, it is internal in the sense of one's own 75 that should be understood here 
as internal and that of another person as external. 

(vi)-(vii) Gross and subtle_are also as already stated (§73). 

193. (viii)-(ix) Inferior and superior are twofold, namely, figuratively 
(relatively) and absolutely (literally). Herein, the materiality of the Sudassin 
deities is inferior to the materiality of the Akanittha (Highest) deities. That 
same materiality [of the Sudassin deities] is superior to the materiality of the 
Sudassa deities. Thus, firstly, should inferiority and superiority be understood 
figuratively (relatively) down as far as the denizens of hell. But absolutely 
(literally) it is inferior where it arises as unprofitable result, and it is superior 
where it arises as profitable result. 76 

194. (x)-(xi) Far and near: this is also as already described (§73). Besides, relative 
farness and nearness should be understood here according to location. 

195. All that together in the mass and in the gross: by making all that materiality, 
separately described by the words "past," etc., into a collection by understanding 
its oneness, in other words, its characteristic of being molested (ruppana), it 
comes to be called the materiality (rupa) aggregate. This is the meaning here. 

196. By this, too, it is shown that the materiality aggregate is all materiality, 
which all comes into the collection with the characteristic of being molested; for 
there is no materiality aggregate apart from materiality. [474] 

And just as in the case of materiality, so also feeling, etc., [are respectively 
shown as the feeling aggregate, etc.,] since they come under the collections with 
the [respective] characteristics of being felt, etc.; for there is no feeling aggregate 
apart from feeling and so on. 

to powerful unprofitable kamma, and the female sex appears owing to weak profitable 
kamma; and the female sex disappears owing to weak unprofitable kamma, while the 
male sex appears owing to powerful profitable kamma (see Dhs-a 321). So there is in 
fact dissimilarity in what is originated by kamma and consequent dissimilarity in 
what is past, etc., in accordance with the continuity of these as well. But it is not 
included because it does not happen always" (Vism-mht 497). 

75 . Niyakajjhatta — "internally in the sense of one's own" : four kinds of ajjhatta (internal, 
lit. "belonging to oneself") are mentioned in the commentaries and sub-commentaries 
(see Dhs-a 46): gocarajjhatta — internally as range or resort (M-a IV 161; II 90, 292), 
ajjhattajjhata — internally as such (Vism-mht 152), niyakajjhatta — internally in the sense 
of one's own (IV141, IX. 114, this ref.; M-a IV 161), visayajjhatta — internally as objective 
field (M-a IV 160). 

76. Profitable result is superior because it produces a desirable object (see Vism- 
mht 498). This question is treated at length at Vibh-a 9f. 

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[Feeling] 

197. In the classification (i)-(iii) into past, etc., the past, future, and present 
state of feeling should be understood according to continuity and according to 
moment and so on. 

Herein, according to continuity, that included in a single cognitive series, a 
single impulsion, a single attainment, and that occurring in association with an 
objective field of one kind, 77 is present. Before that is past. Subsequent is future. 

According to moment, etc.: that feeling included in the trio of moments, which is 
in between the past time and the future time, and which is performing its own 
function, is present. Before that is past. Subsequent is future. 

198. (iv)-(v)The classification into internal and external should be understood 
according to the internal in the sense of one's own. 

(vi)-(vii) The classification into gross and subtle should be understood (a) 
according to kind, (b) individual essence, (c) person, and (d) the mundane 
and supramundane, as stated in the Vibhariga in the way beginning 
"Unprofitable feeling is gross, profitable and indeterminate feeling is subtle, 
[profitable and unprofitable feeling is gross, indeterminate feeling is subtle]" 
(Vibh 3), and so on. 

199. (a) According to kind, firstly: unprofitable feeling is a state of disquiet, 
because it is the cause of reprehensible actions and because it produces 
burning of defilement, so it is gross [compared] with profitable feeling. And 
because it is accompanied by interestedness and drive and result, and because 
of the burning of the defilements, and because it is reprehensible, it is gross 
compared with resultant indeterminate. Also because it is accompanied by 
result, because of the burning of the defilements, and because it is attended 
by affliction and is reprehensible, it is gross compared with functional 
indeterminate. But in the opposite sense profitable and indeterminate feeling 
are subtle compared with unprofitable feeling. Also the two, that is, profitable 
and unprofitable feeling, involve interestedness, drive and result, so they are 
respectively gross compared with the twofold indeterminate. And in the 
opposite sense the twofold indeterminate is subtle compared with them. This, 
firstly, is how grossness and subtlety should be understood according to 
kind. 

200. (b) According to individual essence: painful feeling is gross compared with 
the others because it is without enjoyment, it involves intervention, causes 
disturbance, creates anxiety, and is overpowering. The other two are subtle 
compared with the painful because they are satisfying, peaceful, and superior, 
and respectively agreeable and neutral. Both the pleasant and the painful are 
gross compared with the neither-painful-nor-pleasant because they involve 
intervention, cause disturbance and are obvious. The latter is subtle in the way 



77. "The feeling that accompanies the faith, etc., occurring in one who sees an image 
of the Buddha or who hears the Dhamma, even for a whole day, is 'present'" (Vism- 
mht 499). 



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aforesaid compared with both the former. Thus should grossness and subtlety 
be understood according to individual essence. 

201. (c) According to person: feeling in one who has no attainment is gross 
compared with that in one who has one, because it is distracted by a multiple 
object. In the opposite sense the other is subtle. This is how grossness and 
subtlety should be understood according to person. [475] 

202. (d) According to the mundane and supramundane: feeling subject to 
cankers is mundane, and that is gross compared with that free from 
cankers, because it is the cause for the arising of cankers, is liable to the 
floods, liable to the bonds, liable to the ties, liable to the hindrances, liable 
to the clingings, defilable, and shared by ordinary men. The latter, in the 
opposite sense, is subtle compared with that subject to cankers. This is 
how grossness and subtlety should be understood according to the 
mundane and supramundane. 

203. Herein, one should beware of mixing up [the classifications] according to 
kind and so on. For although feeling associated with unprofitable resultant 
body-consciousness is subtle according to kind because it is indeterminate, it is 
nevertheless gross according to individual essence, and so on. And this is said: 
"Indeterminate feeling is subtle, painful feeling is gross. The feeling in one with 
an attainment is subtle, that in one with no attainment is gross. Feeling free from 
cankers is subtle, feeling accompanied by cankers is gross" (Vibh 3). And like 
painful feeling, so also pleasant, etc., is gross according to kind and subtle 
according to individual essence. 

204. Therefore feeling's grossness and subtlety should be understood in such 
a way that there is no mixing up of the classifications according to kind and so 
on. For instance, [when it is said] "The indeterminate according to kind is subtle 
compared with the profitable and the unprofitable," the individual-essence class, 
etc., must not be insisted upon like this: "Which kind of indeterminate? Is it the 
painful? Is it the pleasant? Is it that in one with an attainment? Is it that in one 
with no attainment? Is it that subject to cankers? Is it that free from cankers?" 
and so in each instance. 

205. Furthermore, because of the words "Or feeling should be regarded as 
gross or subtle in comparison with this or that feeling" (Vibh 4), among the 
unprofitable, etc., feeling accompanied by hate, too, is gross compared with that 
accompanied by greed because it burns up its own support, like a fire; and that 
accompanied by greed is subtle. Also, that accompanied by hate is gross when 
the hate is constant, and subtle when it is inconstant. And the constant is gross 
when giving result that lasts for the aeon, while the other is subtle. And of those 
giving result lasting for the aeon the unprompted is gross, while the other is 
subtle. But that accompanied by greed is gross when associated with [false] 
view, while the other is subtle. That also when constant and giving result lasting 
for the aeon and unprompted is gross, while the others are subtle. And without 
distinction the unprofitable with much result is gross, while that with little 
result is subtle. But the profitable with little result is gross, while that with much 
result is subtle. 

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206. Furthermore, the profitable of the sense sphere is gross; that of the fine- 
material sphere is subtle; next to which the immaterial, and next the 
supramundane [should be similarly compared]. That of the sense sphere is 
gross in giving, while it is subtle in virtue; next, that in development. Also, that 
in development is gross with two root-causes, while with three root-causes it is 
subtle. Also that with three root-causes is gross when prompted, while it is 
subtle when unprompted. That of the fine-material sphere is gross in the first 
jhana, [while it is subtle in the second jhana. That also of the second jhana is 
gross] ... of the fifth jhana is subtle. And that of the immaterial sphere associated 
with the base consisting of boundless space is gross ... [476] that associated 
with the base consisting of neither-perception-nor-non-perception is subtle only. 
And the supramundane associated with the stream-entry path is gross ... that 
associated with the Arahant path is subtle only. The same method applies also 
to resultant and functional feeling in the various planes and to feeling stated 
according to pain, etc., according to one with no attainment, etc., and according 
to that subject to cankers, and so on. 

207. Then according to location, painful feelings in hell are gross, while in the 
animal generation they are subtle ... Those among the Paranimmitavasavatti 
Deities are subtle only. And the pleasant should be construed throughout like 
the painful where suitable. 

208. And according to physical basis, any feeling that has an inferior physical 
basis is gross, while one with a superior physical basis is subtle. 

(viii)-(ix) What is gross should be regarded as inferior in the inferior-superior 
classification, and what is subtle superior. 

209. [(x)-(xi) The word far is explained in the Vibhahga in the way beginning 
"The unprofitable is far from the profitable and indeterminate" (Vibh 4) and the 
word near in the way beginning "Unprofitable feeling is near to unprofitable 
feeling" (Vibh 4). Therefore, unprofitable feeling is far from the profitable and 
the indeterminate because of dissimilarity, unconnectedness, and non- 
resemblance. The profitable and the indeterminate are likewise far from the 
unprofitable. And so in all instances. But unprofitable feeling is near to 
unprofitable feeling because of similarity and resemblance. 

This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the past, etc., 
classifications of the feeling aggregate. 

[Perception, Formations and Consciousness] 

210. This should also be understood of the perception, etc., associated with 
any kind of feeling. 

[D. Classes of Knowledge of the Aggregates] 
Having understood this, again as regards these same aggregates: 
Knowledge of aggregates is classed 

(1) As to order, and (2) distinction, 

(3) As to neither less nor more, 

(4) And likewise as to simile, 

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(5) And twice as to how to be seen, 

(6) And as to good for one seeing thus — 

This is the way of exposition 

That a wise man should rightly know. 

211. 1. Herein, as to order: order is of several kinds, namely, order of arising, 
order of abandoning, order of practice, order of plane, order of teaching. 

Herein, "First there comes to be the foetus in the first stage, then there comes 
to be the foetus in the second stage" (S I 206), etc., is order of arising. "Things to 
be abandoned by seeing, things to be abandoned by development" (Dhs 1), etc., 
is order of abandoning. "Purification of virtue [477] ... purification of 
consciousness" (M I 148), etc., is order of practice. "The sense sphere, the fine- 
material sphere" (Patis I 83), etc., is order of plane. "The four foundations of 
mindfulness, the four right efforts" (D II 120), etc., or "Talk on giving, talk on 
virtue" (M I 379), etc., is order of teaching. 

212. Of these, firstly, order of arising is not applicable here because the aggregates 
do not arise in the order in which they are successively dealt with, as is the case 
with "the foetus in the first stage," etc., nor is order of abandoning applicable, 
because the profitable and indeterminate are not to be abandoned; nor is order of 
practice, because what is unprofitable is not to be practiced; nor is order of plane, 
because feeling, etc., are included in all four planes. 

213. Order of teaching is appropriate however; for there are those people who, 
while teachable, have fallen into assuming a self among the five aggregates 
owing to failure to analyze them; and the Blessed One is desirous of releasing 
them from the assumption by getting them to see how the [seeming] compactness 
of mass [in the five aggregates] is resolved; and being desirous of their welfare, 
he first, for the purpose of their easy apprehension, taught the materiality 
aggregate, which is gross, being the objective field of the eye, etc.; and after that, 
feeling, which feels matter as desirable and undesirable; then perception, which 
apprehends the aspects of feeling's objective field, since "What one feels, that 
one perceives" (M I 293); then formations, which form volitionally through the 
means of perception; and lastly, consciousness, which these things beginning 
with feeling have as their support, and which dominates them. 78 

This, in the first place, is how the exposition should be known as to order. 

214. 2. As to distinction: as to the distinction between aggregates and aggregates- 
as-objects-of-clinging. But what is the distinction between them? Firstly, aggregates is 
said without distinguishing. Aggregates {as objects] of clinging is said distinguishing 
those that are subject to cankers and are liable to the cringings, according as it is 
said: "Bhikkhus, I shall teach you the five aggregates and the five aggregates [as 
objects] of clinging. Listen ... And what, bhikkhus, are the five aggregates? Any 
kind of materiality whatever, bhikkhus, whether past, future or present ... far or 

78. "Consciousness dominates because of the words, 'Dhammas have mind as their 
forerunner' (Dhp 1), 'Dhammas (states) that have parallel turn-over with consciousness' 
(Dhs §1522), and 'The king, lord of the six doors (?)'" (Vism-mht 503). 



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near: this is called the materiality aggregate. Any kind of feeling whatever . . . Any 
kind of perception whatever . . . Any kind of formations whatever . . . Any kind of 
consciousness whatever ... far or near: this is called the consciousness aggregate. 
These, bhikkhus, are called the five aggregates. And what, bhikkhus, are the five 
aggregates [as objects] of clinging? Any kind of materiality whatever . . . far or near, 
that is subject to cankers and liable to the cringings: this is called the materiality 
aggregate [as object] of clinging. Any kind of feeling whatever ... Any kind of 
perception whatever ... Any kind of formations whatever ... Any kind of 
consciousness whatever ... far or near, that is subject to cankers and liable to the 
cringings: this is called the consciousness aggregate [as object] of clinging. These, 
bhikkhus, are called the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging" (S in 47). [478] 

215. Now, while there is feeling, etc., both free from cankers [and subject to 
them], 79 not so materiality. However, since materiality can be described as a 
[simple] aggregate in the sense of a total, it is therefore mentioned among the 
[simple] aggregates. And since it can be described as an aggregate [that is the 
object] of clinging in the sense of a total and in the sense of being subjected to 
cankers, that [same materiality] is therefore mentioned among the aggregates 
[as objects] of clinging too. But feeling, etc., are only mentioned among the 
[simple] aggregates when they are free from cankers. When they are subject to 
cankers, they are mentioned among the aggregates [as objects] of clinging. And 
here the meaning of the term "aggregates as objects of clinging" should be 
regarded as this: aggregates that are the resort of clinging are aggregates of 
clinging. But here all these taken together are intended as aggregates. 

216. 3. As to neither less nor more: but why are five aggregates, neither less nor 
more, mentioned by the Blessed One? (a) Because all formed things that resemble 
each other fall into these groups, (b) because that is the widest limit as the basis 
for the assumption of self and what pertains to self, and (c) because of the 
inclusion 80 by them of the other sorts of aggregates. 

217. (a) When the numerous categories of formed states are grouped together 
according to similarity 81 materiality forms one aggregate through being grouped 



79. Sammohavinodanl (Be) (Khandha Vibhariga Commentary) in the identical passage, 
reads vedanadayo anasava pi sasava pi atthi. Ee and Ae read vedanadayo anasava pi atthi. 

80. Avarodha — "inclusion": not in PED. The term etaparama — "the widest limit" is not 
mentioned in PED. See M I 80, 339; S V 119; M-a III, 281. Cf. also etavaparama, M I 246. 

81. "When all formed dhammas are grouped together according to similarity, they 
naturally fall into five aggregates. Herein, it is the items that are the same owing to the 
sameness consisting respectively in 'molesting,' etc., that are to be understood as 
'similar.' Among them, those that are strong in the volition whose nature is accumulating 
with the function of forming the formed, are called the formations aggregate. And the 
others, that is, contact, etc., which are devoid of the distinguishing characteristics of 
'being molested,' etc., may also be so regarded under the generality of forming the 
formed. But the similarities consisting in touching are not describable separately by 
the word 'aggregate,' and so that is why no aggregates of contact, etc., have been 
stated by the Perfect One who knows the similarities of dhammas. 'Bhikkhus, whatever 
ascetics or brahmans there are who are asserters of eternity and declare the self and 

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together according to similarity consisting in materiality; feeling forms one 
aggregate through being grouped together according to similarity consisting 
in feeling; and so with perception and the other two. So they are stated as five 
because similar formed things fall into groups. 

218. (b) And this is the extreme limit as the basis for the assumption of self and 
what pertains to self, that is to say the five beginning with materiality. For this is 
said: "Bhikkhus, when matter exists, it is through clinging to matter, through 
insisting upon (interpreting) matter, that such a view as this arises: 'This is 
mine, this is I, this is my self.' When feeling exists ... When perception exists ... 
When formations exist ... When consciousness exists, it is through clinging to 
consciousness, through insisting upon (interpreting) consciousness, that such 
a view as this arises: 'This is mine, this is I, this is my self'"(S III 181-82). So they 
are stated as five because this is the widest limit as a basis for the assumption of 
self and what pertains to self. 

219. (c) And also, since those other [sorts of aggregates] stated as the five 
aggregates of things beginning with virtue 82 are comprised within the formations 
aggregate, they are included here too. Therefore they are stated as five because 
they include the other sorts. 

This is how the exposition should be known as to neither less nor more. 

220. 4. As to simile: the materiality aggregate [as object] of clinging is like a 
sick-room because it is the dwelling-place, as physical basis, door, and object, of 
the sick man, namely, the consciousness aggregate as object of clinging. The 
feeling aggregate as object of clinging is like the sickness because it afflicts. The 
perception aggregate as object of clinging is like the provocation of the sickness 
because it gives rise to feeling associated with greed, etc., owing to perception of 
sense desires, and so on. The formations aggregate as object of clinging is like 
having recourse to what is unsuitable because it is the source of feeling, which 
is the sickness; [479] for it is said: "Feeling as feeling is the formed that they 
form" (S III 87), and likewise: "Because of unprofitable kamma having been 
performed and stored up, resultant body-consciousness has arisen accompanied 
by pain" (Dhs §556). The consciousness aggregate as object of clinging is like 
the sick man because it is never free from feeling, which is the sickness. 

221. Also they are (respectively) like the prison, the punishment, the offence, 
the punisher, and the offender. And they are like the dish, the food, the curry 
sauce [poured over the food], the server, and the eater. 83 

the world to be eternal, all do so depending and relying on these same five aggregates 
or on one or other of them' (cf. S IV 46), and so on" (Vism-mht 503). 

82. The aggregates of virtue, concentration, understanding, liberation, and knowledge 
and vision of liberation (S I 99), etc. 

83. "The matter of the body is like the prison because it is the site of the punishment. 
Perception is like the offence because owing to perception of beauty, etc., it is a cause of 
the punishment, which is feeling. The formations aggregate is like the punisher because it 
is a cause of feeling. Consciousness is like the offender because it is afflicted by feeling. 
Again, matter is like the dish because it bears the food. Perception is like the curry sauce 

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This is how the exposition should be known as to simile. 

222. 5. Twice as to how to be seen: the exposition should be known twice as to 
how to be seen, namely, in brief and in detail. 

223. In brief [that is, collectively] the five aggregates as objects of clinging 
should be seen as an enemy with drawn sword (S IV 174) in the Snake Simile, as 
a burden (S III 25) according to the Burden Sutta, as a devourer (S III 87f) 
according to the To-be-devoured Discourse, and as impermanent, painful, not- 
self, formed, and murderous, according to the Yamaka Sutta (S III 112f). 

224. In detail [that is, individually] matter should be regarded as a lump of 
froth because it will not stand squeezing, feeling as a bubble on water because it 
can only be enjoyed for an instant, perception as a mirage because it causes 
illusion, formations as a plantain trunk because they have no core, and 
consciousness as a conjuring trick because it deceives (S III 140-42). 

In particular, even sublime internal materiality 84 should be regarded as foul 
(ugly); feeling should be regarded as painful because it is never free from the 
three kinds of suffering (see XVI. 34); perception and formations as not-self 
because they are unmanageable; and consciousness as impermanent because it 
has the nature of rise and fall. 

225. 6. As to good for one seeing thus: good comes to be accomplished in one who 
sees in the two ways thus in brief and in detail. And the way of definition should 
be known according to that, that is to say, firstly, one who sees the five aggregates 
as objects of clinging in the form of an enemy with drawn sword, etc., is not 
worried by the aggregates, but one who sees materiality, etc., in detail as a lump 
of froth, etc., is not one who sees a core in the coreless. 

226. And in particular, [480] one who sees internal materiality as foul (ugly) 
fully understands nutriment consisting of physical nutriment. He abandons 
the perversion [of perceiving] beauty in the foul (ugly), he crosses the flood of 
sense desire, he is loosed from the bond of sense desire, he becomes canker-free 
as regards the canker of sense desire, he breaks the bodily tie of covetousness. He 
does not cling with sense-desire clinging. 

227. One who sees feeling as pain fully understands nutriment consisting of 
contact. He abandons the perversion of perceiving pleasure in the painful. He 
crosses the flood of becoming. He is loosed from the bond of becoming. He 
becomes canker-free as regards the canker of becoming. He breaks the bodily tie 
of ill will. He does not cling with rules-and-vows clinging. 

228. One who sees perception and formations as not-self fully understands 
nutriment consisting of mental volition. He abandons the perversion of 



because, owing to perception of beauty, etc., it hides the food, which is feeling. The 
formations aggregate is like the server because it is a cause of feeling; and service is 
included since one who is taking a meal is usually served. Consciousness is like the 
eater because it is helped by feeling" (Vism-mht 504). For caraka (prison) see XVI.18. 
84. Ee and Ae both read visesato ca sularam pi ajjhattikam rupam. But Sammohavinodanl 
(Be) in identical passage reads visesato ca subharammanam pi olarikam pi ajjhattika-ruparn. 

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perceiving self in the not-self. He crosses the flood of views. He is loosed from 
the bond of views. He breaks the bodily tie of interpretations (insistence) that 
"This is the truth." He does not cling with self-theory clinging. 

229. One who sees consciousness as impermanent fully understands nutriment 
consisting of consciousness. He abandons the perversion of perceiving 
permanence in the impermanent. He crosses the flood of ignorance. He is loosed 
from the bond of ignorance. He becomes canker- free as regards the canker of 
ignorance. He breaks the bodily tie of holding to rules and vows. He does not 
[cling with false-] view clinging. 

230. Such blessings there will be 

From seeing them as murderers and otherwise, 

Therefore the wise should see 

The aggregates as murderers and otherwise. 

The fourteenth chapter called The Description of the 
Aggregates in the Treatise on the Development of 
Understanding in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter XV 

The Bases and Elements 
(Ayatana-dhatu-niddesa) 

[A. Description of the Bases] 

1. [481] The "bases" (XIV32) are the twelve bases, that is to say, the eye base, 
visible-data base, ear base, sound base, nose base, odour base, tongue base, flavour 
base, body base, tangible-data base, mind base, mental-data base. 

2. Herein: 

(1) Meaning, (2) character, (3) just so much, 
(4) Order, and (5) in brief and detail, 
(6) Likewise as to how to be seen — 
Thus should be known the exposition. 

3. 1. Herein, [as to meaning] firstly individually: 

It relishes (cakkhati), thus it is an eye (cakkhu); the meaning is that it enjoys a 
visible datum and turns it to account. 

It makes visible (rupayati), thus it is a visible datum (rupa); the meaning is that 
by undergoing an alteration in appearance (colour) it evidences what state is in 
the mind (lit. heart). 

It hears (sunati), thus it is an ear (sota). 

It is emitted (sappati), thus it is sound (sadda); the meaning is that it is uttered. 

It smells (ghayati), thus it is a nose (ghana). 

It is smelt (gandhayati) thus it is odour (gandha); the meaning is that it betrays 
its own physical basis. 

It evokes (avhayati) life (jivita), thus it is a tongue (jivha). 

Living beings taste (rasanti) it, thus it is flavour (rasa); the meaning is that they 
enjoy it. 

It is the origin (aya) of vile (kucchita) states subject to cankers, thus it is a body 
(kaya), origin being the place of arising. 

It is touched (phusiyati), thus it is a tangible datum (photthabba) . 

It measures (munati), thus it is a mind (mano). 

They cause their own characteristic to be borne (dharayanti), thus they are 
mental data (dhamma). 1 



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4. [As to meaning] in general, however, base (ayatana) should be understood 
as such (a) because of its actuating (ayatana), (b) because of being the range 
(tanana) of the origins (aya), and (c) because of leading on (nayana) what is actuated 
(ayata). 1 

Now, the various states of consciousness and its concomitants belonging to 
such and such a door-cum-object among those consisting of the eye-cum-visible- 
datum, etc., (a) are actuated (ayatanti), each by means of its individual function 
of experiencing, etc.; they are active, strive, and endeavour in these, is what is 
meant. And (b) these [doors-cum-objects] provide the range for (tananti) those 
states that are origins (aya); they give them scope, is what is meant. And (c) as 
long as this suffering of the round of rebirths, which has gone on occurring 
throughout the beginningless round of rebirths and so is enormously actuated 
(ayata), does not recede, so long they lead on (nayanti); they cause occurrence, is 
what is meant. 

So all these [482] things are called "bases" because they actuate, because they 
are the range of the origins, and because they lead on what is actuated. 



1. The following words in §3 are not in PED: cakkhati (it relishes), rupayati (it makes 
visible — only referred to under rupa), sappati (it is emitted; pass, of sapati, to swear 
(Ud 45)), udahariyati (it is uttered, lit. "is carried up to"), gandhayati (it is smelt), sucayati 
(it betrays), rasati (it tastes). Be ed. of Vibh-a reads manayati (not in PED) for munati in 
parallel passage. 

Vism-mht (p. 508) explains cakkhati (relishes) semantically by "tasting a flavour as 
in 'relishing' honey or sauce" and cites M I 503. Linguistically it connects the word 
with acikkhati (to show). 

"When a visible form (rupa) undergoes, like the visible aspect of a chameleon, an 
alteration in appearance (colour) at times when [the mind is] dyed with greed or 
corrupted with hate, etc., it makes visible what state [is prevalent] in the heart (i.e. the 
mind) and makes that evident as though it were an actual visible object; the meaning 
is that it demonstrates it by giving it, as it were, a graspable entity (saviggaha). Or the 
word rupa means demonstration, and that is the same as evidencing. Or the word 
rupa can be regarded as evidencing of elements too, since it has many meanings. 
Rupayati (it makes visible) is a derivative (nibbacana) of the word rupa that expresses 
appearance (colour), while ruppati (it is molested) is a derivative that expresses the 
materiality aggregate. [As to sound] only the sound of words (vacana-sadda) would be 
covered by the meaning 'is uttered (udahariyati),' and here sound is not only the sound 
of words, but rather all that can be cognized by the ear is what 'is emitted (sappati)'; the 
meaning is that by means of its own conditions it is emitted (sappiyati), is made 
cognizable by the ear" (Vism-mht 508) (cf. also sappari, to crawl). "'It evokes life (jwitam 
avhayati)' owing to appetite for tastes in food (ahara), which is the cause of life (jivita), 
since the act of swallowing is rooted in approval of tastes. This is the linguistic 
characteristic of the word jivha (tongue)" (Vism-mht 509). 

2. The following words in §4 are not in PED: ayatana (actuating: verbal n. fm. ayatati, 
to actuate); tanana (range: verbal n. fm. tanoti, to provide a range for, to extend — q.v. 
PED — ; mentioned under ayatana, base); nayana (lead in on: verbal n. fm. neti, to lead 
on; lit, meaning not in PED); ayatati (to actuate — cakkhuvinnanadinam uppadanam 
ayatanam, Vism-mht). See also ayapenti Patis II 21. 



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5. Furthermore, "base, (ayatana) should be understood in the sense of place of 
abode, store (mine), 3 meeting place, locality of birth, and cause. For accordingly 
in the world in such phrases as the lord's sphere" (ayatana) and "Vasudeva's 
sphere" (ayatana), it is a place of abode that is called "base"; and in such phrases 
as "the sphere of gold" and "the sphere of silver" it is a store (mine) that is called 
"base." But in the Dispensation, in such passages as: 

"And so in the delightful realm (ayatana) 
Those flying in the air attend him" (A III 43), 

it is a meeting place; and in such phrases as "The southern land is the realm 
(ayatana) of cattle" (?) it is the locality of birth; and in such passages as "He 
acquires the ability to be a witness of it ... whenever there is an occasion (ayatana) 
for it'" (M I 494; A I 258), it is a cause. 

6. And these various states of consciousness and its concomitants dwell in the 
eye, etc., because they exist in dependence on them, so the eye, etc., are their place 
of abode. And they frequent the eye, etc., because they have them [respectively] as 
their [material] support and as their object, so the eye, etc., are their store. And the 
eye, etc., are their meeting place because they meet together in one or other of them, 
[using them] as physical basis, door, and object. And the eye, etc., are the locality 
of their birth because they arise just there, having them as their respective supports 
and objects. And the eye, etc., are their reason because they are absent when the 
eye, etc., are absent. 

7. So for these reasons too these things are called "bases" in the sense of place 
of abode, store, meeting place, locality of birth, and reason. 

Consequently, in the sense already stated, it is an eye and that is a base, thus 
it is the eye base . . . They are mental data and those are a base, thus they are the 
mental-data base. 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to meaning. 

8. 2. Character: Here too the exposition should be known as to the characteristic 
of the eye and so on. But their characteristics should be understood in the way 
given above in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV37ff.). 

9. 3. As to just so much: as just so many 4 What is meant is this: The eye, etc., are 
mental data too; that being so, why is "twelve bases" said instead of simply 
"mental-data base?" It is for the sake of defining door-cum-object for the arising 
of the six consciousness groups. And here they are stated as twelve since this is 
how they are classed when so defined. [483] 

10. For only the eye base is the door of arising, and only the visible-data base is 
the object, of the consciousness group comprised in a cognitive series containing 
eye-consciousness. Likewise the others for the others. 



3. Akara means either a mine or a store (PED apparently believes in mining for 
pearls — see ratanakara). 

4. "Because of the absence of anything whatever not included in the twelve bases, 
there is no arguing that they are more than twelve" (Vism-mht 510). 



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But only one part of the mind base, in other words, the life-continuum mind, 5 
is the door of arising, and only the mental-data base not common to all is the 
object, of the sixth [consciousness group]. 

So they are called "the twelve" because they define door-cum-object for the 
arising of the six consciousness groups. This is how the exposition should be 
known here as to just so much. 

11. 4. As to order: here too, from among "order of arising," etc., mentioned 
above (XIV211), only "order of teaching" is appropriate. For the eye is taught 
first among the internal bases since it is obvious because it has as its objective 
field what is visible with resistance (see last triad, Dhs 2). After that the ear base, 
etc., which have as their objective fields what is invisible with resistance. Or 
alternatively, the eye base and ear base are taught first among the internal bases 
because of their great helpfulness as [respective] causes for the "incomparable 
of seeing" and the "incomparable of hearing" (see D III 250). Next, the three 
beginning with the nose base. And the mind base is taught last because it has 
as its resort the objective fields of the [other] five (M 1 295). But among the external 
bases the visible-data base, etc., [are taught] each one next [to its corresponding 
internal base] because they are the respective resorts of the eye base, and so on. 

12. Furthermore, their order may be understood as that in which the reasons 
for consciousness's arising are defined; and it is said: "Due to eye and to visible 
objects eye-consciousness arises, ... due to mind and mental objects mind- 
consciousness arises" (M I 111). 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to order. 

13. 5. In brief and in detail: in brief the twelve bases are simply mentality- 
materiality because the mind base and one part of the mental-data base are 
included in mentality, and the rest of the bases in materiality. 

14. But in detail, firstly as regards the internal bases, the eye base is, as to kind, 
simply eye sensitivity; but when it is classified according to condition, destiny, 
order [of beings], and person, 6 it is of infinite variety. Likewise the four beginning 
with the ear base. And the mind base, when classified according to profitable, 
unprofitable, resultant, and functional consciousness, is of eighty-nine kinds or 
of one hundred and twenty-one kinds, 7 but it is of infinite variety when classified 



5. '"In other words, the life-continuum mind': that which occurs twice in disturbance 
(see Ch. XIV note 46). Only when there has been the occurrence of the life-continuum 
in a state of disturbance (in a state of dissimilar occurrence) is there the arising of 
adverting, not otherwise. Taking it thus as the reason for adverting, what is called 
life-continuum mind' is a door of arising. 'Not common to all' means not common to 
eye-consciousness and the rest" (Vism-mht 510). See M I 293. 

6. "'Condition' is kamma, etc., 'destiny' is from hell upwards; 'order [of beings]' refers to 
such species as elephants, horses, etc., or to the castes of the khattiyas (warrior nobles), 
and so on; 'person' refers to any given living being's continuity" (Vism-mht 511). 

7. There are eighty-one mundane sorts of consciousness; and since there is no path 
or fruition without jhana, when the four paths and four fruitions are multiplied by the 
five jhanas, there are forty kinds of supramundane consciousness: 81+40 = 121. 

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according to physical basis, progress, and so on. 8 The visible-data, sound, odour, 
and flavour bases are of infinite variety when classified according to dissimilarity, 
condition, and so on. 9 The tangible-data base is of three kinds as consisting of 
earth element, fire element, and air element; [484] but when classified according 
to condition, etc., it is of many kinds. The mental-data base is of many kinds 
when classified according to the several individual essences of feeling, 
perception, formations, subtle matter, and Nibbana (see Vibh 72). 

This is how the exposition should be known in brief and in detail. 

15. 6. As to how to be seen: here all formed bases should be regarded as having 
no provenance and no destination. For they do not come from anywhere prior to 
their rise, nor do they go anywhere after their fall. On the contrary, before their 
rise they had no individual essence, and after their fall their individual essences 
are completely dissolved. And they occur without mastery [being exercisable 
over them] since they exist in dependence on conditions and in between the past 
and the future. Hence they should be regarded as having no provenance and no 
destination. 

Likewise they should be regarded as incurious and uninterested. For it does 
not occur to the eye and the visible datum, etc., "Ah, that consciousness might 
arise from our concurrence." And as door, physical basis, and object, they have 
no curiosity about, or interest in, arousing consciousness. On the contrary it is 
the absolute rule that eye-consciousness, etc., come into being with the union of 
eye with visible datum, and so on. So they should be regarded as incurious and 
uninterested. 

16. Furthermore, the internal bases should be regarded as an empty village 
because they are devoid of lastingness, pleasure, and self; and the external ones 
as village-raiding robbers (S IV 175) because they raid the internal ones. And 
this is said: "Bhikkhus, the eye is harassed by agreeable and disagreeable visible 
objects" (S IV 175). Furthermore, the internal ones should be regarded as like the 
six creatures (S IV 198-99) and the external ones as like their resorts. 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to how to be seen. 

This, firstly, is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the bases. 

[B. Description of the Elements] 

17. The "elements" next to that (XIV32) are the eighteen elements, that is to say, 
eye element, visible-data element, eye-consciousness element; ear element, sound 
element, ear-consciousness element; nose element, odour element, nose- 
consciousness element; tongue element, flavour element, tongue-consciousness 
element; body element, tangible-data element, body-consciousness element; mind 
element, mental-data element, mind-consciousness element. 

8. '"Physical basis' is that consisting of the eye, etc.; according to that 'Progress' is a 
painful progress, and the other three. 'And so on' refers to jhana, predominance, plane, 
object, and so on" (Vism-mht 512). 

9. "Blue is similar to blue; it is dissimilar to any other colour. 'Condition' is kamma, 
and so on" (Vism-mht 512). 

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18. Herein: 

(1) As to meaning, (2) characteristic, et cetera, 
(3) Order, (4) just so much, and (5) reckoning, 
(6) Then condition, and (7) how to be seen — 
Thus should be known the exposition. 

19. 1. Herein, as to meaning: first the exposition of "eye," etc., should be known 
individually as to meaning in the way beginning: It relishes (cakkhati), thus it is 
an eye (cakkhu); it makes visible (rupayati), thus it is a visible datum; [485] and the 
consciousness of the eye is eye-consciousness (see §3). 

As to meaning in general: (a) it sorts out (vidahati), (b) it assorts [well] (dhlyate), 
(c) a sorting out (vidhana), (d) it is sorted out (vidhlyate) by means of that, or (e) it 
causes to be sorted (dhlyati) here, thus it is a sort (dhatu = element). 10 

20. (a) The mundane sorts (elements), when defined according to their 
instrumentality, sort out (vidahanti) the suffering of the round of rebirths, which 
is of many kinds, just as the "sorts" (ores — see XI. 20) of gold and silver, etc., do 
gold and silver, and so on. (b) They assort [well] (dhlyante) with living beings, as 
a burden does with burden bearers; they are borne (dhariyanti), is the meaning, 
(c) And they are only mere sortings out (vidhana) of suffering because no mastery 
is exercisable over them, (d) And by means of them as instruments the suffering 
of the round of rebirths is continually being sorted out (anuvidhlyati) by living 
beings, (e) And that [suffering], being sorted out (vihita) in this way, is caused to 
be sorted (dhlyati) into those [sorts (elements)]; it is caused to be placed in them, 
is the meaning. So each thing (dhamma) among those beginning with the eye is 
called a "sort" (dhatu — element) in the meaning just stated beginning "It sorts 
out, it assorts well." 

21. Furthermore, while the self of the sectarians does not exist with an 
individual essence, not so these. These, on the contrary, are elements (dhatu) 
since they cause [a state's] own individual essence to be borne (dharenti)} 1 And 
just as in the world the variously-coloured constituents of marble such as 
malachite, cinnabar, etc., are called "elements," so too these [beginning with the 

10. The verb dahati, the basis of all these derivatives, means literally "to put." "There 
are five meanings stated, since the word dhatu (element, sort, 'putting') has its form 
established (siddha) here by (a) the transitive (kattu), (b) the intransitive (kamma), (c) the 
abstract noun (bhava), (d) the instrumental case (karana), and (e) the causative voice 
(adhikarana). Supramundane elements do not sort out (vidahanti) the suffering of the 
round of rebirths; on the contrary they destroy (vidhamsenti) it. That is why 'mundane' 
is specified" (Vism-mht 513). 

11. "'Are elements since they cause [a state's] own individual essence to be borne': here, 
while the establishment of the word's form should be understood as "dadhatl ti dhatu 
(it puts, sorts, thus it is an element),' still taking the word dha to share the meanings [of 
both dadhati and dhareti (see XI.104)], there is also the meaning of the active voice 
different from the first, because the meanings of vidhana (sorting out) and dharana 
(causing to bear) are unconnected. The causing of the bearing of mere individual 
essences without any permanent living being, is a basic meaning of the word dhatu 
(element), and so it is stated separately" (Vism-mht 513). 

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eye] are elements like those; 12 for they are the "variously-coloured" constituents 
of knowledge and the knowable. Or just as the general term "elements" is used 
for juices, blood, etc., which are constituents of the collection called the "carcass," 
when they are distinguished from each other by dissimilarity of characteristic, 
so too the general term "elements" should be understood as used for the 
constituents of the selfhood (personality) called "the pentad of aggregates"; for 
these things beginning with the eye are distinguished from each other by 
dissimilarity of characteristic. 

22. Furthermore, "element" is a term for what is soulless; and for the purpose 
of abolishing the perception of soul the Blessed One accordingly taught the 
elements in such passages as "Bhikkhu, this man has six elements" (M III 239). 
Therefore the exposition should be understood here firstly as to meaning thus: 
it is an eye and that is an element, thus it is the eye-element ... It is mind- 
consciousness and that is an element, thus it is mind-consciousness element. 

23. 2. As to characteristic, et cetera: here too the exposition should be understood 
as to the characteristic, etc., of the eye, and so on. And that should be understood 
in the way given above in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV37ff.). 

24. 3. As to order, here too, from among "order of arising," etc., mentioned 
above (XIV211), only "order of teaching" is appropriate. It is set forth according 
to successive definition of cause and fruit. 13 For the pair, eye element and visible- 
data element, are the cause and eye-consciousness element is the fruit. So in 
each case. 

25. 4. As to just so much: as just so many. What is meant is this: in various places 
in the Suttas and Abhidhamma the following as well as other [486] elements are 
met with — the illumination element, beauty element, base-consisting-of- 
boundless-space element, base-consisting-of-boundless-consciousness element, 
base-consisting-of-nothingness element, base-consisting-of-neither-perception- 
nor-non-perception element, cessation-of-perception-and-feeling element (S II 
150); sense-desire element, ill-will element, cruelty element, renunciation element, 
non-ill-will element, non-cruelty element (Vibh 86); bodily-pleasure element, 
bodily-pain element, joy element, grief element, equanimity element, ignorance 
element (Vibh 85); initiative element, launching element, persistence element (S 
V 66); inferior element, medium element, superior element (D III 215); earth 
element, water element, fire element, air element, space element, consciousness 
element (Vibh 82); formed element, unformed element (M III 63); the world of 
many elements, of various elements (M I 70) — that being so, why is the 
classification only made according to these eighteen instead of making it 



12. "'Are elements like those elements': here, just as the word "lion" (stha), which is 
properly applicable to the bearer of a mane, [is used] of a man, so too the word 
'element,' which is properly applicable to the constituents of marble, is used of the eye 
and so on" (Vism-mht 513). 

13. "'Successive definition of cause and fruit' is just the state of cause and fruit" (Vism- 
mht 514). 



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Chapter XV The Bases and Elements 

according to all of them? Because, as far as individual essence is concerned, all 
existing elements are included in that [classification]. 

26. The visible data-element itself is the illumination element. The beauty 
element is bound up with visible-data and so on. Why? Because it is the sign of 
the beautiful. The sign of the beautiful is the beauty element and that does not 
exist apart from visible data and so on. Or since the visible data, etc., that are 
objects consisting of profitable kamma-result are themselves the beauty element, 
that is thus merely visible data and so on. As regards the base-consisting-of- 
boundless-space element, etc., the consciousness is mind-consciousness element 
only, while the remaining [states] are the mental-data element. But the cessation- 
of-perception-and-feeling element does not exist as an individual essence; for 
that is merely the cessation of two elements. 14 

27. The sense-desire element is either merely the mental-data element, according 
as it is said, "Herein, what is the sense-desire element? It is the thought, applied 
thought, . . . wrong thinking, that is associated with sense desires" (Vibh 86), or 
it is the eighteen elements, according as it is said: "Making the Avici hell the 
lower limit and making the Paranimmitavasavatti deities the upper limit, the 
aggregates, elements, bases, materiality, feeling, perception, formations, and 
consciousness that are in this interval, that belong here, are included here: these 
are called the sense desire element" (Vibh 86). [487] 

28. The renunciation element is the mental-data element; also, because of the 
passage, "Also all profitable states are the renunciation element" (Vibh 86), it is 
the mind-consciousness element too. The elements of ill-will, cruelty, non-ill- 
will, non-cruelty bodily pleasure, bodily pain, joy, grief, equanimity, ignorance, 
initiative, launching, and persistence are the mental-data element too. 

29. The inferior, medium, and superior elements are the eighteen elements 
themselves; for inferior eyes, etc., are the inferior element, and medium and 
superior eyes, etc., are the medium and superior elements. But literally speaking, 
the unprofitable mental-data element and mind-consciousness element are the 
inferior element; both these elements, when mundane profitable or mundane 
indeterminate, and the eye element, etc., are the medium element; but the 
supramundane mental-data element and mind-consciousness element are the 
superior element. 

30. The earth, fire, and air elements are the tangible-data element; the water 
element and the space element are the mental-data element only; "consciousness 
element" is a term summarizing the seven consciousness elements beginning 
with eye-consciousness. 

31. Seventeen elements and one part of the mental-data element are the formed 
element; but the unformed element is one part of the mental-data element only. 
The "world of many elements, of various elements" is merely what is divided up 
into the eighteen elements. 

14. "It is the mere cessation of the mind-consciousness element and mental-data 
element because it is the ceasedness of thought-arisings in the fourth immaterial 
state" (Vism-mht 514). 

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So they are given as eighteen because, as to individual essence, all existing 
elements are included in that [classification]. 

32. Furthermore, they are stated as eighteen for the purpose of eliminating the 
kind of perception to be found in those who perceive a soul in consciousness, 
the individual essence of which is cognizing; for there are beings who perceive 
a soul in consciousness, the individual essence of which is cognizing. And so 
the Blessed One, who was desirous of eliminating the long-inherent perception 
of a soul, has expounded the eighteen elements thus making evident to them 
not only consciousness's multiplicity when classed as eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue- 
and body-consciousness elements, and mind, and mind-consciousness elements, 
but also its impermanence, which is due to its existing in dependence on eye- 
cum-visible-data, etc., as conditions. 

33. What is more, the inclinations of those who are teachable in this way [have 
to be considered]; and in order to suit the inclinations of beings who are teachable 
by a teaching that is neither too brief nor too long, eighteen are expounded. For: 

By methods terse and long as need may be 
He taught the Dhamma, so that from beings' hearts, 
If they have wit to learn, the dark departs 
Melting in the Good Dhamma's brilliancy. 

This is how the exposition should be understood here as to just so much. 

34. 5. As to reckoning: the eye-element, firstly, is reckoned as one thing according 
to kind, [488] namely, eye sensitivity. Likewise, the ear, nose, tongue, body, visible- 
data, sound, odour, and flavour elements are reckoned as ear sensitivity, and so 
on (XIV37ff.). But the tangible-data element is reckoned as three things, namely, 
earth, fire and air. The eye-consciousness element is reckoned as two things, 
namely, profitable and unprofitable kamma-result; and likewise the conscious- 
ness elements of the ear, nose, tongue, and body. The mind element is reckoned 
as three things, namely, five-door adverting (70), and profitable (39) and 
unprofitable (55) resultant receiving. The mental-data element as twenty things, 
namely, three immaterial aggregates, sixteen kinds of subtle matter, and the 
unformed element (see Vibh 88). 15 Mind-consciousness element is reckoned as 
seventy-six things, namely, the remaining profitable, unprofitable, and 
indeterminate consciousnesses. This is how the exposition should be understood 
as to reckoning. 

35. 6. Condition: the eye element, firstly, is a condition, in six ways, namely, 
dissociation, pre-nascence, presence, non-disappearance, support, and faculty 

15. In XIV35-70, the material instances listed total 28, that is, 4 primary elements, 9 
sense faculties (excluding the tangible-data faculty, which is the 3 elements except 
water), and 15 kinds of subtle materiality beginning with the femininity faculty (cf. 
treatment at Dhs §596). Other lists, however, sometimes give a total of 26 kinds, that is, 
10 sense faculties (including the tangible-data faculty, which is the 3 primary elements) 
and 16 kinds of subtle materiality, that is, the above-mentioned 15 plus the water 
element, which is listed then after the space element (cf. treatment at Dhs §653 and list 
at M-a II 261). See Table I. 

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for the eye-consciousness element. The visible-data element is a condition, in 
four ways, namely, prenascence, presence, non-disappearance, and object, for 
the eye-consciousness element. Similarly with the ear-element and the sound- 
element for the ear-consciousness element and so on. 

36. The adverting mind element (70) is a condition, as the five conditions, 
namely: proximity, contiguity, absence, disappearance, and proximity-decisive- 
support, for these five [beginning with the eye-consciousness element]. And 
these five are so too for the receiving mind element ((39), (55)). And so is the 
receiving mind element for the investigating mind-consciousness element ((40), 
(41), (56)). And so is that too for the determining mind-consciousness element 
(71). And so is the determining mind-consciousness element for impulsion mind- 
consciousness element. But the impulsion mind-consciousness element is a 
condition, as the six conditions, namely, as the five already stated and as repetition 
condition, for the immediately following impulsion mind-consciousness element. 

This, firstly, is the way in the case of the five doors. 

37. In the case of the mind door, however, the life-continuum mind- 
consciousness element is a condition, as the previously-stated five conditions, 
for the adverting mind-consciousness element (71). And the adverting mind- 
consciousness element is so for the impulsion mind-consciousness element. 

38. The mental-data element is a condition in many ways, as conascence, 
mutuality, support, association, presence, non-disappearance, etc., 16 for the seven 
consciousness elements. The eye element, etc., and some of the mental-data 
element, 17 are conditions, as object condition, etc., for some of the mind- 
consciousness element. 

39. And not only are the eye and visible data, etc., conditions for the eye- 
consciousness element, etc., [respectively], but also light, etc., are too. Hence the 
former teachers said: "Eye-consciousness arises due to eye, visible datum, light, 
and attention. [489] Ear-consciousness arises due to ear, sound, aperture, and 
attention. Nose-consciousness arises due to nose, odour, air, and attention. 
Tongue-consciousness arises due to tongue, flavour, water, and attention. Body- 
consciousness arises due to body, tangible datum, earth, and attention. Mind- 
consciousness arises due to life-continuum-mind, 18 mental datum, and attention." 

This is in brief. But the kinds of conditions will be explained in detail in the 
Description of Dependent Origination (XVII. 66ff.). 

This is how the exposition should be understood here as to condition. 

40. 7. How to be seen: the meaning is that here too the exposition should be 
understood as to how they are to be regarded. For all formed elements are to be 



16. "Here the word 'etc.' stands for the mind-consciousness element's states where 
suitable as root-cause, predominance, kamma, kamma-result, nutriment, faculty, jhana, 
and path conditions" (Vism-mht 516). 

17. "I.e. subtle materiality and Nibbana" (Vism-mht 516). 

18. '"Life-continuum mind' is the life-continuum consciousness occurring twice in 
disturbance" (Vism-mht 516). 



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regarded as secluded from the past and future, 19 as void of any lastingness, 
beauty, pleasure, or self, and as existing in dependence on conditions. 

41. Individually, however, the eye element should be regarded as the surface of 
a drum, the visible-data element as the drumstick, and the eye-consciousness 
element as the sound. Likewise, the eye element should be regarded as the surface 
of a looking-glass, the visible-data element as the face, and the eye-consciousness 
element as the image of the face. Or else, the eye-element should be regarded as 
sugarcane or sesame, the visible-data element as the [sugarcane] mill or the 
[sesame] wheel rod, and the eye-consciousness element as the sugarcane juice 
or the sesame oil. Likewise, the eye-element should be regarded as the lower fire- 
stick, the visible-data element as the upper fire-stick, 20 and the eye-consciousness 
element as the fire. So too in the case of the ear and so on. 

42. The mind element, however, should be regarded as the forerunner and 
follower of eye-consciousness, etc., as that arises. 

As to the mental-data element, the feeling aggregate should be regarded as a 
dart and as a stake, the perception and formations aggregates as a disease 
owing to their connection with the dart and stake of feeling. Or the ordinary 
man's perception should be regarded as an empty fist because it produces pain 
through [disappointed] desire; or as a forest deer [with a scarecrow] because it 
apprehends the sign incorrectly. And the formations aggregate should be 
regarded as men who throw one into a pit of hot coals, because they throw one 
into rebirth-linking, or as thieves pursued by the king's men because they are 
pursued by the pains of birth; or as the seeds of a poison-tree, because they are 
the root-cause of the aggregates' continuity, which brings all kinds of harm. 
And materiality should be regarded as a razor-wheel (see J-a IV 3), because it is 
the sign of various kinds of dangers. 

The unformed element, however, should be regarded as deathless, as peace, 
as safety. Why? Because it is the opposite of all ill. [490] 

43. The mind-consciousness element should be regarded as a forest monkey, 
because it does not stay still on its object; or as a wild horse, because it is difficult 
to tame; or as a stick flung into the air, because it falls anyhow; or as a stage 
dancer, because it adopts the guise of the various defilements such as greed and 
hate. 

The fifteenth chapter called "The Description of the Bases 
and Elements" in the Treatise on the Development of 
Understanding in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



19. "Formed elements are secluded in both instances (i.e. when past and future) 
because their individual essences are unapprehendable then" (Vism-mht 516). 

20. Adhararani (adho-arani) — "lower fire-stick" and uttararani (uttara-arani) — "upper 
fire-stick" are not in PED as such. 



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Chapter XVI 

The Faculties and Truths 
(Indriya-sacca-niddesa) 

[A. Description of the Faculties] 

1. [491] The "faculties" listed next to the elements (XIV32) are the twenty-two 
faculties, namely, eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, 
mind faculty, femininity faculty, masculinity faculty, life faculty, [bodily] pleasure 
faculty, [bodily] pain faculty, [mental] joy faculty, [mental] grief faculty, equanimity 
faculty, faith faculty, energy faculty, mindfulness faculty, concentration faculty, 
understanding faculty, "I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown" faculty, final- 
knowledge faculty, final-knower faculty. 

2. Herein: 

(1) As to meaning, (2) character and so on, 
(3) Order, (4) divided and undivided, 
(5) Likewise function, and (6) also plane — 
The exposition should be known. 

3. 1. Herein, firstly, the meaning of eye, etc., is explained in the way beginning: 
"It relishes (cakkhati), thus it is an eye (cakkhu)" (XV3). But as regards the last 
three, the first is called the "I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown" faculty because 
it arises in the initial stage [of the stream-entry path moment] in one who has 
entered on the way thus "I shall come to know the deathless state, or the Dhamma 
of the Four (Noble) Truths, not known," 1 and because it carries the meaning of 
faculty (rulership). The second of them is called the final-knowledge faculty 
because of knowing finally, and because it carries the meaning of faculty. The 
third is called the final-knower faculty because it arises in one who has destroyed 
cankers, who possesses final knowledge, and whose task of getting to know the 
four truths is finished, and because it carries the meaning of faculty. 

4. But what is this meaning of faculty (rulership — indriyattha) that they have? 
(a) The meaning of being the mark of a ruler (inda) is the meaning of faculty 
(rulership). (b) The meaning of being taught by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, 
(c) The meaning of being seen by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, (d) The 
meaning of having been prepared by a ruler is the meaning of faculty, (e) The 



1. "In the noble path moment's initial stage" (Vism-mht 519). 



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meaning of having been fostered by a ruler is the meaning of faculty. 2 And all 
that applies here in one instance or another. 

5. The Blessed One, Fully Enlightened, is a ruler (inda) because of supreme 
lordship. And so is kamma, profitable and unprofitable; for no one has lordship 
over the kinds of kamma. So here, the faculties (indriya), [492] which are created 
by kamma, are the mark of profitable and unprofitable kamma. And since they are 
prepared by it, they are faculties in the sense of (a) being the mark of a ruler and (d) 
in the sense of having been prepared by a ruler. But since they have also been 
correctly made evident and disclosed by the Blessed One, they are all faculties 
(b) in the sense of being taught by a ruler and (c) in the sense of being seen by a ruler. 
And since some of them were cultivated by the Blessed One, Ruler of Sages, in his 
cultivation of domain and some in his cultivation of development, they are faculties 
(e) in the sense of being fostered by a ruler. 

6. Furthermore, they are faculties (rulership) in the sense of lordship called 
predominance. For predominance of the eye, etc., is implied in the occurrence of 
eye-consciousness, etc., because of the (consciousness') keenness when that 
[faculty] is keen and slowness when it is slow. 

This, firstly, is the exposition as to meaning. 

7. 2. As to character and so on: the meaning is that the exposition of the eye and 
so on should be known according to characteristic, function, manifestation, 
proximate cause, and so on. But these characteristics, etc., of theirs are given 
above in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV37ff.). For the four beginning 
with the understanding faculty are simply non-delusion as to meaning. The 
rest are each given there as such. 

8. 3. As to order: this too is only order of teaching (see XIV211). Herein, the 
noble plane [which is the stage of stream-entry etc.] is attained through the full- 
understanding of internal states, and so the eye faculty and the rest included in 
the selfhood are taught first. Then the femininity faculty and masculinity faculty, 
to show on what account that selfhood is called "woman" or "man." Next, the 
life faculty, to make it known that although that selfhood is twofold, still its 
existence is bound up with the life faculty. Next the [bodily-] pleasure faculty, 
etc., to make it known that there is no remission of these feelings as long as that 
[selfhood] continues, and that all feeling is [ultimately] suffering. Next, the faith 
faculty, etc., to show the way, since these things are to be developed in order to 
make that [suffering] cease. Next, the "I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown" 
faculty to show that the way is not sterile, since it is through this way that this 
state is first manifested in oneself. Next, the final-knowledge faculty, because it is 
the fruit of the last-mentioned faculty and so must be developed after it. Next, the 
final-knower faculty, the supreme reward, is taught last to make it known that it 

2. The words sittha (prepared — sajjita, uppadita Vism-mht 520), and juttha 
(fostered — sevita, Vism-mht 520) are not in PED. The Pali is: indalingattho indriyattho, 
indadesitattho indriyattho, indaditthattho indriyattho, indasitthattho indriyattho, 
indajutthattho indriyattho; cf. Panini V 2,93: Indriyam indralihgam indradrstam 
indrasrstam indrajustam indradattam iti va. 

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Chapter XVI The Faculties and Truths 

is attained by development, and that when it is attained there is nothing more to 
be done. This is the order here. [493] 

9. 4. As to divided and undivided: here there is only division of the life faculty; for 
that is twofold as the material-life faculty and the immaterial-life faculty. There is 
no division of the others. 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to divided and undivided. 

10. 5. As to function: what is the faculties' function? Firstly because of the words 
"The eye base is a condition, as faculty condition, for the eye-consciousness 
element and for the states associated therewith" (Patth 1.5) the eye faculty's 
function is to cause by its own keenness, slowness, etc., the occurrence of eye- 
consciousness and associated states, etc., in a mode parallel to its own, 3 which is 
called their keenness, slowness, etc., this function being accomplishable through 
the state of faculty condition. So too in the case of the ear, nose, tongue, and body. 
But the function of the mind faculty is to make conascent states subject to its own 
mastery. That of the life faculty is to maintain conascent states. That of the 
femininity faculty and the masculinity faculty is to allot the modes of the mark, 
sign, work and ways of women and men. That of the faculties of pleasure, pain, 
joy, and grief is to govern conascent states and impart their own particular mode 
of grossness to those states. That of the equanimity faculty is to impart to them 
the mode of quiet, superiority and neutrality. That of the faculties of faith, etc., is 
to overcome opposition and to impart to associated states the mode of confidence 
and so on. That of the "I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown" faculty is both to 
abandon three fetters and to confront associated states with the abandonment of 
them. That of the final-knowledge faculty is both to attenuate and abandon 
respectively lust, ill will, etc., and to subject conascent states to its own mastery. 
That of the final-knower faculty is both to abandon endeavour in all functions 
and to condition associated states by confronting them with the Deathless. 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to function. 

11. 6. As to plane: the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, femininity, 
masculinity, pleasure, pain, and grief are of the sense sphere only. The mind 
faculty, life faculty, and equanimity faculty, and the faculties of faith, energy, 
mindfulness, concentration, and understanding are included in the four planes. 
The joy faculty is included in three planes, namely, sense sphere, fine-material 
sphere, and supramundane. The last three are supramundane only. This is how 
the exposition should be known here as to plane. 

The monk who knows the urgent need 
To keep the faculties restrained 
By fully understanding them 
Will make an end of suffering. 

12. This is the section of the detailed explanation dealing with the faculties. 



3. Anuvattapana — "causing occurrence parallel to": not in PED; not in CPD. 



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[B. Description of the Truths] 

13. [494] The "truths" next to that (XIV32) are the Four Noble Truths; that is to 
say, the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the 
noble truth of the cessation of suffering, the noble truth of the way leading to the 
cessation of suffering. 

14. Herein: 

(I) As to class, and (2) derivation, 

(3) Division by character, et cetera, 

(4) As to meaning, (5) tracing out meaning, 
And likewise (6) neither less nor more, 

(7) As to order, (8) as to expounding 
Birth and so on, (9) knowledge's function, 
(10) As to division of the content, 

(II) As to a simile, and (12) tetrad, 

(13) As to void, (14) singlefold and so on, 
(15) Similar and dissimilar — 
Thus should be known the exposition 
By those who know the teaching's order. 

15. 1. Herein, as to class: the meanings of [the truths of] suffering, etc., are 
analyzed as four in each case that are "real, not unreal, not otherwise" (S V 435) 
and must be penetrated by those penetrating suffering, etc., according as it is 
said: "Suffering's meaning of oppressing, meaning of being formed, meaning 
of burning, meaning of changing, these are suffering's four meanings of 
suffering, which are real, not unreal, not otherwise. Origin's meaning of 
accumulating, meaning of source, meaning of bondage, meaning of impeding 
... Cessation's meaning of escape, meaning of seclusion, meaning of being 
unformed, meaning of deathlessness . . . The path's meaning of outlet, meaning 
of cause, meaning of seeing, meaning of predominance, these are the path's 
meanings of path, which are real, not unreal, not otherwise" (Patis II 104; cf. 
Patis I 19). Likewise, "Suffering's meaning of oppressing, meaning of being 
formed, meaning of burning, meaning of change, are its meaning of penetration 
to" (cf. Patis 1 118), and so on. So suffering, etc., should be understood according 
to the four meanings analyzed in each case. 

16. 2. As to derivation, 3. division by character, et cetera: here, however, firstly "as to 
derivation" [of the word dukkha (suffering):] the word du ("bad") is met with in 
the sense of vile (kucchita); for they call a vile child a du-putta ("bad child"). The 
word kham ("-ness"), however is met with in the sense of empty (tuccha), for they 
call empty space "kham." And the first truth is vile because it is the haunt of 
many dangers, and it is empty because it is devoid of the lastingness, beauty, 
pleasure, and self conceived by rash people. So it is called dukkham ("badness" 
= suffering, pain), because of vileness and emptiness. [495] 

17. [Samudaya (origin):] the word sam (= prefix "con-") denotes connection, as 
in the words samagama (concourse, coming together), sameta (congregated, gone 
together), and so on. The word u denotes rising up, as in the words uppanna 
(arisen, uprisen), udita (ascended, gone up), and so on. The word aya 4 denotes a 

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reason (karana). And this second truth is the reason for the arising of suffering 
when combined with the remaining conditions. So it is called dukkha-samudaya 
(the origin of suffering) because it is the reason in combination for the arising of 
suffering. 

18. [Nirodha (cessation):] the word ni denotes absence, and the word rodha, a 
prison. 5 Now, the third truth is void of all destinies [by rebirth] and so there is no 
constraint (rodha) of suffering here reckoned as the prison of the round of rebirths; 
or when that cessation has been arrived at, there is no more constraint of suffering 
reckoned as the prison of the round of rebirths. And being the opposite of that 
prison, it is called dukkha-nirodha (cessation of suffering). Or alternatively, it is 
called "cessation of suffering" because it is a condition for the cessation of 
suffering consisting in non-arising. 

19. [Nirodhagamini patipada (way leading to cessation):] because the fourth 
truth goes (leads) to the cessation of suffering since it confronts that [cessation] 
as its object, and being the way to attain cessation of suffering, it is called dukkha- 
nirodha-gaminl patipada, the way leading to the cessation of suffering. 

20. They are called Noble Truths because the Noble Ones, the Buddhas, etc., 
penetrate them, according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, there are these Four Noble 
Truths. What four? ... These, bhikkhus are the Four Noble Truths" (S V 425). The 
Noble Ones penetrate them, therefore they are called Noble Truths. 

21. Besides, the Noble Truths are the Noble One's Truths, according as it is 
said: "Bhikkhus, in the world with its deities, its Maras and its Brahmas, in this 
generation with its ascetics and brahmans, with its princes and men, the Perfect 
One is the Noble One. That is why they are called Noble Truths" (S V 435). Or 
alternatively, they are called Noble Truths because of the nobleness implied by 
their discovery, according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, it is owing to the correct 
discovery of these Four Noble Truths that the Perfect One is called accomplished, 
fully enlightened" (S V 433). 

22. Besides, the Noble Truths are the Truths that are Noble. To be noble is to be 
not unreal; the meaning is, not deceptive, according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, 
these Four Noble Truths are real, not unreal, not otherwise that is why they are 
called Noble Truths" (S V 435). 

This is how the exposition should be known here as to derivation. 

23. 3. How as to division by character, et cetera? The truth of suffering has the 
characteristic of afflicting. [496] Its function is to burn. It is manifested as 
occurrence (as the course of an existence). The truth of origin has the 
characteristic of producing. Its function is to prevent interruption. It is manifested 
as impediment. The truth of cessation has the characteristic of peace. Its function 
is not to die. It is manifested as the signless. 6 The truth of the path has the 



4. Ay a — "reason": not in PED in this sense. 

5. Caraka — "prison": not in PED in this sense; see XIV221. 

6. "'Signless': being secluded from the sign of the five aggregates, it is taken as 
having no graspable entity (aviggaha)" (Vism-mht 525). 



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characteristic of an outlet. Its function is to abandon defilements. It is manifested 
as emergence. They have, moreover, the respective characteristics of occurrence, 
making occur, non-occurrence, and making not occur, and likewise the 
characteristics of the formed, craving, the unformed, and seeing. This is how the 
exposition should be understood here as to characteristic, et cetera. 

24. 4. As to meaning, 5. tracing out the meaning: as to "meaning" firstly, what is 
the "meaning of truth" (saccattha)? It is that which, for those who examine it 
with the eye of understanding, is not misleading like an illusion, deceptive like 
a mirage, or undiscoverable like the self of the sectarians, but is rather the domain 
of noble knowledge as the real unmisleading actual state with its aspects of 
affliction, production, quiet, and outlet. It is this real unmisleading actualness 
that should be understood as the "meaning of truth" just as [heat is] the 
characteristic of fire, and just as [it is] in the nature of the world [that things are 
subject to birth, ageing and death], according as it is said, "Bhikkhus, this 
suffering is real, not unreal, not otherwise" (S V 430), and so on, in detail. 

25. Furthermore: 

There is no pain but is affliction. 
And naught that is not pain afflicts: 
This certainty that it afflicts 
Is what is reckoned here as truth. 

No other source of pain than craving. 
Nor aught that source provides but pain: 
This certainty in causing pain 
Is why it is considered truth. 

There is no peace except Nibbana, 
Nibbana cannot but be peace: 
This certainty that it is peace 
Is what is reckoned here as truth. 

No outlet other than the path. 
Nor fails the path to be the outlet: 
Its status as the very outlet 
Has made it recognized as truth. 

This real infallibility. 
Which is their true essential core. 
Is what the wise declare to be 
Truth's meaning common to all four. 

This is how the exposition should be understood as to meaning. 

26. 5. How as to tracing out the meaning? This word "truth" (sacca) is met with in 
various meanings. In such passages as "Let him speak truth and not be angry" 
(Dhp 224) it is verbal truth. In such passages as "Ascetics and brahmans base 
themselves on truth" (?) it is the truth of abstinence [from lying]. In such passages 
as [497] "Why do they declare diverse truths, the clever talkers that hold forth?" 
(Sn 885) it is truth as views. And in such passages as "Truth is one, there is no 
second" (Sn 884) it is, as truth in the ultimate sense, both Nibbana and the path. 

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In such passages as "Of the four truths how many are profitable?" (Vibh 112; 
Patis II 108) it is noble truth. And here too it is proper as noble truth. 

This is how the exposition should be understood as to tracing out the meaning. 

27. 6. As to neither less nor more: but why are exactly four noble truths stated, 
neither less nor more? Because no other exists and because none can be 
eliminated. For there is none extra to them, nor can any one of them be eliminated, 
according as it is said: "Bhikkhus, that an ascetic or brahman here should come 
and say: 'This is not the truth of suffering, the truth of suffering is another; I 
shall set aside this truth of suffering and make known another truth of 
suffering' — that is not possible" (?) and so on, and according as it is said: 
"Bhikkhus, that any ascetic or brahman should say thus: 'This is not the first 
noble truth of suffering that is taught by the ascetic Gotama; rejecting this first 
noble truth of suffering, I shall make known another first noble truth of 
suffering' — that is not possible" (S V 428) and so on. 

28. Furthermore, when announcing occurrence, [that is, the process of existence,] 
the Blessed One announced it with a cause, and he announced non-occurrence 
as having a means thereto. So they are stated as four at the most as occurrence 
and non-occurrence and the cause of each. Likewise, they are stated as four 
since they have to be respectively fully understood, abandoned, realized, and 
developed; and also since they are the basis for craving, craving, the cessation of 
craving, and the means to the cessation of craving; and also since they are the 
reliance [depended upon], the delight in the reliance, removal of the reliance, 
and the means to the removal of the reliance. 

This is how the exposition should be understood here as to neither less nor 
more. 

29. 7. As to order, this too is only order of teaching (see XIV211). The truth of 
suffering is given first since it is easy to understand because of its grossness 
and because it is common to all living beings. The truth of origin is given next to 
show its cause. Then the truth of cessation, to make it known that with the 
cessation of the cause there is the cessation of the fruit. The truth of the path 
comes last to show the means to achieve that. [498] 

30. Or alternatively, he announced the truth of suffering first to instill a sense 
of urgency into living beings caught up in the enjoyment of the pleasure of 
becoming; and next to that, the truth of origin to make it known that that [suffering] 
neither comes about of itself as something not made nor is it due to creation by 
an Overlord, etc. (see §85), but that on the contrary it is due to this [cause]; after 
that, cessation, to instill comfort by showing the escape to those who seek the 
escape from suffering with a sense of urgency because overwhelmed by suffering 
with its cause. And after that, the path that leads to cessation, to enable them to 
attain cessation. This is how the exposition should be understood here as to 
order. 

31. 8. As to expounding birth and so on: the exposition should be understood 
here in accordance with the expositions of the things beginning with birth 
given by the Blessed One when describing the Four Noble Truths, that is to say, 



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(i) the twelve things in the description of suffering: "Birth is suffering, ageing is 
suffering/ death is suffering, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are 
suffering, association with the unloved is suffering, separation from the loved is 
suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering, in short, the five aggregates [as 
objects] of clinging are suffering" (Vibh 99); and (ii) the threefold craving in the 
description of origin: "That craving which produces further becoming, is 
accompanied by delight and greed, delighting in this and that, that is to say, 
craving for sense desires, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming" 
(Vibh 101); and (iii) Nibbana, which has one meaning only, in the description of 
cessation: "That which is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that 
same craving, giving it up, relinquishing it, letting it go, not relying on it" (Vibh 
103); and (iv) the eight things in the description of the path: "What is the noble 
truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is this Noble Eightfold 
Path, that is to say, right view, right thinking, right speech, right action, right 
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration" (Vibh 104). 

[The Truth of Suffering] 

[(i) Birth] 

32. Now, this word birth (jati) has many meanings. For in the passage "[He 
recollects ... ] one birth (jati), two births" (D I 81) it is becoming. In the passage, 
"Visakha, there is a kind (Jati) of ascetics called Niganthas (Jains)" (A I 206) it is 
a monastic order. In the passage, "Birth (jati) is included in two aggregates" 
(Dhatuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed. In the passage, "His 
birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in 
the mother's womb" (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking. [499] In the passage "As 
soon as he was born (sampatijata), Ananda, the Bodhisatta ..." (M III 123) it is 
parturition. In the passage "One who is not rejected and despised on account of 
birth" (A III 152) it is clan. In the passage "Sister, since I was born with the noble 
birth" (M II 103) it is the Noble One's virtue. 

33. Here it should be regarded as the aggregates that occur from the time of 
rebirth-linking up to the exit from the mother's womb in the case of the womb- 
born, and as only the aggregates of rebirth-linking in the case of the rest. But 
this is only an indirect treatment. In the direct sense, however, it is the first 
manifestation of any aggregates that are manifested in living beings when they 
are born anywhere that is called "birth." 

34. Its characteristic is the first genesis in any [sphere of] becoming. Its function 
is to consign [to a sphere of becoming]. It is manifested as an emerging here 
from a past becoming; or it is manifested as the variedness of suffering. 



7. "Sickness is not included here (as at D II 305 for example) because no particular 
person is meant, and there are persons in whom sickness does not arise at all, like the 
venerable Bakkula (MN 124); otherwise it may be taken as already included by suffering 
itself; for in the ultimate sense sickness is bodily pain conditioned by disturbance of 
elements" (Vism-mht 527). 



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But why is it suffering? Because it is the basis for many kinds of suffering. 8 
For there are many kinds of suffering, that is to say intrinsic suffering (dukkha- 
dukkha), 9 suffering in change (viparinama- dukkha), and suffering due to 
formations (sahkhara-dukkha); and then concealed suffering, exposed suffering, 
indirect suffering, and direct suffering. 

35. Herein, bodily and mental, painful feeling are called intrinsic suffering 
because of their individual essence, their name, and their painfulness. [Bodily 
and mental] pleasant feeling are called suffering in change because they are a 
cause for the arising of pain when they change (M I 303). Equanimous feeling 
and the remaining formations of the three planes are called suffering due to 
formations because they are oppressed by rise and fall. Such bodily and mental 
affliction as earache, toothache, fever born of lust, fever born of hate, etc., is called 
concealed suffering because it can only be known by questioning and because the 
infliction is not openly evident; it is also called "unevident suffering." The 
affliction produced by the thirty-two tortures, 10 etc., is called exposed suffering 
because it can be known without questioning and because the infliction is openly 
evident; it is also called "evident suffering." Except intrinsic suffering, all given 
in the exposition of the truth of suffering [in the Vibhahga] (Vibh 99) beginning 



8. "The question, "But why is it suffering?" means this: granted firstly that birth in 
hell is painful, since hell is unalloyed pain, and that it is painful in the other unhappy 
destinies since it is originated by bad kamma; but how is it so in the happy destinies 
since it is there originated by kamma that leads to bliss? The answer, "Because it is the 
basis for many kinds of suffering" , etc., shows that this birth is not called suffering 
because of having suffering as its individual essence — for there is no rebirth-linking 
associated with painful feeling — but rather because it is the foundation for suffering" 
(Vism-mht 528). 

Something must be said here about the words dukkha and sukha, the former being 
perhaps the hardest after dhamma to render into English. Dukkha is consistently 
rendered by either the vaguer general term "suffering" or by the more specific "[bodily] 
pain." Different, but overlapping, ideas are expressed. The latter needs no explanation; 
but "suffering" must be stretched to include the general insecurity of the whole of 
experience, of the impermanent world. For this, "uneasiness" would certainly be 
preferable ("ill" is sometimes used), but multiplication of renderings is to be avoided 
as much as possible; local accuracy is only too often gained at the cost of general 
disorientation in a work of this sort, with these very general words capable of sharp 
focusing. Again, sukha has been rendered as either "bliss" or "pleasure," though the 
latter does not at all necessarily imply any hedonism construed with sensual pleasure 
(kama). Again, "ease" (in the sense of relief) is in many ways preferable for the first 
sense but has not been used for the reason already given. 

9. "Since also what does not have suffering as its individual essence is yet called 
suffering indirectly, consequently 'intrinsic suffering' (dukkha-dukkha) is said 
particularizing what does have suffering as its individual essence, just as in the case of 
particularizing 'concrete matter'" (rupa-rupa) (see 14.77) (Vism-mht 528). For these 
three kinds see S IV 259. 

10. See MN 13 and 129, though it is not clear where the figure "thirty-two" is taken 
from. 



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with birth are also called indirect suffering because they are the basis for one kind 
of suffering or another. But intrinsic suffering is called direct suffering. 

36. Herein, this birth is suffering because it is the basis for the suffering in the 
states of loss as made evident by the Blessed One by means of a simile in the 
Balapandita Sutta (M III 165f.), etc., and for the suffering that arises in the happy 
destinies in the human world and is classed as "rooted in the descent into the 
womb," and so on. [500] 

37. Here the suffering classed as "rooted in the descent into the womb," and so on, 
is this: When this being is born in the mother's womb, he is not born inside a blue or 
red or white lotus, etc., but on the contrary, like a worm in rotting fish, rotting dough, 
cesspools, etc., he is born in the belly in a position that is below the receptacle for 
undigested food (stomach), above the receptacle for digested food (rectum), between 
the belly-lining and the backbone, which is very cramped, quite dark, pervaded by 
very fetid draughts redolent of various smells of ordure, and exception-ally 
loathsome. 11 And on being reborn there, for ten months he undergoes excessive 
suffering, being cooked like a pudding in a bag by the heat produced in the mother's 
womb, and steamed like a dumpling of dough, with no bending, stretching, and so 
on. So this, firstly, is the suffering rooted in the descent into the womb. 

38. When the mother suddenly stumbles or moves or sits down or gets up or 
turns round, the extreme suffering he undergoes by being dragged back and 
forth and jolted up and down, like a kid fallen into the hands of a drunkard, or 
like a snake's young fallen into the hands of a snake-charmer; and also the 
searing pain that he undergoes, as though he had reappeared in the cold hells, 
when his mother drinks cold water, and as though deluged by a rain of embers 
when she swallows hot rice gruel, rice, etc., and as though undergoing the 
torture of the "lye-pickling" (see M I 87), when she swallows anything salty or 
acidic, etc. — this is the suffering rooted in gestation. 

39. When the mother has an abortion, the pain that arises in him through the 
cutting and rending in the place where the pain arises that is not fit to be seen 
even by friends and intimates and companions — this is the suffering rooted in 
abortion. 

40. The pain that arises in him when the mother gives birth, through his being 
turned upside-down by the kamma-produced winds [forces] and flung into that 
most fearful passage from the womb, like an infernal chasm, and lugged out 
through the extremely narrow mouth of the womb, like an elephant through a 
keyhole, like a denizen of hell being pounded to pulp by colliding rocks — this is 
the suffering rooted in parturition. 



11. Pavana — "stench": not in PED, in this sense. The Sammohavinodani (Be) reproducing 
this passage inserts the word asuci (impurity), lacking in Ee and Ae eds. of Vism. 
Kunapa is only given the meaning of "corpse or carcass" in PED; but Vism-mht says, 
"various ordures (kunapa) such as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, excrement, gorge and so 
on" (Vism-mht 529). "Whether the mother is [twenty], [thirty], or [forty] years old, it 
is 'as exceptionally loathsome' as an excrement bucket that has not been washed for a like 
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41. The pain that arises in him after he is born, and his body, which is as 
delicate as a tender wound, is taken in the hands, bathed, washed, rubbed with 
cloths, etc., and which pain is like being pricked with needle points and gashed 
with razor blades, etc. — this is the suffering rooted in venturing outside the 
mother's womb. [501] 

42. The pain that arises afterwards during the course of existence in one who 
punishes himself, in one who devotes himself to the practice of mortification 
and austerity according to the vows of the naked ascetics, in one who starves 
through anger, and in one who hangs himself — this is the suffering rooted in 
self-violence. 

43. And that arising in one who undergoes flogging, imprisonment, etc., at 
the hands of others is the suffering rooted in others' violence. 

So this birth is the basis for all this suffering. Hence this is said: 

Now, were no being born in hell again 
The pain unbearable of scorching fires 
And all the rest would then no footing gain; 
Therefore the Sage pronounced that birth is pain. 

Many the sorts of pain that beasts endure 

When they are flogged with whips and sticks and goads, 

Since birth among them does this pain procure, 

Birth there is pain: the consequence is sure. 

While ghosts know pain in great variety 
Through hunger, thirst, wind, sun and what not too, 
None, unless born there, knows this misery; 
So birth the Sage declares this pain to be. 

In the world-interspace, where demons dwell 

In searing cold and inspissated gloom, 

Is pain requiring birth there for its spell; 

So with the birth the pain ensues as well. 

The horrible torment a being feels on coming out, 

When he has spent long months shut up inside the 

mother's womb — 
A hellish tomb of excrement — would never come about 
Without rebirth: that birth is pain there is no room for doubt. 

But why elaborate? At any time or anywhere 

Can there exist a painful state if birth do not precede? 

Indeed this Sage so great, when he expounded pain, 

took care 
First to declare rebirth as pain, the condition needed there. 

This, firstly, is the exposition of birth. [502] 



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[(h) Ageing] 

44. Ageing is suffering: ageing is twofold; as a characteristic of whatever is 
formed, and in the case of a continuity, as the oldness of aggregates included in 
a single becoming, which oldness is known as "brokenness" and so on (see M 
III 249). The latter is intended here. 

But this ageing has as its characteristic the maturing (ripening) of aggregates. 
Its function is to lead on to death. It is manifested as the vanishing of youth. It is 
suffering because of the suffering due to formations and because it is a basis for 
suffering. 

45. Ageing is the basis for the bodily and mental suffering that arises owing to 
many conditions such as leadenness in all the limbs, decline and warping of the 
faculties, vanishing of youth, undermining of strength, loss of memory and 
intelligence, contempt on the part of others, and so on. 

Hence this is said: 

With leadenness in every limb, 
With every faculty declining, 
With vanishing of youthfulness, 
With memory and wit grown dim, 

With strength now drained by undermining, 
With growing unattractiveness 
To wife and family and then 
With dotage coming on, what pain 

Alike of body and of mind 
A mortal must expect to find! 
Since ageing all of this will bring, 
Ageing is well named suffering. 

This is the exposition of ageing. 

[(in) Death] 

46. Death is suffering: death too is twofold, as a characteristic of the formed, 
with reference to which it is said, "Ageing and death are included in the 
aggregates" (Dhatuk 15), and as the severing of the connection of the life faculty 
included in a single becoming, with reference to which it is said, "So mortals 
are in constant fear ... that they will die" (Sn 576). The latter is intended here. 
Death with birth as its condition, death by violence, death by natural causes, death 
from exhaustion of the life span, death from exhaustion of merit, are names for it. 

47. It has the characteristic of a fall. Its function is to disjoin. It is manifested as 
absence from the destiny [in which there was the rebirth] . It should be understood 
as suffering because it is a basis for suffering. 

Hence this is said: 

Without distinction as they die 
Pain grips their minds impartially 
When wicked men their foul deeds see 



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Or sign of new rebirth, may be. 

Also when good men cannot bear 

To part from all that they hold dear. 

Then bodily pain severs sinews. 

Joints and so on, and continues [503] 

Torture unbearable, which racks 

All those whose vitals death attacks 

With grip that shall no more relax. 

Death is the basis of such pain. 

And this suffices to explain 

Why death the name of pain should gain. 

This is the exposition of death. 

[(iv) Sorrow] 

48. As regards sorrow, etc., sorrow is a burning in the mind in one affected by 
loss of relatives, and so on. Although in meaning it is the same as grief, 
nevertheless it has inner consuming as its characteristic, its function is completely 
to consume the mind. It is manifested as continual sorrowing. It is suffering 
because it is intrinsic suffering and because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this 
is said: 

Sorrow is a poisoned dart 
That penetrates a being's heart; 
Setting up a burning there 
Like burning with a red-hot spear. 

This state of mind brings future pain (see XVII. 273f.) 
Such as disease, and then again 
Ageing and death, so one may tell 
Where for it is called pain as well. 
This is the exposition of sorrow. 

[(v) Lamentation] 

49. Lamentation is verbal clamour on the part of one affected by loss of relatives 
and so on. It has crying out as its characteristic. Its function is proclaiming 
virtues and vices. It is manifested as tumult. It is suffering because it is a state of 
suffering due to formations and because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is 
said: 

Now, when a man is struck by sorrows dart and he laments 
The pain he is already undergoing he augments 
With pain born of dry throat and lips and palate, hard to bear. 
And so lamenting too is pain, the Buddha did declare. 

This is the exposition of lamentation. 



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[(vi) Pain] 

50. Pain is bodily pain. Its characteristic is the oppression of the body. Its 
function is to cause grief in the foolish. It is manifested as bodily affliction. It is 
suffering because it is intrinsic suffering, and because it brings mental suffering. 
Hence this is said: 

Pain distresses bodily. 

Thereby distressing mentally again; 

So acting fundamentally. 

It therefore is especially called pain. 

This is the exposition of pain. [504] 

[(vn) Grief] 

51. Grief is mental pain. Its characteristic is mental oppression. Its function is 
to distress the mind. It is manifested as mental affliction. It is suffering because 
it is intrinsic suffering, and because it brings bodily suffering. For those who 
are gripped by mental pain tear their hair, weep, thump their breasts, and twist 
and writhe; they throw themselves upside-down, 12 use the knife, swallow poison, 
hang themselves with ropes, walk into fires, and undergo many kinds of suffering. 
Hence this is said: 

Though grief itself distresses mind. 
It makes distress of bodily kind occur. 
And that is why this mental grief 
Is pain, as those that have no grief aver. 

This is the exposition of grief. 

[(vm) Despair] 

52. Despair is the same as the humour produced by excessive mental suffering 
in one affected by loss of relatives, and so on. Some say that it is one of the states 
included in the formations aggregate. Its characteristic is burning of the mind. 
Its function is to bemoan. It is manifested as dejection. It is suffering because it is 
suffering due to formations, because of the burning of the mind, and because of 
bodily dejection. Hence this is said: 

So great the pain despair imparts 

It burns the heart as with fever's flame; 

The body's function it impairs 

And so despair borrows from pain its name. 

This is the exposition of despair. 

53. Sorrow is like the cooking [of oil, etc.] 13 in a pot over a slow fire. Lamentation 
is like its boiling over from the pot when cooking over a quick fire. Despair is like 



12. Ee and Ae read uddhapadam (or iiddham padatn) papatanti, but Vibh-a (Be) reads 
chinnapapatam papatanti. The former reading is favoured by Vism-mht. 

13. Vibh-a (Be) adds teladlnam; not in Ee and Ae texts. 

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what remains in the pot after it has boiled over and is unable to do so any more, 
going on cooking in the pot till it dries up. 

[(ix) Association with the Unloved] 

54. Association with the unloved is meeting with disagreeable beings and 
formations (inanimate things). Its characteristic is association with the 
undesirable. Its function is to distress the mind. It is manifested as a harmful 
state. It is suffering because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said: 

The mere sight of an unloved thing 
Brings firstly mental suffering. 
And suffering of body too 
Through touching it can then ensue. 

And we therefore may recognize. 
Since meeting the unloved gives rise 
To either kind of pain, that 
He decided pain its name should be. 

This is the exposition of association with the unloved. [505] 

[(x) Separation from the Loved] 

55. Separation from the loved is to be parted from agreeable beings and formations 
(inanimate things). Its characteristic is dissociation from desirable objects. Its 
function is to arouse sorrow. It is manifested as loss. It is suffering because it is 
a basis for the suffering of sorrow. Hence this is said: 

The dart of sorrow wounds the heart 
Of fools who from their wealth must part or kin. 
Which roughly should be grounds enough 
For counting the loved lost as suffering. 

This is the exposition of separation from the loved. 

[(xi) Not to Get What One Wants] 

56. Not to get what one wants: the want itself of some unobtainable object [expressed] 
in such passages as "Oh, that we were not subject to birth!" (Vibh 101) is called 
suffering since one does not get what is wanted. Its characteristic is the wanting of 
an unobtainable object. Its function is to seek that. It is manifested as disappointment. 
It is suffering because it is a basis for suffering. Hence this is said: 

When beings here expect to gain 
Something they build their hopes upon 
Which fails them, they are woebegone 
With disappointment's numbing pain. 

Thereof the cause is hope they wed 
To something they cannot obtain: 
"Not to get what one wants is pain" 
The Conqueror has therefore said. 

This is the exposition of not to get what one wants. 



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[(xn) The Five Aggregates] 

57. In short the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging: 

Now, birth and ageing and each thing 
Told in describing suffering, 
And those not mentioned, could not be 
Were there no aggregates for clinging. 

Wherefore these aggregates for clinging 
Are taken in totality 
As pain by Him, the Dhamma's King, 
Who taught the end of suffering. 

58. For birth, etc., thus oppress the pentad of aggregates [as objects] of clinging 
as fire does fuel, as shooting does a target, as gadflies, flies, etc., do a cow's body, 
as reapers do a field, as village raiders do a Village; and they are generated in 
the aggregates as weeds, creepers, etc., are on the ground, as flowers, fruits and 
sprouts are on trees. 

59. And the aggregates [as objects] of clinging have birth as their initial 
suffering, ageing as their medial suffering, and death as their final suffering. The 
suffering due to burning in one who is the victim of the pain that threatens death 
is sorrow. The suffering consisting in crying out by one who is unable to bear 
that is lamentation. Next, the suffering consisting in affliction of the body due to 
the contact of undesirable tangible data, in other words, disturbance of the 
elements, is pain. [506] The suffering oppressing the mind through resistance to 
that in ordinary people oppressed by it, is grief. The suffering consisting in 
brooding 14 in those dejected by the augmentation of sorrow, etc., is despair. The 
suffering consisting in frustration of wants in those whose hopes are 
disappointed is not to get what one wants. So when their various aspects are 
examined, the aggregates [as objects] of clinging are themselves suffering. 

60. It is impossible to tell it [all] without remainder, showing each kind of 
suffering, even [by going on doing so] for many eons, so the Blessed One said, 
"In short the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging are suffering" in order to 
show in short how all that suffering is present in any of the five aggregates [as 
objects] of clinging in the same way that the taste of the water in the whole ocean 
is to be found in a single drop of its water. 

This is the exposition of the aggregates [as objects] of clinging. This, firstly, is 
the method for the description of suffering. 

[The Truth of the Origin of Suffering] 

61. But in the description of the origin, the expression yayam tanha (that craving 
which) = ycL ayam tanha. [As regards the expression] produces further becoming: it 
is a making become again, thus it is "becoming again" (punabbhava); becoming 
again is its habit, thus it "produces further becoming" (ponobbhavika). The 
expression nandiragasahagata (accompanied by concern and greed) = nandiragena 

14. Anutthunana — "brooding": not in PED = anto nijjhayana (Vism-mht 532). 

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sahagata; what is meant is that it is identical in meaning with delight and greed. 
Concerned with this and that: wherever personality is generated there is concern 
with that. The expression that is to say (seyyathidam) is a particle; its meaning is 
"which is that." Craving for sense desires, craving for becoming, craving for non- 
becoming will be explained in the Description of Dependent Origination 
(XVII.233ff.). Although this is threefold, it should nevertheless be understood as 
"the noble truth of the origin of suffering," taking it as one in the sense of its 
generating the truth of suffering. 

[The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering] 

62. In the description of the cessation of suffering it is the cessation of the origin 
that is stated by the words that which is ... of that same craving, and so on. Why is 
that? Because the cessation of suffering comes about with the cessation of its 
origin. For it is with the cessation of its origin that suffering ceases, not otherwise. 
Hence it is said: [507] 

"Just as a tree cut down grows up again 

While yet its root remains unharmed and sound, 

So with the tendency to crave intact 

This suffering is ever reproduced" (Dhp 338). 

63. So it is because suffering ceases only through the cessation of its origin 
that, when teaching the cessation of suffering, the Blessed One therefore taught 
the cessation of the origin. For the Perfect Ones behave like lions. 15 When they 
make suffering cease and when they teach the cessation of suffering, they deal 
with the cause, not the fruit. But the sectarians behave like dogs. When they 
make suffering cease and when they teach the cessation of suffering, by teaching 
devotion to self-mortification, etc., they deal with the fruit, not the cause. This, in 
the first place, is how the motive for teaching the cessation of suffering by means 
of the cessation of its origin should be understood. 

64. This is the meaning. Of that same craving: of that craving which, it was said, 
"produces further becoming," and which was classed as "craving for sense 
desires" and so on. It is the path that is called fading away; for "With the fading 
away [of greed] he is liberated" (M I 139) is said. Fading away and cessation is 
cessation through fading away. Remainderless fading away and cessation is cessation 
through fading away that is remainderless because of eradication of inherent 
tendencies. Or alternatively, it is abandoning that is called fading away; and so 
the construction here can be regarded as "remainderless fading away, 
remainderless cessation." 

65. But as to meaning, all of them are synonyms for Nibbana. For in the ultimate 
sense it is Nibbana that is called "the noble truth of the cessation of suffering." 

15. "Just as a lion directs his strength against the man who shot the arrow at him, 
not against the arrow, so the Buddhas deal with the cause, not with the fruit. But just 
as dogs, when struck with a clod, snarl and bite the clod and do not attack the striker, 
so the sectarians who want to make suffering cease devote themselves to mutilating 
the body, not to causing cessation of defilements" (Vism-mht 533). 

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But because craving fades away and ceases on coming to that, 16 it is therefore 
called "fading away" and "cessation." And because there comes to be the giving 
up, etc., of that [craving] on coming to that [Nibbana], and since there is not even 
one kind of reliance here [to be depended upon] from among the reliances 
consisting in the cords of sense desires, etc., it is therefore called giving it up, 
relinquishing it, letting it go, not relying on it. 

66. It has peace as its characteristic. Its function is not to die; or its function is 
to comfort. It is manifested as the signless; or it is manifested as non- 
diversification. 17 

[Discussion on Nibbana] 

67. [Question 1] Is Nibbana non-existent because it is unapprehendable, like 
the hare's horn? 



16. "'On coming to that (tarn agamma)': on reaching that Nibbana by making it the 
object" (Vism-mht 533). Agamma (ger. of agacchati — to come) is commonly used as an 
adverb in the sense of "owing to" (e.g. at M 1 119). Here, however, it is taken literally by 
the Commentaries and forms an essential part of the ontological proof of the positive 
existence of Nibbana. The Sammohavinodam (commentary on the Ayatana-Vibhahga 
Abhidhamma-bhajaniya) refutes the suggestion of a disputant (vitandavadin) who 
asserts that Nibbana is "mere destruction" (khayamatta) . The arguments used are 
merely supplementary to those in §69 here, and so are not quoted. The conclusion of 
the argument is worth noting, however, because of the emphasis on the words "tarn 
agamma." It is this: "It is on coming to Nibbana that greed, etc., are destroyed. It is the 
same Nibbana that is called 'destruction of greed, destruction of hate, destruction of 
delusion.' These are just three terms for Nibbana — When this was said, he asked: You 
say 'On coming to' (agamma); from where have you got this 'on coming to'? — It is got 
from the Suttas — Quote the sutta — 'Thus ignorance and craving, on coming to that, 
are destroyed in that, are abolished in that, nor does anything anywhere . . . (evam avijja 
ca tanha ca tarn agamma tamhi khlnam tamhi bhaggam na ca kind kadaci ... ).' When this was 
said, the other was silent." The quotation has not been traced. 

17. Nippapanca (non-diversification) is one of the synonyms for Nibbana. The word 
papahca is commonly used in the Commentaries in the sense (a) of an impediment or 
obstacle (Dhp-a I 18), and (b) as a delay, or diffuseness (XVII. 73). The sense in which 
the word is used in the Suttas is that of diversifying and is best exemplified at M I 111: 
"Friends, due to eye and to a visible object eye-consciousness arises. The coincidence 
of the three is contact. With contact as condition there is feeling. What a man feels that 
he perceives. What he perceives he thinks about. What he thinks about he diversifies 
(papahceti). Owing to his having diversified, the evaluation of diversifying perceptions 
besets a man with respect to past, future, and present visible objects," and so on. This 
kind of papanca is explained by the Commentaries as "due to craving, pride and 
views" (M-a I 25; II 10; II 75, etc.), and it may be taken as the diversifying action, the 
choosing and rejecting, the approval and disapproval (M I 65), exercised by craving, 
etc., on the bare material supplied by perception and thought. Consequently, though 
it is bound up with craving, etc., a false emphasis is given in rendering papahca in 
these contexts by "obsession" as is done in PED. Nippapahca as a term for Nibbana 
emphasizes the absence of that. 



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[Answer] That is not so, because it is apprehendable by the [right] means. For 
it is apprehendable [by some, namely, the nobles ones] by the [right] means, in 
other words, by the way that is appropriate to it, [the way of virtue, concentration, 
and understanding]; it is like the supramundane consciousness of others, [which 
is apprehendable only by certain of the Noble Ones] by means of knowledge of 
penetration of others' minds. Therefore it should not be said that it is non-existent 
because unapprehendable; for it should not be said that what the foolish ordinary 
man does not apprehend is unapprehendable. 

68. Again, it should not be said that Nibbana does not exist. Why not? Because 
it then follows that the way would be futile. [508] For if Nibbana were non- 
existent, then it would follow that the right way, which includes the three 
aggregates beginning with virtue and is headed by right understanding, would 
be futile. And it is not futile because it does reach Nibbana. 

[Q. 2] But futility of the way does not follow because what is reached is absence, 
[that is, absence of the five aggregates consequent upon the cutting off of the 
defilements]. 

[A.] That is not so. Because, though there is absence of past and future 
[aggregates], there is nevertheless no reaching of Nibbana [simply because of 
that]. 

[Q. 3] Then is the absence of present [aggregates] as well Nibbana? 

[A.] That is not so. Because their absence is an impossibility, since if they are 
absent their non-presence follows. [Besides, if Nibbana were absence of present 
aggregates too,] that would entail the fault of excluding the arising of the Nibbana 
element with result of past clinging left, at the path moment, which has present 
aggregates as its support. 

[Q. 4] Then will there be no fault if it is non-presence of defilements [that is 
Nibbana]? 

[A.] That is not so. Because it would then follow that the noble path was 
meaningless. For if it were so, then, since defilements [can be] non-existent also 
before the moment of the noble path, it follows that the noble path would be 
meaningless. Consequently that is no reason; [it is unreasonable to say that 
Nibbana is unapprehendable, that it is non-existence, and so on]. 

69. [Q. 5] But is not Nibbana destruction, because of the passage beginning, 
"That, friend, which is the destruction of greed ... [of hate ... of delusion ... is 
Nibbana]?" (S IV 251). 

[A.] That is not so, because it would follow that Arahantship also was mere 
destruction. For that too is described in the [same] way beginning, "That, friend, 
which is the destruction of greed ... of hate ... of delusion ... is Arahantship]" (S 
IV 252). 

And what is more, the fallacy then follows that Nibbana would be temporary, 
etc.; for if it were so, it would follow that Nibbana would be temporary, have the 
characteristic of being formed, and be obtainable regardless of right effort; and 
precisely because of its having formed characteristics it would be included in 



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the formed, and it would be burning with the fires of greed, etc., and because of 
its burning it would follow that it was suffering. 

[Q. 6] Is there no fallacy if Nibbana is that kind of destruction subsequent to 
which there is no more occurrence? 

[A.] That is not so. Because there is no such kind of destruction. And even if 
there were, the aforesaid fallacies would not be avoided. 

Also because it would follow that the noble path was Nibbana. For the noble 
path causes the destruction of defects, and that is why it is called "destruction"; 
and subsequent to that there is no more occurrence of the defects. 

70. But it is because the kind of destruction called "cessation consisting in 
non-arising," [that is, Nibbana,] serves figuratively speaking as decisive-support 
[for the path] that [Nibbana] is called "destruction" as a metaphor for it. 

[Q. 7] Why is it not stated in its own form? 

[A.] Because of its extreme subtlety And its extreme subtlety is established because 
it inclined the Blessed One to inaction, [that is, to not teaching the Dhamma (see M 
1 186)] and because a Noble One's eye is needed to see it (see M I 510). 

71 . It is not shared by all because it can only be reached by one who is possessed 
of the path. And it is uncreated because it has no first beginning. 

[Q. 8] Since it is, when the path is, then it is not uncreated. 

[A.] That is not so, because it is not arousable by the path; it is only reachable, 
not arousable, by the path; that is why it is uncreated. It is because it is uncreated 
that it is free from ageing and death. It is because of the absence of its creation 
and of its ageing and death that it is permanent. [509] 

72. [Q. 9] Then it follows that Nibbana, too, has the kind of permanence [claimed] 
of the atom and so on. 

[A.] That is not so. Because of the absence of any cause [that brings about its 
arising]. 

[Q. 10] Because Nibbana has permanence, then, these [that is, the atom, etc.] 
are permanent as well. 

[A.] That is not so. Because [in that proposition] the characteristic of [logical] 
cause does not arise. [In other words, to say that Nibbana is permanent is not to 
assert a reason why the atom, etc., should be permanent] 

[Q. 11] Then they are permanent because of the absence of their arising, as 
Nibbana is. 

[A.] That is not so. Because the atom and so on have not been established as facts. 

73. The aforesaid logical reasoning proves that only this [that is, Nibbana] is 
permanent [precisely because it is uncreated]; and it is immaterial because it 
transcends the individual essence of matter. 

The Buddhas' goal is one and has no plurality. But this [single goal, Nibbana,] 
is firstly called with result of past clinging left since it is made known together 
with the [aggregates resulting from past] clinging still remaining [during the 
Arahant's life], being thus made known in terms of the stilling of defilement 

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and the remaining [result of past] clinging that are present in one who has 
reached it by means of development. But [secondly, it is called without result of 
fast clinging left] since after the last consciousness of the Arahant, who has 
abandoned arousing [future aggregates] and so prevented kamma from giving 
result in a future [existence], there is no further arising of aggregates of existence, 
and those already arisen have disappeared. So the [result of past] clinging that 
remained is non-existent; and it is in terms of this non-existence, in the sense 
that "there is no [result of past] clinging here" that that [same goal is called] 
without result of past clinging left (see It 38). 

74. Because it can be arrived at by distinction of knowledge that succeeds 
through untiring perseverance, and because it is the word of the Omniscient 
One, Nibbana is not non-existent as regards individual essence in the ultimate 
sense; for this is said: "Bhikkhus, there is an unborn, an unbecome, an unmade, 
an unformed" (It 37; Ud 80). 18 

18. This discussion falls under three headings: Questions one to four refute the 
assertion that Nibbana is mythical and non-existent; questions five to seven refute the 
assertion that Nibbana is "mere destruction;" (further argued in the Sammohavinodani — 
Vibh-a 51f.) the remaining questions deal with the proof that only Nibbana (and not 
the atom, etc.,) is permanent because uncreated. 

The Paramatthamanjilsa (Vism-mht) covers the subject at great length and reinforces 
the arguments given here with much syllogistic reasoning. However, only the following 
paragraph will be quoted here, which is reproduced in the commentaries to Ud 80 and 
It 37. (The last sentence marked ** appears only in the Udana Commentary. Readings 
vary considerably): 

"Now, in the ultimate sense the existingness of the Nibbana-element has been 
demonstrated by the Fully Enlightened One, compassionate for the whole world, by 
many sutta passages such as 'Dhammas without condition,' 'Unformed dhammas' 
(see Dhs 2), 'Bhikkhus, there is that base (sphere) where neither earth ... ' (Ud 80), 
'This state is very hard to see, that is to say the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing 
of all substance of becoming' (D II 36; M I 167), 'Bhikkhus, I shall teach you the 
unformed and the way leading to the unformed' (S IV 362), and so on, and in this 
sutta, 'Bhikkhus, there is an unborn ..." (It 87; Ud 80). So even if the wise trust 
completely in the Dispensation and have no doubts, though they may not yet have had 
direct perception of it, nevertheless there are persons who come to understand through 
another's guidance (reading paraneyya-buddhino); and the intention here is that this 
logical reasoning under the heading of deduction (niddharana) should be for the purpose 
of removing their doubts. 

"Just as it is owing to full-understanding (reading yatha parihneyyataya) that from 
the sense desires and from materiality, etc (reading rupadinam), that have something 
beyond them, there is made known an escape [from them] that is their opposite and 
whose individual essence is devoid of them, so there must exist an escape that is the 
opposite of, and whose individual essence is devoid of, all formed dhammas, all of 
which have the aforesaid individual essence (reading evam tam-sabhavanam), and it is 
this escape that is the unformed element. 

"Besides, insight knowledge, which has formed dhammas as its object, and also 
conformity knowledge, abandon the defilements with the abandoning consisting in 
substitution of opposites, being unable to abandon them with the abandoning 

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This is the section of the definition dealing with the description of the cessation 
of suffering. 

[The Truth of the Way] 

75. In the description of the way leading to the cessation of suffering eight things 
are given. Though they have, of course, already been explained as to meaning in 
the Description of the Aggregates, still we shall deal with them here in order to 
remain aware of the difference between them when they occur in a single moment 
[on the occasion of the path]. 

76. Briefly (see XXII. 31 for details), when a meditator is progressing towards 
the penetration of the four truths, his eye of understanding with Nibbana as its 
object eliminates the inherent tendency to ignorance, and that is right view. It has 
right seeing as its characteristic. Its function is to reveal elements. It is manifested 
as the abolition of the darkness of ignorance. 

77. When he possesses such view, his directing of the mind on to Nibbana, 
which [directing] is associated with that [right view], abolishes wrong thinking, 
and that is right thinking. Its characteristic is right directing of the mind on to [its 
object]. Its function is to bring about absorption [of the path consciousness in 
Nibbana as object]. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong thinking. 

78. And when he sees and thinks thus, his abstinence from wrong speech, 
which abstinence is associated with that [right view], abolishes bad verbal 



consisting in cutting off. Likewise, the kind of knowledge that has conventional truth 
(sammuti-sacca) [that is, concepts] as its object, in the first jhana, etc., abandons the 
defilements only with the abandoning consisting in suppression, not by cutting them 
off. So, because the kind of knowledge that has formed dhammas as its object and that 
which has conventional truth as its object are both incapable of abandoning defilements 
by cutting them off, there must [consequently] exist an object for the noble-path- 
knowledge that effects their abandonment by cutting them off, [which object must be] 
of a kind opposite to both. And it is this that is the unformed element. 

"Likewise, the words, 'Bhikkhus, there is an unborn, an unbecome, an unmade, an 
unformed' and so on, which demonstrate the existingness of Nibbana in the ultimate 
sense, are not misleading because they are spoken by the Blessed One, like the words, 
'All formations are impermanent, all formations are painful, all dhammas (states) are 
not self (Dhp 277-79; A I 286, etc.). 

"Likewise, in certain instances as regards scope, the word 'Nibbana' has the correct 
ultimate meaning for its scope [precisely] because of the existence of its use as a mere 
metaphor — like the word 'lion' (see Ch. XY note 12, for the word lion). *Or alternatively, 
the unformed element exists in the ultimate sense also, because its individual essence 
is the opposite of, is free from, that of the other kind [of element such as] the earth 
element and feeling*" (Vism-mht 534-40). The Pali of the last two paragraphs is taken 
to read thus: 

"Tatha 'atthi bhikkhave ajatam abhutam akatam asahkhatan' ti idam nibbana-padassa 
paramatthato atthibhava-jotakam vacanam aviparltattham bhagavata kathitatta; yam hi bhagavata 
bhasitam tarn aviparltattham yatha tarn 'sabbe sahkhara anicca sabbe sahkhara dukkha sabbe 
dhamma anatta' ti. 

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conduct, [510] and that is called right speech. It has the characteristic of 
embracing. 19 Its function is to abstain. It is manifested as the abandoning of 
wrong speech. 

79. When he abstains thus, his abstinence from killing living things, which 
abstinence is associated with that [right view], cuts off wrong action, and that is 
called right action. It has the characteristic of originating. 20 Its function is to 
abstain. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong action. 

80. When his right speech and right action are purified, his abstinence from 
wrong livelihood, which abstinence is associated with that, [right view] cuts off 
scheming, etc., and that is called right livelihood. It has the characteristic of 
cleansing. 21 Its function is to bring about the occurrence of a proper livelihood. 
It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong livelihood. 

81. When he is established on that plane of virtue called right speech, right 
action, and right livelihood, his energy, which is in conformity and associated 
with that [right view], cuts off idleness, and that is called right effort. It has the 
characteristic of exerting. Its function is the non-arousing of unprofitable things, 
and so on. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong effort. 

82. When he exerts himself thus, the non-forgetfulness in his mind, which is 
associated with that [right view], shakes off wrong mindfulness, and that is 
called right mindfulness. It has the characteristic of establishing. 22 Its function is 
not to forget. It is manifested as the abandoning of wrong mindfulness. 

83. When his mind is thus guarded by supreme mindfulness, the unification 
of mind, which is associated with that [right view], abolishes wrong 
concentration, and that is called right concentration. It has the characteristic of 



"Tatha nibbana-saddo katthaci (pi) visaye yathabhuta-paramatthavisayo upacaravuttimatta- 
sabhavato (pi) seyyatha pi stha-saddo. *Atha va atth'eva paramatthato asahkhata-dhatu itaram 
tabbiparltavimutta-sabhavatta seyyatha pi pathavl-dhatu vedana va ti."* 

The discussion is summarized and additional arguments are added in the 
Abhidhammavatara. The later Abhidhammatthasangaha appears to have shelved the 
problem. It may be noted that in the whole of this discussion (particularly in the 
answer to Q. 4) no mention is made of the abandoning of the inherent tendencies 
(anusaya) in the attainment of Nibbana (see, e.g., MN 64; S II 66). For derivations of the 
word "Nibbana" see VIII.247 and note 72. 

19. "Right speech has as its individual essence the embracing of associated states 
through affectionateness because it is the opposite of false speech and the other 
kinds, which, being rough owing to their respective functions of deceiving, etc., do not 
embrace" (Vism-mht 541). 

20. "Bodily work (kayika-kriya) originates (sets up) whatever has to be done. And that 
originating (setting up) is itself a combining, so the abstinence called right action is 
said to have originating as its individual essence. Or it is the picking up of associated 
states which is the causing of them to be originated, on the part of bodily work, like 
the picking up of a burden" (Vism-mht 541). 

21. "The purification of a living being or of associated states is 'cleansing'" (Vism- 
mht 541). 

22. Viniddhunana — "shaking off": not in PED, (but see under dhunati); cf. 11.11. 

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non-distraction. Its function is to concentrate. It is manifested as the abandoning 
of wrong concentration. 

This is the method in the description of the way leading to the cessation of 
suffering. 

This is how the exposition should be understood here as to defining birth 
and so on. 

[General] 

84. 9. As to knowledge' s function (see §14): the exposition should be understood 
according to knowledge of the truths. For knowledge of the truths is twofold, 
namely, knowledge as idea and knowledge as penetration (cf. S V 431 f; also 
XXII. 92ff.). Herein, knowledge as idea is mundane and occurs through hearsay, 
etc., about cessation and the path. Knowledge consisting in penetration, which 
is supramundane, penetrates the four truths as its function by making cessation 
its object, according as it is said, "Bhikkhus, he who sees suffering sees also the 
origin of suffering, sees also the cessation of suffering, sees also the way leading 
to the cessation of suffering" (S V 437), and it should be repeated thus of all [four 
truths]. But its function will be made clear in the purification by knowledge and 
vision (XXII.92f.). [511] 

85. When this knowledge is mundane, then, occurring as the overcoming of 
obsessions, the knowledge of suffering therein forestalls the [false] view of 
individuality; the knowledge of origin forestalls the annihilation view; the 
knowledge of cessation forestalls the eternity view; the knowledge of the path 
forestalls the moral-inefficacy-of-action view. Or alternatively, the knowledge of 
suffering forestalls wrong theories of fruit, in other words, [seeing] lastingness, 
beauty, pleasure, and self in the aggregates, which are devoid of lastingness, 
beauty, pleasure, and self; and knowledge of origin forestalls wrong theories of 
cause that occur as finding a reason where there is none, such as "The world 
occurs owing to an Overlord, a Basic Principle, Time, Nature (Individual 
Essence)," etc.; 23 the knowledge of cessation forestalls such wrong theories of 

23. "Those who hold that there is an Overlord (Omnipotent Being) as reason say, 
'An Overlord (issara) makes the world occur, prepares it, halts, it, disposes of it.' Those 
who hold that there is a Basic Principle as reason say, 'The world is manifested from 
out of a Basic Principle (padhana), and it is reabsorbed in that again.' Those who hold 
the theory of Time say: 

Time it is that creates beings, 

Disposes of this generation; 

Time watches over those who sleep; 

To outstrip Time is hard indeed. 
Those who hold the theory of Nature (sabhava — individual essence) say, 'The world 
appears and disappears (sambhoti vibhoti ca) just because of its nature (individual 
essence), like the sharp nature (essence) of thorns, like the roundness of wood-apples 
(kabittha = Feronia elephantum), like the variedness of wild beasts, birds, snakes, and so 
on.' The word, 'etc' refers to those who preach fatalism and say, 'The occurrence of 
the world is due to atoms. All is due to causes effected in the past. The world is 



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cessation as taking final release to be in the immaterial world, in a World Apex 
(Shrine), etc.; and the path knowledge forestalls wrong theories of means that 
occur by taking to be the way of purification what is not the way of purification 
and consists in devotion to indulgence in the pleasures of sense desire and in 
self-mortification. Hence this is said: 

As long as a man is vague about the world. 
About its origin, about its ceasing. 
About the means that lead to its cessation. 
So long he cannot recognize the truths. 

This is how the exposition should be understood here as to knowledge's 
function. 

86. 10. As to division of content: all states excepting craving and states free from 
cankers are included in the truth of suffering. The thirty-six modes of behaviour 
of craving 24 are included in the truth of origin. The truth of cessation is unmixed. 
As regards the truth of the path: the heading of right view includes the fourth road 
to power consisting in inquiry, the understanding faculty, the understanding 
power, and the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor. The term right thinking 
includes the three kinds of applied thought beginning with that of renunciation 
(D III 215). The term right speech includes the four kinds of good verbal conduct 
(A II 131). The term right action includes the three kinds of good bodily conduct 
(cf. M I 287). The heading right livelihood includes fewness of wishes and 
contentment. Or all these [three] constitute the virtue loved by Noble Ones, and 
the virtue loved by Noble Ones has to be embraced by the hand of faith; 

determined, like drilled gems threaded on an unbroken string. There is no doing by 
a man'; and to those who preach chance: It is by chance that they occur, 

By chance as well that they do not; 

Pleasure and pain are due to chance, 

This generation [lives] by chance; 

and to those who preach liberation by chance. 
"'Taking final release to be in the immaterial world" like that of Ramudaka, Alara (see 
MN 26), etc., or 'in a World Apex {World Shrine — lokathupika)' like that of the Niganthas 
(Jains). And by the word, 'etc' are included also the preachers of 'Nibbana here and 
now' as the self's establishment in its own self when it has become dissociated from 
the qualities (guna) owing to the non-occurrence of the Basic Principle (padhana, Skr. 
pradhana — see the Samkhya system), and being in the same world as, in the presence 
of, or in union with, Brahma" (Vism-mht 543). 

24. "The 'thirty-six modes of behaviour of craving' are the three, craving for sense desires, 
for becoming, and for non-becoming, in the cases of each one of the twelve internal- 
external bases; or they are those given in the Khuddakavatthu-Vibhahga (Vibh 391 
and 396), leaving out the three periods of time, for with those they come to one 
hundred and eight" (Vism-mht 544). '"Thoughts of renunciation, etc.': in the mundane 
moment they are the three separately, that is, non-greed, loving kindness, and 
compassion; they are given as one at the path moment, owing to the cutting off of 
greed, ill will and cruelty" (Vism-mht 544). 

"'Consciousness concentration (citta-samadhi)' is the road to power consisting of 
[purity of] consciousness, they say" (Vism-mht 544). 

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consequently the faith faculty, the faith power, and the road to power consisting 
in zeal are included because of the presence of these [three]. The term right effort 
includes fourfold right endeavour, the energy faculty, energy power, and energy 
enlightenment factor. The term right mindfulness includes the fourfold foundation 
of mindfulness, the mindfulness faculty, the mindfulness power, and the 
mindfulness enlightenment factor. The term right concentration includes the three 
kinds of concentration beginning with that accompanied by applied and 
sustained thought (D III 219), consciousness concentration, the concentration 
faculty, [512] the concentration power, and the enlightenment factors of 
happiness, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity. 

This is how the exposition should be understood as to division of content. 

87. 11. As to simile: The truth of suffering should be regarded as a burden, the 
truth of origin as the taking up of the burden, the truth of cessation as the 
putting down of the burden, the truth of the path as the means to putting down 
the burden (see S III 26), The truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin 
is like the cause of the disease, the truth of cessation is like the cure of the disease, 
and the truth of the path is like the medicine. Or the truth of suffering is like a 
famine, the truth of origin is like a drought, the truth of cessation is like plenty, 
and the truth of the path is like timely rain. 

Furthermore, these truths can be understood in this way by applying these 
similes: enmity, the cause of the enmity, the removal of the enmity, and the means 
to remove the enmity; a poison tree, the tree's root, the cutting of the root, and the 
means to cut the root; fear, the cause of fear, freedom from fear, and the means to 
attain it; the hither shore, the great flood, the further shore, and the effort to reach it. 

This is how the exposition should be understood as to simile. 

88. 12. As to tetrad: (a) there is suffering that is not noble truth, (b) there is noble 
truth that is not suffering, (c) there is what is both suffering and noble truth, and 
(d) there is what is neither suffering nor noble truth. So also with origin and the rest. 

89. Herein, (a) though states associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism 
are suffering since they are suffering due to formations (see §35) because of the 
words, "What is impermanent is painful" (S II 53; III 22), still they are not the noble 
truth [of suffering], (b) Cessation is a noble truth but it is not suffering, (c) The other 
two noble truths can be suffering because they are impermanent, but they are not so 
in the real sense of that for the full-understanding of which (see §28) the life of 
purity is lived under the Blessed One. The five aggregates [as objects] of clinging, 
except craving, are in all aspects both suffering and noble truth. [513] (d) The states 
associated with the path and the fruits of asceticism are neither suffering in the real 
sense of that for the full-understanding of which the life of purity is lived under the 
Blessed One, nor are they noble truth. Origin, etc., should also be construed in the 
corresponding way This is how the exposition should be understood here as to tetrad. 

90. 13. As to void, singlefold, and so on: firstly, as to void: in the ultimate sense all 
the truths should be understood as void because of the absence of (i) any 
experiencer, (ii) any doer, (iii) anyone who is extinguished, and (iv) any goer. 
Hence this is said: 



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For there is suffering, but none who suffers; 
Doing exists although there is no door. 
Extinction is but no extinguished person; 
Although there is a path, there is no goer. 

Or alternatively: 

So void of lastingness, and beauty, pleasure, self, 
Is the first pair, and void of self the deathless state, 
And void of lastingness, of pleasure and of self 
Is the path too; for such is voidness in these four. 

91. Or three are void of cessation, and cessation is void of the other three. Or the 
cause is void of the result, because of the absence of suffering in the origin, and 
of cessation in the path; the cause is not gravid with its fruit like the Primordial 
Essence of those who assert the existence of Primordial Essence. And the result 
is void of the cause owing to the absence of inherence of the origin in suffering 
and of the path in cessation; the fruit of a cause does not have its cause inherent 
in it, like the two atoms, etc., of those who assert inherence. Hence this is said: 

Here three are of cessation void; 
Cessation void, too, of these three; 
The cause of its effect is void, 
Void also of its cause the effect must be. 

This, in the first place, is how the exposition should be understood as to 
void. 25 [514] 

92. 14. As to singlefold and so on: and here all suffering is of one kind as the state 
of occurrence. It is of two kinds as mentality-materiality It is of three kinds as 



25. It may be noted in passing that the word anatta (not-self) is never applied directly to 
Nibbana in the Suttas (and Abhidhamma), or in Bhante Buddhaghosa's commentaries 
(Cf. Ch. XXI, note 4, where Vism-mht is quoted explaining the scope of applicability of the 
"three characteristics"). The argument introduced here that, since atta (self) is a non- 
existent myth, therefore Nibbana (the unformed dhamma, the truth of cessation) is void of 
self (atta-sunna) is taken up in the SaddhammappakasinT (Hewavitarne Ce, p. 464): 

All dhammas whether grouped together 

In three ways, two ways, or one way, 

Are void: thus here in this dispensation 

Do those who know voidness make their comment. 
"How so? Firstly all mundane dhammas are void of lastingness, beauty, pleasure, 
and self because they are destitute of lastingness, beauty, pleasure, and self. Path and 
fruition dhammas are void of lastingness, pleasure, and self, because they are destitute 
of lastingness, pleasure, and self. Nibbana dhammas (pi.) are void of self because of 
the non-existence (abhava) of self. [Secondly] formed dhammas, both mundane and 
supramundane, are all void of a [permanent] living being (satta) because of the non- 
existence of [such] a living being of any sort whatever. The unformed dhamma (sing.) 
is void of formations because of the non-existence (abhava: or absence) of those 
formations too. [Thirdly] all dhammas formed and unformed are void of self because 
of the non-existence of any person (puggala) called 'self (atta)." 



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divided into rebirth-process becoming in the sense sphere, fine-material sphere, 
and immaterial sphere. It is of four kinds classed according to the four nutriments. 
It is of five kinds classed according to the five aggregates [as objects] of clinging. 

93. Also origin is of one kind as making occur. It is of two kinds as associated 
and not associated with [false] view. It is of three kinds as craving for sense 
desires, craving for becoming, and craving for non-becoming. It is of four kinds 
as abandonable by the four paths. It is of five kinds classed as delight in materiality, 
and so on. It is of six kinds classed as the six groups of craving. 

94. Also cessation is of one kind being the unformed element. But indirectly it is 
of two kinds as "with result of past clinging left" and as "without result of past 
clinging left"; 26 and of three kinds as the stilling of the three kinds of becoming; 
and of four kinds as approachable by the four paths; and of five kinds as the 
subsiding of the five kinds of delight; and of six kinds classed according to the 
destruction of the six groups of craving. 

95. Also the path is of one kind as what should be developed. It is of two kinds 
classed according to serenity and insight, or classed according to seeing and 
developing. It is of three kinds classed according to the three aggregates; for the 
[path], being selective, is included by the three aggregates, which are 
comprehensive, as a city is by a kingdom, according as it is said: "The three 
aggregates are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visakha, but the 
Noble Eightfold Path is included by the three aggregates. Any right speech, any 
right action, any right livelihood: these are included in the virtue aggregate. 
Any right effort, any right mindfulness, any right concentration: these are 
included in the concentration aggregate. Any right view, any right thinking: 
these are included in the understanding aggregate" (M I 301). 

96. For here the three beginning with right speech are virtue and so they are 
included in the virtue aggregate, being of the same kind. For although in the text 
the description is given in the locative case as "in the virtue aggregate," still the 
meaning should be understood according to the instrumental case [that is, "by 
the virtue aggregate."] 

As to the three beginning with right effort, concentration cannot of its own 
nature cause absorption through unification on the object; but with energy 
accomplishing its function of exerting and mindfulness accomplishing its 
function of preventing wobbling, it can do so. 

97. Here is a simile: three friends, [thinking,] "We will celebrate the festival," 
entered a park. Then one saw a champak tree in full blossom, but he could not 
reach the flowers by raising his hand. The second bent down for the first to climb 

26. "It is clung-to (upadiyati) by the kinds of clinging (upadana), thus it is 'result-of- 
past-clinging' (upadi): this is the pentad of aggregates [as objects] of clinging. Taking 
Nibbana, which is the escape from that, as its stilling, its quieting, since there is 
remainder of it up till the last consciousness [of the Arahant], after which there is no 
remainder of it, the Nibbana element is thus conventionally spoken of in two ways as 
'with result of past clinging left' (sa-upadi-sesa) and 'without result of past clinging left' 
(an-upadi-sesa)" (Vism-mht 547). 

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Chapter XVI The Faculties and Truths 

on his back. But although standing on the other's back, he still could not pick 
them because of his unsteadiness. [515] Then the third offered his shoulder [as 
support]. So standing on the back of the one and supporting himself on the 
other's shoulder, he picked as many flowers as he wanted and after adorning 
himself, he went and enjoyed the festival. And so it is with this. 

98. For the three states beginning with right effort, which are born together, 
are like the three friends who enter the park together. The object is like the 
champak tree in full blossom. Concentration, which cannot of its own nature 
bring about absorption by unification on the object, is like the man who could 
not pick the flower by raising his arm. Effort is like the companion who bent 
down, giving his back to mount upon. Mindfulness is like the friend who stood 
by, giving his shoulder for support. Just as standing on the back of the one and 
supporting himself on the other's shoulder he could pick as many flowers as he 
wanted, so too, when energy accomplishes its function of exerting and when 
mindfulness accomplishes its function of preventing wobbling, with the help so 
obtained concentration can bring about absorption by unification on the object. 
So here in the concentration aggregate it is only concentration that is included 
as of the same kind. But effort and mindfulness are included because of their 
action [in assisting]. 

99. Also as regards right view and right thinking, understanding cannot of 
its own nature define an object as impermanent, painful, not-self. But with 
applied thought giving [assistance] by repeatedly hitting [the object] it can. 

100. How? Just as a money changer, having a coin placed in his hand and 
being desirous of looking at it on all sides equally, cannot turn it over with the 
power of his eye only, but by turning it over with his fingers he is able to look at it 
on all sides, similarly understanding cannot of its own nature define an object 
as impermanent and so on. But [assisted] by applied thought with its 
characteristic of directing the mind on to [the object] and its function of striking 
and threshing, as it were, hitting and turning over, it can take anything given 
and define it. So here in the understanding aggregate it is only right view that is 
included as of the same kind. But right thinking is included because of its 
action [in assisting]. 

101. So the path is included by the three aggregates. Hence it was said that it is 
of three kinds classed according to the three aggregates. And it is of four kinds 
as the path of stream-entry and so on. 

102. In addition, all the truths are of one kind because they are not unreal, or 
because they must be directly known. They are of two kinds as (i and ii) mundane 
and (iii and iv) supramundane, or (i, ii, and iv) formed and (iii) unformed. They 
are of three kind as (ii) to be abandoned by seeing and development, (iii and iv) 
not to be abandoned, and (i) neither to be abandoned nor not to be abandoned. 
They are of four kinds classed according to what has to be fully understood, and 
so on (see §28). 

This is how the exposition should be understood as to singlefold and so on. 
[516] 



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103. 15. As to similar and dissimilar, all the truths are similar to each other 
because they are not unreal, are void of self, and are difficult to penetrate, 
according as it is said: "What do you think, Ananda, which is more difficult to 
do, more difficult to perform, that a man should shoot an arrow through a small 
keyhole from a distance time after time without missing or that he should 
penetrate the tip of a hair split a hundred times with the tip [of a similar hair]?" — 
"This is more difficult to do, venerable sir, more difficult to perform, that a man 
should penetrate the tip of a hair split a hundred times with the tip [of a similar 
hair]." — "They penetrate something more difficult to penetrate than that, 
Ananda, who penetrate correctly thus, 'This is suffering' ... who penetrate 
correctly thus, 'This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering'" (S V 454). 
They are dissimilar when defined according to their individual characteristics. 

104. And the first two are similar since they are profound because hard to 
grasp, since they are mundane, and since they are subject to cankers. They are 
dissimilar in being divided into fruit and cause, and being respectively to be 
fully understood and to be abandoned. And the last two are similar since they 
are hard to grasp because profound, since they are supramundane, and since 
they are free from cankers. They are dissimilar in being divided into object and 
what has an object, and in being respectively to be realized and to be developed. 
And the first and third are similar since they come under the heading of result. 
They are dissimilar in being formed and unformed. Also the second and fourth 
are similar since they come under the heading of cause. They are dissimilar in 
being respectively entirely unprofitable and entirely profitable. And the first 
and fourth are similar in being formed. They are dissimilar in being mundane 
and supramundane. Also the second and the third are similar since they are the 
state of neither-trainer-nor-non-trainer (see Vibh 114). They are dissimilar in 
being respectively with object and without object. 

A man of vision can apply 
By suchlike means his talent so 
That he among the truths may know 
The similar and contrary. 

The sixteenth chapter called "The Description of the 
Faculties and Truths" in the Treatise on the Development 
of Understanding in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter XVII 

The Soil of Understanding — Conclusion: 
Dependent Origination 

(Panna-bhumi-niddesa) 

[Section A. Definition of Dependent Origination] 

1. [517] The turn has now come for the exposition of the dependent origination 
itself, and the dependently-originated states comprised by the word "etc.," since 
these still remain out of the states called the "soil" (bhumi), of which it was said 
above, "The states classed as aggregates, bases, elements, faculties, truths, and 
dependent origination, etc., are the 'soil'" (XIV32). 

2. Herein, firstly, it is the states beginning with ignorance that should be 
understood as dependent origination. For this is said by the Blessed One: "And 
what is the dependent origination, bhikkhus? With ignorance as condition 
there are [volitional] formations; with formations as condition, consciousness; 
with consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality; with mentality- 
materiality as condition, the sixfold base; with the sixfold base as condition, 
contact; with contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; 
with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, becoming; 
with becoming as condition, birth; with birth as condition there is ageing-and- 
death, and sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair; thus there is the arising 
of this whole mass of suffering. This is called the dependent origination, 
bhikkhus" (S II 1). 

3. Secondly, it is the states beginning with ageing-and-death that should be 
understood as dependently-originated states. For this is said by the Blessed One: 
"And what are the dependently-originated states, bhikkhus? Ageing-and-death 
is impermanent, bhikkhus, formed, dependently originated, subject to 
destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation. 1 Birth is 
impermanent, bhikkhus, ... Becoming ... Clinging ... Craving ... Feeling ... 
Contact ... The sixfold base ... Mentality-materiality ... Consciousness ... 
Formations ... Ignorance is impermanent, bhikkhus, formed, dependently 
originated, subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject 

1. '"Subject to destruction' (khaya-dhamma) means that its individual essence is the 
state of being destroyed (khayana-sabhava)" (Vism-mht 549). The other expressions 
are explained in the same way. 



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to cessation. These are called the dependently-originated states, bhikkhus" (S II 
26). [518] 

4. Here is a brief explanation. The states that are conditions should be 
understood as the dependent origination. The states generated by such and such 
conditions are dependently-originated states. 

5. How is that to be known? By the Blessed One's word. For it is precisely those 
states which are conditions, that with the synonyms beginning with "reality" 
have been called "dependent origination" by the Blessed One when teaching 
the dependent origination in the sutta on the Teaching of the Dependent 
Origination and Dependently-originated States thus: 

"And what is dependent origination, bhikkhus? 

"With birth as condition, bhikkhus, there is ageing and death. Whether Perfect 
Ones arise or do not arise, there yet remains that element, relatedness of states, 
regularity of states, specific conditionally. The Perfect One discovers it, penetrates 
to it. Having discovered it, penetrated to it, he announces it, teaches it, makes it 
known, establishes, exposes, expounds, and explains it: 'See,' he says, 'With 
birth as condition there is ageing and death.' 

"With becoming as condition, bhikkhus, there is birth ... With ignorance as 
condition, bhikkhus, there are formations. Whether Perfect Ones arise or do not 
arise, there yet remains that element, relatedness of states, regularity of states, 
specific conditionally. The Perfect One discovers it, penetrates to it. Having 
discovered it, penetrated to it, he announces it, teaches it, makes it known, 
establishes, exposes, expounds and explains it: 'See,' he says, 'With ignorance 
as condition there are formations.' 

"So, bhikkhus, that herein which is reality, not unreality, not otherness, specific 
conditionality: that is called dependent origination" (S II 25f.). 

Consequently, it should be understood that dependent origination has the 
characteristic of being the conditions for the states beginning with ageing-and- 
death. Its function is to continue [the process of] suffering. It is manifested as the 
wrong path. 

6. Because particular states are produced by particular conditions, neither 
less nor more, it is called reality (suchness). Because once the conditions have 
met in combination there is no non-producing, even for an instant, of the states 
they generate, it is called not unreality (not unsuchness). Because there is no 
arising of one state with another state's conditions, it is called not otherness. 
Because there is a condition, or because there is a total of conditions, for these 
states beginning with ageing-and-death as already stated, it is called specific 
conditionality. 

7. Here is the word meaning: idappaccaya (lit. that-conditions) = imesarn paccaya 
(conditions for those); idappaccaya (that-conditions) = idappaccayata (that- 
conditionality conditionality for those, specific conditionality). Or alternatively, 
idappaccayata (that-conditionality) = idappaccayanam samuho (the total of that- 
conditions, total specific conditionality). 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

8. The characteristic must be sought from grammar. Some, in fact, [say that 
the expression paticca samuppada (dependent origination) is characterized 
thus:] "having depended (paticca), a right (samma) arising (uppada), 
[depending on causes rightly by] disregarding such causes conjectured by 
sectarians as the Primordial Essence (Prakrti), World Soul (Purusa), and so 
on." So what they call dependent origination (paticca samuppada) is a simple 
arising (uppada) [for they equate the prefix sam only with samma (rightly) and 
ignore sam (with, con-)]. That is untenable. [519] Why? (1) There is no such 
sutta; (2) it contradicts suttas; (3) it admits of no profound treatment; and (4) 
it is ungrammatical. 

9. (1) No sutta describes the dependent origination as simple arising. 

(2) Anyone who asserts that dependent origination is of that kind involves 
himself in conflict with the Padesavihara Sutta. How? The Newly Enlightened 
One's abiding (vihara) is the bringing of the dependent origination to mind, 
because, of these words of the Blessed One's: "Then in the first watch of the night 
the Blessed One brought to mind the dependent origination in direct and reverse 
order" [as origination and cessation] (Vin I 1; Ud 2). Now, "padesavihara" is the 
abiding (vihara) in one part (desa) of that, according as it is said, "Bhikkhus, I 
abode in a part of the abiding in which I abode when I was newly enlightened" 
(S V 12; Patis I 107). And there he abode in the vision of structure of conditions, 
not in the vision of simple arising, according as it is said, "So I understood 
feeling with wrong view as its condition, and feeling with right view as its 
condition, and feeling with wrong thinking as its condition ..." (S V 12), all of 
which should be quoted in full. So anyone who asserts that dependent origination 
is simple arising involves himself in conflict with the Padesavihara Sutta. 

10. There is likewise contradiction of the Kaccana Sutta. For in the Kaccana 
Sutta it is said, "When a man sees correctly with right understanding the 
origination of the world, Kaccana, he does not say of the world that it is not" (S 
II 17). And there it is the dependent origination in forward order, not simple 
arising, that, as the origination of the world from its conditions, is set forth in 
order to eliminate the annihilation view. For the annihilation view is not 
eliminated by seeing simple arising; but it is eliminated by seeing the chain of 
conditions as a chain of fruits following on a chain of conditions. So anyone 
who asserts that the dependent origination is simple arising involves himself in 
contradiction of the Kaccana Sutta. 

11. (3) It admits of no profound treatment: this has been said by the Blessed One, 
"This dependent origination is profound, Ananda, and profound it appears" 
(D II 55; S II 92). And the profundity is fourfold as we shall explain below 
(XVII. 304f.); but there is none of that in simple arising. And this dependent 
origination is explained [by the teachers] as adorned with the fourfold method 
(XVII. 309); but there is no [need of] any such tetrad of methods in simple arising. 
So dependent origination is not simple arising, since that admits of no profound 
treatment. 

12. (4) It is ungrammatical: [520] this word paticca (lit. "having depended"; freely 
"due to," "dependent"), [being a gerund of the verb pati + eti, to go back to], 

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establishes a meaning [in a formula of establishment by verb] when it is construed 
as past with the same subject [as that of the principal verb], as in the sentence 
"Having depended on (paticca = 'due to') the eye and visible objects, eye- 
consciousness arises (uppajjati)" (S II 72). But if it is construed here with the 
word uppada (arising), [which is a noun], in a formula of establishment by noun, 
there is a breach of grammar, because there is no shared subject [as there is in 
above-quoted sentence], and so it does not establish any meaning al all. So the 
dependent origination is not simple arising because that is ungrammatical. 

13. Here it might be [argued]: "We shall add the words 'comes to be' (hoti) 
thus: 'Having depended, arising comes to be' (paticca, samuppado hoti)." That will 
not do. Why not? Because there is no instance in which it has been added, and 
because the fallacy of the arising of an arising follows. For in such passages as 
" Paticcasamuppadam vo bhikkhave desessami. Katamo ca bhikkhave paticcasamuppado 
... Ayam vuccati bhikkhave paticcasamuppado (I shall teach you the dependent 
origination, bhikkhus. And what is the dependent origination? . . . This is called 
the dependent origination, bhikkhus)" (S II 1), the words "comes to be" (hoti) are 
not added in any single instance. And there is no [such expression as] "arising 
comes to be": if there were, it would be tantamount to saying that arising itself 
had an arising too. 

14. And those are wrong who imagine that specific conditionality (idappaccayata) 
is the specific conditions' [abstract] essence — what is called "abstract essence" 
being a [particular] mode in ignorance, etc., that acts as cause in the manifestation 
of formations, etc. — and that the term "dependent origination" is used for an 
alteration in formations when there is that [particular mode in the way of 
occurrence of ignorance]. Why are they wrong? Because it is ignorance, etc., 
themselves that are called causes. For in the following passage it is ignorance, 
etc., themselves, not their alteration, that are called the causes [of these states]: 
"Therefore, Ananda, just this is the cause, this is the source, this is the origin, 
this is the condition, for ageing-and-death, that is to say, birth . . . for formations, 
that is to say, (ignorance)" (D II 57-63 — the last clause is not in the Digha text). 
Therefore it is the actual states themselves as conditions that should be 
understood as "dependent origination." So what was said above (§4) can be 
understood as rightly said. 

15. If any notion arises in the guise of a literal interpretation of the term 
"dependent origination" (paticcasamuppado) to the effect that it is only arising 
that is stated, it should be got rid of by apprehending the meaning of this 
expression in the following way. For: 

In double form this term relates to a totality of state 

Produced from a conditionality; 

Hence the conditions for that sum 

Through metaphor's device have come 

To bear their fruits' name figuratively 

In the Blessed One's exposition. 

16. This term "dependent origination," when applied to the total of states 
produced from the [total] conditionality, must be taken in two ways. [521] For 

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that [total] ought to be arrived at (paticco — adj.), 2 since when it is arrived at 
(patiyamano) , it leads to [supramundane] welfare and bliss and so the wise 
[regard] it as worthy to be arrived at (paccetum); and then, when it arises 
(uppajjamano), it does so "together with" (saha) and "rightly" (samma), not singly 
or causelessly, thus it is a co-arising (samuppado). Consequently: it is to be arrived 
at (paticco) and it is a co-arising (samuppado), thus it is dependent origination 
(paticca-samuppada). Again: it arises as a togetherness (saha), thus it is a co- 
arising (samuppada); but it does so having depended (paticca — ger.) in 
combination with conditions, not regardless of them. Consequently: it, having 
depended (paticca), is a co-arising (samuppada), thus in this way also it is 
dependent origination (paticca-samuppada). And the total of causes is a condition 
for that [total of states produced from the conditionality], so, because it is a 
condition for that, this [total of causes] is called, "dependent origination," using 
for it the term ordinarily used for its fruit just as in the world molasses, which is 
a condition for phlegm, is spoken of thus, "Molasses is phlegm," or just as in 
the Dispensation the arising of Buddhas, which is a condition for bliss, is spoken 
of thus, "The arising of Buddhas is bliss" (Dhp 194). 

17. Or alternatively: 

The sum of causes too they call 

"Facing its counterpart," so all 

Is in that sense "dependent," as they tell; 

This sum of causes too, as stated, 

Gives fruits that rise associated, 

So "co-arising" it is called as well. 

18. This total of causes — indicated severally under the heading of each cause, 
beginning with ignorance — for the manifestation of formations, etc., is called 
"dependent" (paticco — adj.), taking it as "facing, gone to, its counterpart" 
(patimukham ito) owing to the mutual interdependence of the factors in the 
combination, in the sense both that they produce common fruit and that none 
can be dispensed with. And it is called a "co-arising" (samuppado) since it 
causes the states that occur in unresolved mutual interdependence to arise 
associatedly Consequently: it is dependent (paticco) and a co-arising (samuppado), 
thus in this way also it is dependent origination (paticca-samuppada). 

19. Another method: 

This total conditionally, acting interdependently 

Arouses states together equally; 

So this too is a reason here wherefore the Greatest Sage, 

the Seer, 
Gave to this term its form thus succinctly. 



2. Paticco as a declinable adjective is not in PED. Patlyamana ("when it is arrived at"): 
"When it is gone to by direct confrontation (patimukham upeyamano) by means of 
knowledge's going; when it is penetrated to (abhisamiyamana), is the meaning" (Vism- 
mht 555). The word paticca (due to, depending on) and the word paccaya (condition) are 
both gerunds of pati + eti or ayati (to go back to). 



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20. Among the conditions described under the headings of ignorance, etc., the 
respective conditions that make the [conditionally-arisen] states beginning with 
formations arise are incapable of making them arise when not mutually 
dependent and when deficient. Therefore this conditionality by depending 
(paticca — ger.) makes states arise (uppadeti) equally and together (samam saha ca), 
not piecemeal and successively — so it has been termed here thus by the Sage 
who is skilled in phraseology that conforms to its meaning: it has been accurately 
termed "dependent origination" (paticca samuppada), is the meaning. 

21. And while so termed: 

The first component will deny the false view of eternity 
And so on, and the second will prevent 
The nihilistic type of view and others like it, while the two 
Together show the true way that is meant. 

The first: the word "dependent" (paticca) indicates the combination of the 
conditions, [522] since states in the process of occurring exist in dependence on 
the combining of their conditions; and it shows that they are not eternal, etc., 
thus denying the various doctrines of eternalism, no-cause, fictitious-cause, and 
power-wielder. 3 What purpose indeed would the combining of conditions serve, 
if things were eternal, or if they occurred without cause, and so on? 

23. The second: the word "origination" (samuppada) indicates the arising of the 
states, since these occur when their conditions combine, and it shows how to 
prevent annihilationism, etc., thus preventing the various doctrines of annihilation 
[of a soul], nihilism, ["there is no use in giving," etc.,] and moral-inefficacy-of- 
action, ["there is no other world," etc.]; for when states [are seen to] arise again 
and again, each conditioned by its predecessor, how can the doctrines of 
annihilationism, nihilism, and moral-inefficacy-of-action be maintained? 

24. The two together: since any given states are produced without interrupting 
the [cause-fruit] continuity of any given combination of conditions, the whole 
expression "dependent origination" (paticca-samuppada) represents the middle 
way, which rejects the doctrines, "He who acts is he who reaps" and "One acts 
while another reaps" (S II 20), and which is the proper way described thus, "Not 
insisting on local language and not overriding normal usage" (M III 234). 4 

3. "The doctrine of eternalism is that beginning 'The world and self are eternal'" (D 
I 14). That of no-cause is that beginning, 'There is no cause, there is no condition, for 
the defilement of beings' (D I 53). That of fictitious-cause holds that the world's 
occurrence is due to Primordial Essence (prakrti), atoms (ami), time (kala), and so on. 
That of a power-wielder asserts the existence of an Overlord (issara), or of a World- 
soul (Purusa), or of Pajapati (the Lord of the Race). Also the doctrines of Nature 
(sabhava, Skr. svabhava = individual essence), Fate (niyati), and Chance (yadiccha), should 
be regarded as included here under the doctrine of no-cause. Some, however, say that 
the doctrine of fictitious-cause is that beginning with 'The eye is the cause of the eye,' 
and that the doctrine of the power-wielder is that beginning, 'Things occur owing to 
their own individual essence' (see Ch. XVI, n. 23)" (Vism-mht 557). 

4. "Such terms as 'woman,' 'man,' etc., are local forms of speech (janapada-nirutti) 
because even wise men, instead of saying, 'Fetch the five aggregates,' or 'Let the 

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This, in the first place, is the meaning of the mere words "dependent 
origination" (paticca-samuppada). 

[Section B. Exposition] 

[I. Preamble] 

25. Now, in teaching this dependent origination the Blessed One has set forth 
the text in the way beginning, "With ignorance as condition there are 
formations" (S II 20). Its meaning should be commented on by one who keeps 
within the circle of the Vibhajjavadins, 5 who does not misrepresent the teachers, 
who does not advertise his own standpoint, who does not quarrel with the 
standpoint of others, who does not distort suttas, who is in agreement with the 
Vinaya, who looks to the principal authorities (mahapadesa — D II 123ff.), who 
illustrates the law (dhamma), who takes up the meaning (attha), repeatedly 
reverting to that same meaning, describing it in various different ways. 6 And it 
is inherently difficult to comment on the dependent origination, as the Ancients 
said: 



mentality-materiality come,' use the current forms 'woman' and 'man.' This is how, in 
those who have not fully understood what a physical basis is, there comes to be the 
insistence (misinterpretation), 'This is really a woman, this is really a man.' But since 
this is a mere concept, which depends on states made to occur in such and such wise, 
one who sees and knows the dependent origination does not insist on (misinterpret) 
it as the ultimate meaning. 'Current speech' is speech current in the world. 'Not overriding' 
is not going beyond. For when 'a being' is said, instead of making an analysis like this, 
'What is the [lasting] being here? Is it materiality? Or feeling?' and so on, one who 
does not override current usage should express a worldly meaning in ordinary language 
as those in the world do, employing the usage current in the world" (Vism-mht 557- 
58). The explanation differs somewhat from MN 139. 

5. The term "analyzer" (vibhajjavadin) appears at A V 190, and at M II 197, in this 
sense, used to describe the Buddha and his followers, who do not rashly give unqualified 
answers to questions that need analyzing before being answered. 

6. "The law' (dhamma) is the text of the dependent origination. The "meaning" (attha) is 
the meaning of that. Or they are the cause, and the fruit of the cause here, is what is meant. 
Or "law" (dhamma) is regularity (dhammata). Now some, misinterpreting the meaning of 
the sutta passage, 'Whether Perfect Ones arise or do not arise, there yet remains that 
element ...' (S II 25), wrongly describe the regularity of the dependent origination as a 
'permanent dependent origination,' instead of which it should be described as having the 
individual essence of a cause (karana), defined according to its own fruit, in the way stated. 
And some misinterpret the meaning of the dependent origination thus, 'Without cessation, 
without arising' (anuppadam anirodham) instead of taking the unequivocal meaning in the 
way stated" (Vism-mht 561). The last-mentioned quotation "Without cessation, without 
arising" (anuppadam anirodham), seems almost certainly to refer to a well-known stanza in 
Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamika Karika: 

Anirodham anutpadam anucchedam asasratam 
Anekartham ananartham anagamam anirgamam 
Yah pratltyasamutpadam prapancopasamam sivam 
Desayamasa sambuddhas tarn vande vadatam varam. 

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The truth, a being, rebirth-linking, 
And the structure of conditions, 
Are four things very hard to see 
And likewise difficult to teach. 

Therefore, considering that to comment on the dependent origination is 
impossible except for those who are expert in the texts: 

Whilst I would now begin the comment 

On the structure of conditions 

I find no footing for support 

And seem to founder in a sea. [523] 

However, many modes of teaching 
Grace the Dispensation here, 
And still the former teachers' way 
Is handed down unbrokenly 

Therefore on both of these relying 
For my support, I now begin 
Its meaning to elucidate: 
Listen therefore attentively. 

26. For this has been said by the former teachers: 

Whoever learns alertly this [discourse] 
Will go from excellence to excellence, 
And when perfected, he will then escape 
Beyond the vision of the King of Death. 

[II. Brief Exposition] 

27. So as regards the passages that begin: "With ignorance as condition there 
are formations" (S II 20), to start with: 

(1) As different ways of teaching, (2) meaning, 
(3) Character, (4) singlefold and so on, 
(5) As to defining of the factors, 
The exposition should be known. 

28. 1. Herein, as different ways of teaching: the Blessed One's teaching of the 
dependent origination is fourfold, namely, (i) from the beginning; or (ii) from the 
middle up to the end; and (iii) from the end; or (iv) from the middle down to the 
beginning. It is like four creeper-gatherers' ways of seizing a creeper. 

29. (i) For just as one of four men gathering creepers sees only the root of the 
creeper first, and after cutting it at the root, he pulls it all out and takes it away 
and uses it, so the Blessed One teaches the dependent origination from the 
beginning up to the end thus: "So, bhikkhus, with ignorance as condition there 
are formations; ... with birth as condition ageing-and-death" (M I 261). 

30. (ii) Just as another of the four men sees the middle of the creeper first, and 
after cutting it in the middle, he pulls out only the upper part and takes it away 
and uses it, so the Blessed One teaches it from the middle up to the end thus: 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

"When he is delighted with, welcomes, remains committed to that feeling, then 
delight arises in him. Delight in feelings is clinging. With his clinging as 
condition there is becoming; with becoming as condition, birth" (M I 266). 

31. (iii) Just as another of the four men sees the tip of the creeper first, and 
seizing the tip, he follows it down to the root and takes all of it away and uses it, 
so the Blessed One teaches it from the end down to the beginning thus: "'With 
birth as condition, ageing-and-death,' so it was said. But is there ageing-and- 
death with birth as condition, or not, or how is it here? — There is ageing-and- 
death with birth as condition, so we think, venerable sir. [524] 'With becoming 
as condition, birth,' so it was said ... 'With ignorance as condition there are 
formations,' so it was said. But are there formations with ignorance as condition, 
or not, or how is it here? — There are formations with ignorance as condition, so 
we think, venerable sir" (M I 261). 

32. (iv) Just as one of the four men sees only the middle of the creeper first, and 
after cutting it in the middle and tracing it down as far as the root, he takes it 
away and uses it, so the Blessed One teaches it from the middle down to the 
beginning thus: "And these four nutriments, bhikkhus: what is their source? 
What is their origin? From what are they born? By what are they produced? 
These four nutriments have craving as their source, craving as their origin, they 
are born from craving, produced by craving. Craving: what is its source? ... 
Feeling: ... Contact: ... The sixfold base: ... Mentality-materiality: ... 
Consciousness: ... Formations: what is their source? ... By what are they 
produced? Formations have ignorance as their source ... they are ... produced 
by ignorance" (S II llf.). 

33. Why does he teach it thus? Because the dependent origination is wholly 
beneficial and because he has himself acquired elegance in instructing. For the 
dependent origination is entirely beneficial: starting from any one of the four 
starting points, it leads only to the penetration of the proper way. And the Blessed 
One has acquired elegance in instructing: it is because he has done so through 
possession of the four kinds of perfect confidence and the four discriminations 
and by achieving the fourfold profundity (§304) that he teaches the Dhamma by 
various methods. 

34. But it should be recognized, in particular, that (i) when he sees that people 
susceptible of teaching are confused about the analysis of the causes of the 
process [of becoming], he employs his teaching of it forwards starting from the 
beginning in order to show that the process carries on according to its own 
peculiar laws and for the purpose of showing the order of arising, (iii) And it 
should be recognized that when he surveys the world as fallen upon trouble in 
the way stated thus, "This world has fallen upon trouble; it is born, ages, dies, 
passes away, and reappears" (S II 10), he employs his teaching of it backwards 
starting from the end in order to show the [laws governing the] various kinds of 
suffering beginning with ageing and death, which he discovered himself in the 
early stage of his penetration. And (iv) it should be recognized that he employs 
his teaching of it backwards from the middle down to the beginning in order to 
show how the succession of cause and fruit extends back into the past [existence], 



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and again forwards from the past, in accordance with his definition of nutriment 
as the source [of ignorance] (see M I 47f.). And (ii) it should be recognized that 
he employs his teaching of it forwards from the middle up to the end in order to 
show how the future [existence] follows on [through rebirth] from arousing in 
the present causes for [rebirth] in the future. 

35. Of these methods of presentation, that cited here should be understood to 
be that stated in forward order starting from the beginning in order to show to 
people susceptible of teaching who are confused about the laws of the process 
[of becoming] that the process carries on according to its own peculiar laws, 
[525] and for the purpose of showing the order of arising. 

36. But why is ignorance stated as the beginning here? How then, is ignorance 
the causeless root-cause of the world like the Primordial Essence of those who 
assert the existence of a Primordial Essence? It is not causeless. For a cause of 
ignorance is stated thus, "With the arising of cankers there is the arising of 
ignorance" (M I 54). But there is a figurative way in which it can be treated as the 
root cause. What way is that? When it is made to serve as a starting point in an 
exposition of the round [of becoming]. 

37. For the Blessed One gives the exposition of the round with one of two 
things as the starting point: either ignorance, according as it is said, "No first 
beginning of ignorance is made known, bhikkhus, before which there was no 
ignorance, and after which there came to be ignorance. And while it is said thus, 
bhikkhus, nevertheless it is made known that ignorance has its specific 
condition" (A V 113); or craving for becoming, according as it is said, "No first 
beginning of craving for becoming is made known, bhikkhus, before which 
there was no craving for becoming, and after which there came to be craving for 
becoming. And while it is said thus, bhikkhus, nevertheless it is made known 
that craving for becoming has its specific condition" (A V 116). 

38. But why does the Blessed One give the exposition of the round with those 
two things as starting points? Because they are the outstanding causes of kamma 
that leads to happy and unhappy destinies. 

39. Ignorance is an outstanding cause of kamma that leads to unhappy 
destinies. Why? Because, just as when a cow to be slaughtered is in the grip of 
the torment of burning with fire and belabouring with cudgels, and being crazed 
with torment, she drinks the hot water although it gives no satisfaction and does 
her harm, so the ordinary man who is in the grip of ignorance performs kamma 
of the various kinds beginning with killing living things that leads to unhappy 
destinies, although it gives no satisfaction because of the burning of defilements 
and does him harm because it casts him into an unhappy destiny. 

40. But craving for becoming is an outstanding cause of kamma that leads to 
happy destinies. Why? Because, just as that same cow, through her craving for 
cold water, starts drinking cold water, which gives satisfaction and allays her 
torment, so the ordinary man in the grip of craving for becoming performs 
kamma of the various kinds beginning with abstention from killing living things 
that leads to happy destinies and gives satisfaction because it is free from the 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

burning of defilements and, by bringing him to a happy destiny allays the 
torment of suffering [experienced] in the unhappy destinies. 

41. Now, as regards these two states that are starting points in expositions of 
the process [of becoming], in some instances the Blessed One teaches the 
Dhamma based on a single one of these states, for instance, [526] "Accordingly, 
bhikkhus, formations have ignorance as their cause, consciousness has 
formations as its cause" (S II 31), etc.; likewise, "Bhikkhus, craving increases in 
one who dwells seeing enjoyment in things productive of clinging; with craving 
as condition there is clinging" (S II 84), and so on. In some instances he does so 
based on both, for instance: "So, bhikkhus, for the fool who is hindered by 
ignorance and tethered by craving there arises this body. Now, this body [with 
its six internal bases] and externally [the six bases due to] mentality-materiality 
make a duality. Due to this duality there is contact, as well as the six [pairs of] 
bases, touched through which the fool feels pleasure and pain" (S II 23f.), and so on. 

42. Of these ways of presentation, that cited here in the form "With ignorance 
as condition there are formations" should be understood as one based on a 
single state. This, firstly, is how the exposition should be known "as to different 
ways of teaching." 

43. 2. As to meaning: as to the meaning of the words "ignorance" and so on. 
Bodily misconduct, etc., for example, "ought not to be found" (avindiya), in the 
sense of being unfit to be carried out; the meaning is that it should not be 
permitted. It finds (vindati) what ought not to be found (avindiya), thus it is 
ignorance (avijja). Conversely, good bodily conduct, etc. "ought to be found" 
(vindiya). It does not find (na vindati) what ought to be found (vindiya), thus it is 
ignorance (avijja). Also it prevents knowing (avidita) the meaning of collection 
in the aggregates, the meaning of actuating in the bases, the meaning of voidness 
in the elements, the meaning of predominance in the faculties, the meaning of 
reality in the truths, thus it is ignorance (avijja). Also it prevents knowing the 
meaning of suffering, etc., described in four ways as "oppression," etc. (XVI. 15), 
thus it is ignorance. Through all the kinds of generations, destinies, becoming, 
stations of consciousness, and abodes of beings in the endless round of rebirths 
it drives beings on (AntaVIrahite samsare ... satte JAvapeti), thus it is ignorance 
(avijja). Amongst women, men, etc., which are in the ultimate sense non-existent, 
it hurries on (paramatthato AVIJjamanesu itthi-purisadisu JAvati), and amongst the 
aggregates, etc., which are existent, it does not hurry on (vijjamanesu pi 
khandhadisu na javati), thus it is ignorance (avijja). Furthermore, it is ignorance 
because it conceals the physical bases and objects of eye-consciousness, etc., 
and the dependent origination and dependently-originated states. 

44. That due to (paticca) which fruit comes (eti) is a condition (paccaya). "Due 
to" (paticca) = "not without that"; the meaning is, not dispensing with it. 
"Comes" (eti) means both "arises" and "occurs." Furthermore, the meaning of 
"condition" is the meaning of "help." It is ignorance and that is a condition, 
thus it is "ignorance as condition," whence the phrase "with ignorance as 
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"They form the formed" (S III 87), thus they are formations. Furthermore, 
formations are twofold, namely, (a) formations with ignorance as condition, and 
(b) formations given in the texts with the word "formations" (sankhara). Herein, 
(a) the three, namely, formations of merit, of demerit, and of the imperturbable, 
and the three, namely, the bodily, the verbal, and the mental formations, which 
make six, are "formations with ignorance as condition." And all these are simply 
mundane profitable and unprofitable volition. 

45. But (b) these four, namely, (i) the formation consisting of the formed 
(sahkhata-sankhara) , [527] (ii) the formation consisting of the kamma-formed 
(abhisankhata-sankhara), (iii) the formation consisting in the act of kamma-forming 
(forming by kamma — abhisankharana-sankhara), and (iv) the formation consisting 
in momentum (payogabhisahkhara), are the kinds of formations that have come in 
the texts with the word "formations." 

46. Herein, (i) all states with conditions, given in such passages as "Formations 
are impermanent" (S 1 158; D II 157), are formations consisting of the formed, (ii) 
In the Commentaries material and immaterial states of the three planes generated 
by kamma are called formations consisting of the kamma-formed. These are 
also included in the passage, "Formations are impermanent." But there is no 
instance in the texts where they are found separately, (iii) Profitable and 
unprofitable volition of the three planes is called the formation consisting in the 
act of kamma-forming. It is found in the texts in such passages as "Bhikkhus, 
this man in his ignorance forms the formation of merit" (S II 82). (iv) But it is 
bodily and mental energy that is called the formation consisting in momentum. 
This is given in the texts in such passages as "The wheel, having gone as far as 
the impetus (abhisahkhara) carried it, stood as though it were fixed" (A I 112). 

47. And not only these, but many other kinds of formations are given in the 
texts with the word "formation" (sankhara), in the way beginning, "When a 
bhikkhu is attaining the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, 
first his verbal formation ceases, then his bodily formation, then his mental 
formation" (M I 302). But there is no formation among them not included by (i) 
"formations consisting of the formed." 

48. What is said next after this in the [rest of the exposition] beginning, "With 
formations as condition, consciousness" should be understood in the way 
already stated. But as to those words not yet dealt with: It cognizes (vijanati), 
thus it is consciousness (vinnana — see M I 292). It bends [towards an object] 
(namati), thus it is mentality (nama). It is molested (ruppati), thus it is materiality 
(rupa — see S III 87). It provides a range for the origins (aye tanoti) and it leads on 
what is actuated (ayatan ca nayati), thus it is a base (ayatana — see XV4). It touches 
(phusati), thus it is contact (phassa). It is felt (vedayati), thus it is feeling (vedana — 
see M I 293). It frets (or it thirsts — paritassati), thus it is craving (tanha). It clings 
(upadiyati), thus it is clinging (upadana). It becomes (bhavati) and it makes become 
(bhavayati), thus it is becoming (bhava). The act of being born is birth. The act of 
growing old is ageing. By means of it they die, thus it is death. The act of 
sorrowing is sorrow. The act of lamenting is lamentation. It makes [beings] 
suffer (dukkhayati) , thus it is pain (dukkha); or it consumes in two ways (DVedha 



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KHAnati — see IV100) by means of [the two moments (khana)] arising and presence, 
thus it is pain (dukkha). The state of a sad mind (dummana-bhava) is grief 
(domanassa). Great misery (bhuso ayaso) is despair (upayasa). There is means "is 
generated." 

49. And the words "There is" should be construed with all the terms, not only 
with those beginning with sorrow; for otherwise, when "With ignorance as 
condition, formations" was said, it would not be evident what they did, but by 
construing it with the words "There is" (or "there are"), since "ignorance as 
condition" stands for "it is ignorance and that is a condition," consequently 
[528] the defining of the condition and the conditionally-arisen state is effected 
by the words "with ignorance as condition there are formations." And so in 
each instance. 

50. Thus signifies the process described. By that he shows that it is with 
ignorance, etc., as the causes and not with creation by an Overlord, and so on. Of 
that: of that aforesaid. Whole: unmixed, entire. Mass of suffering: totality of 
suffering; not a living being, not pleasure, beauty, and so on. Arising: generating. 
There is: is brought about. 

This is how the exposition should be known here "as to meaning." 

51. 3. As to character, etc.: as to the characteristics of ignorance, etc., that is to 
say, ignorance has the characteristic of unknowing. Its function is to confuse. It is 
manifested as concealing. Its proximate cause is cankers. Formations have the 
characteristic of forming. Their function is to accumulate. 7 They are manifested 
as volition. Their proximate cause is ignorance. Consciousness has the 
characteristic of cognizing. Its function is to go before (see Dhp 1). It manifests 
itself as rebirth-linking. Its proximate cause is formations; or its proximate cause 
is the physical-basis-cum-object. Mentality (nama) has the characteristic of 
bending (namana). Its function is to associate. It is manifested as inseparability 
of its components, [that is, the three aggregates]. Its proximate cause is 
consciousness. Materiality (rupa) has the characteristic of being molested 
(ruppana). Its function is to be dispersed. It is manifested as [morally] 
indeterminate. Its proximate cause is consciousness. The sixfold base (salayatana) 
has the characteristic of actuating (ayatana). Its function is to see, and so on. It is 
manifested as the state of physical basis and door. Its proximate cause is 
mentality-materiality Contact has the characteristic of touching. Its function is 
impingement. It manifests itself as coincidence [of internal and external base 

7. "Formations 'accumulate,' work, for the purpose of rebirth. So that is their function. 
To accumulate is to heap up. Consciousness's function is 'to go before' since it precedes 
mentality-materiality at rebirth-linking. Mentality's function is 'to associate' since it 
joins with consciousness in a state of mutuality. 'Inseparability of its components' is 
owing to their having no separate existence [mentality here being feeling, perception, 
and formations]. Materiality is dispersible since it has in itself nothing [beyond the 
water element] to hold it [absolutely] together, so 'its function is to be dispersed'; that is 
why, when rice grains, etc., are pounded, they get scattered and reduced to powder. It 
is called 'indeterminate' to distinguish it from mentality, which is profitable, etc., at 
different times" (Vism-mht 571). 

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and consciousness]. Its proximate cause is the sixfold base. Feeling has the 
characteristic of experiencing. Its function is to exploit the stimulus of the objective 
field. It is manifested as pleasure and pain. Its proximate cause is contact. Craving 
has the characteristic of being a cause [that is, of suffering]. Its function is to 
delight. It is manifested as insatiability. Its proximate cause is feeling. Clinging 
has the characteristic of seizing. Its function is not to release. It is manifested as 
a strong form of craving and as [false] view. Its proximate cause is craving. 
Becoming has the characteristic of being kamma and kamma-result. Its function 
is to make become and to become. It is manifested as profitable, unprofitable, and 
indeterminate. Its proximate cause is clinging. The characteristic of birth, etc., 
should be understood as stated in the Description of the Truths (XVI. 32f.). This 
is how the exposition should be known here "as to character, etc." 

52. 4. As to singlefold, and so on: here ignorance is singlefold as unknowing, 
unseeing, delusion, and so on. It is twofold as "no theory" and "wrong theory" 
(cf. §303); 8 likewise as prompted and unprompted. It is threefold as associated 
with the three kinds of feeling. It is fourfold as non-penetration of the four 
truths. It is fivefold as concealing the danger in the five kinds of destinies. [529] 
It should, however, be understood that all the immaterial factors [of the dependent 
origination] have a sixfold nature with respect to the [six] doors and objects. 

53. Formations are singlefold as states subject to cankers (Dhs 3), states with the 
nature of result (Dhs 1), and so on (cf. Vibh 62). 9 They are twofold as profitable 
and unprofitable; likewise as limited and exalted, inferior and medium, with 
certainty of wrongness and without certainty. They are threefold as the formation 
of merit and the rest. They are fourfold as leading to the four kinds of generation. 
They are fivefold as leading to the five kinds of destiny. 

54. Consciousness is singlefold as mundane (Dhs 3), resultant (Dhs 1), and so 
on. It is twofold as with root-cause and without root-cause and so on. It is 
threefold as included in the three kinds of becoming; as associated with the 
three kinds of feeling; and as having no root-cause, having two root-causes, and 
having three root-causes. It is fourfold and fivefold [respectively] according to 
generation and destiny. 

55. Mentality -materiality is singlefold as dependent on consciousness, and as 
having kamma as its condition. It is twofold as having an object [in the case of 
mentality], and having no object [in the case of materiality]. It is threefold as 

8. '"No theory' is unknowing about suffering, etc., 'wrong theory' is perverted 
perception of what is foul, etc., as beautiful, etc., or else 'no theory' is unassociated with 
[false] view, and 'wrong theory' is associated with it" (Vism-mht 751). This use of the 
word patipatti as "theory," rare in Pali but found in Sanskrit, is not in PED. An alternative 
rendering for these two terms might be "agnosticism" and "superstition" (see also 
XIV163, 177). 

9. "'With the nature of result, and so on': the words 'and so on' here include 'neither- 
trainer-nor-non-trainer,' (Dhs 2) 'conducive to fetters' (Dhs 3), and so on. [§54] 
'Mundane resultant and so on': the words 'and so on' here include 'indeterminate' (Dhs 
2), 'formed' (Dhs 2), and so on. 'With root-cause and without root-cause, and so on': the 
words 'and so on' here include 'prompted,' 'unprompted,' and so on" (Vism-mht). 

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past, and so on. It is fourfold and fivefold respectively according to generation 
and destiny. 

56. The sixfold base is singlefold as the place of origin and meeting. It is twofold 
as sensitivity of primary elements and as consciousness [of the sixth base], and 
so on. It is threefold as having for its domain [objective fields that are] contiguous, 
non-contiguous, and neither (see XIV46). It is fourfold and fivefold respectively 
as included in the kinds of generation and destiny. 

The singlefoldness, etc., of contact, etc., should be understood in this way too. 

This is how the exposition should be known here "as to singlefold and so 
on." 

57. 5. As to defining of the factors: sorrow, etc., are stated here for the purpose of 
showing that the Wheel of Becoming never halts; for they are produced in the 
fool who is afflicted by ageing and death, according as it is said: "The untaught 
ordinary man, bhikkhus, on being touched by painful bodily feeling, sorrows, 
grieves and laments, beating his breast, he weeps and becomes distraught" (M 
III 285; S IV 206). And as long as these go on occurring so long does ignorance, 
and so the Wheel of Becoming renews [its revolution]: "With ignorance as 
condition there are formations" and so on. That is why the factors of the 
dependent origination should be understood as twelve by taking those [that is, 
sorrow, etc.,] along with ageing-and-death as one summarization. This is how 
the exposition should be known here "as to defining of the factors." 

58. This, firstly, is the brief treatment. The following method, however, is in 
detail. 

[III. Detailed Exposition] 

[(i) Ignorance] 

According to the Suttanta method [530] ignorance is unknowing about the four 
instances beginning with suffering. According to the Abhidhamma method it 
is unknowing about the eight instances [that is to say, the above-mentioned four] 
together with [the four] beginning with the past; for this is said: "Herein, what 
is ignorance? It is unknowing about suffering, [unknowing about the origin of 
suffering, unknowing about the cessation of suffering, unknowing about the 
way leading to the cessation of suffering], unknowing about the past, 
unknowing about the future, unknowing about the past and future, unknowing 
about specific conditionality and conditionally-arisen states" (cf. Dhs §1162). 

59. Herein, while ignorance about any instance that is not the two supra- 
mundane truths can also arise as object (see §102), nevertheless here it is only 
intended [subjectively] as concealment. For when [thus] arisen it keeps the truth 
of suffering concealed, preventing penetration of the true individual function 
and characteristic of that truth. Likewise, origin, cessation, and the path, bygone 
five aggregates called the past, coming five aggregates called the future, both of 
these together called the past and future, and both specific conditionality and 
conditionally-arisen states together called specific conditionality and conditionally- 
arisen states — all of which it keeps concealed, preventing their true individual 

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functions and characteristics being penetrated thus: "This is ignorance, these 
are formations." That is why it is said, "It is unknowing about suffering ... 
unknowing about specific conditionality and conditionally-arisen states." 

[(h) Formations] 

60. Formations are the six mentioned in brief above thus, "the three, namely, 
formations of merit, etc., and the three, namely, the bodily formation, etc." (§44); 
but in detail here the [first] three formations are twenty-nine volitions, that is to 
say, the formation of merit consisting of thirteen volitions, counting the eight 
sense-sphere profitable volitions that occur in giving, in virtue, etc., and the five 
fine-material profitable volitions that occur in development [of meditation]; then 
the formation of demerit consisting of the twelve unprofitable volitions that occur 
in killing living things, etc.; then the formation of the imperturbable consisting 
in the four profitable volitions associated with the immaterial sphere, which 
occur in development [of those meditations]. 

61. As regards the other three, the bodily formation is bodily volition, the verbal 
formation is verbal volition, and the mental formation is mental volition. This 
triad is mentioned in order to show that at the moment of the accumulation of the 
kamma the formations of merit, etc., occur in these [three] kamma doors. For the 
eight sense-sphere profitable and twelve unprofitable volitions, making twenty, 
are the bodily formation when they occur in the body door and produce bodily 
intimation. Those same volitions [531] are called the verbal formation when they 
occur in the speech door and produce verbal intimation. But volition connected 
with direct-knowledge is not included here in these two cases because it is not a 
condition for [resultant rebirth-linking] consciousness later. And like direct- 
knowledge volition, so also volition connected with agitation is not included; 
therefore that too should not be included as a condition for [rebirth-linking] 
consciousness. However, all these have ignorance as their condition. And all the 
twenty-nine volitions are the mental formation when they arise in the mind door 
without originating either kind of intimation. So this triad comes within the first 
triad, and accordingly, as far as the meaning is concerned, ignorance can be 
understood as condition simply for formations of merit and so on. 

62. Herein, it might be [asked]: How can it be known that these formations have 
ignorance as their condition? — By the fact that they exist when ignorance exists. 
For when unknowing — in other words, ignorance — of suffering, etc., is 
unabandoned in a man, owing firstly to his unknowing about suffering and 
about the past, etc., then he believes the suffering of the round of rebirths to be 
pleasant and he embarks upon the three kinds of formations which are the 
cause of that very suffering. Owing to his unknowing about suffering's origin 
he embarks upon formations that, being subordinated to craving, are actually 
the cause of suffering, imagining them to be the cause of pleasure. And owing to 
his unknowing about cessation and the path, he misperceives the cessation of 
suffering to be in some particular destiny [such as the Brahma-world] that is not 
in fact cessation; he misperceives the path to cessation, believing it to consist in 
sacrifices, mortification for immortality, etc., which are not in fact the path to 
cessation; and so while aspiring to the cessation of suffering, he embarks upon 

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the three kinds of formations in the form of sacrifices, mortification for immortality, 
and so on. 

63. Furthermore, his non-abandonment of that ignorance about the four truths 
in particular prevents him from recognizing as suffering the kind of suffering 
called the fruit of merit, which is fraught with the many dangers beginning 
with birth, ageing, disease and death, and so he embarks upon the formation of 
merit classed as bodily, verbal, and mental formations, in order to attain that 
[kind of suffering], like one desiring celestial nymphs [who jumps over] a cliff. 
Also, not seeing how that fruit of merit reckoned as pleasure eventually breeds 
great distress owing to the suffering in its change and that it gives little 
satisfaction, he embarks upon the formation of merit of the kinds already stated, 
which is the condition for that very [suffering in change], like a moth that falls 
into a lamp's flame, and like the man who wants the drop of honey and licks the 
honey-smeared knife-edge. Also, not seeing the danger in the indulgence of 
sense desires, etc., with its results, [wrongly] perceiving pleasure and overcome 
by defilements, he embarks upon the formation of demerit that occurs in the 
three doors [of kamma], like a child who plays with filth, and like a man who 
wants to die and eats poison. Also, unaware of the suffering due to formations 
and the suffering-in-change [inherent] in kamma-results in the immaterial 
sphere, owing to the perversion of [wrongly perceiving them as] eternal, etc., he 
embarks upon the formation of the imperturbable which is a mental formation, 
like one who has lost his way and takes the road to a goblin city. 

64. So formations exist only when ignorance exists, [532] not when it does not; 
and that is how it can be known that these formations have ignorance as their 
condition. 

This is said too: "Not knowing, bhikkhus, in ignorance, he forms the formation 
of merit, forms the formation of demerit, forms the formation of the imperturbable. 
As soon as a bhikkhu's ignorance is abandoned and clear vision arisen, 
bhikkhus, with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of clear vision he 
does not form even formations of merit" (cf. S II 82). 

65. Here it might be said: "Let us then firstly agree that ignorance is a condition 
for formations. But it must now be stated for which formations, and in which way 
it is a condition." 

Here is the reply: "Twenty-four conditions have been stated by the Blessed 
One as follows." 

[The 24 Conditions] 

66. "(1) Root-cause condition, (2) object condition, (3) predominance condition, 
(4) proximity condition, (5) contiguity condition, (6) conascence condition, (7) 
mutuality condition, (8) support condition, (9) decisive-support condition, (10) 
prenascence condition, (11) postnascence condition, (12) repetition condition, 
(13) kamma condition, (14) kamma-result condition, (15) nutriment condition, 
(16) faculty condition, (17) jhana condition, (18) path condition, (19) association 
condition, (20) dissociation condition, (21) presence condition, (22) absence 



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condition, (23) disappearance condition, (24) non-disappearance condition" 
(Patth II). 

67. (1) Herein, it is a root-cause and a condition, thus it is root-cause condition. 
It is by its being a root-cause that it is a condition; what is meant is that it is a 
condition owing to its status as root-cause. The same method applies in the case 
of object condition and the rest. 

Herein, "cause" (hetu) is a term for a part of a syllogism, for a reason, and for 
a root. For with the words "proposition" (patinna), "cause" (hetu = middle term), 
etc., in the world it is a member of a syllogism (vacanavayava) that is called a 
cause. But in the Dispensation, in such passages as "Those states that are 
produced from a cause" (Vin I 40), it is a reason (karana); and in such passages 
as "Three profitable [root-] causes, three unprofitable [root-]causes" (Dhs §1053), 
it is a root (milla) that is called a cause. The last is intended here. 

68. As to "condition" (paccaya), the word-meaning here is this: It [the fruit] 
comes from that, depending thereon (paticca etasma eti), thus that is a condition; 
{paccaya, see note 2) the meaning is, [a state] occurs by not dispensing with that. 
What is meant is: when a state is indispensable to another state's presence or 
arising, the former is a condition for the latter. But as to characteristic, a condition 
has the characteristic of assisting; for any given state [533] that assists the 
presence or arising of a given state is called the latter's condition. The words 
condition, cause, reason, source, originator, producer, etc., are one in meaning 
though different in the letter. So, since it is a cause in the sense of a root, and a 
condition in the sense of assistance, briefly a state that is assistantial in the 
sense of a root is a [root-]cause condition. 

69. The intention of [some] teachers is that it establishes the profitable, etc., 
state in what is profitable, etc., as paddy seeds, etc., do for paddy, etc., and as the 
colour of gems, etc., do for the lustre of gems, and so on. 10 But if that is so, then [it 
follows that] the state of root-cause condition does not apply to the kinds of 
materiality originated by it, for it does not establish any profitableness, etc., in 
them. Nevertheless, it is a condition for them, for this is said: "Root-causes are a 
condition, as root-cause condition, for the states associated with a root-cause 
and for the kinds of materiality originated thereby" (Patth I 1). Again, the 
indeterminateness of root-causeless consciousness is established without it. 
And the profitableness, etc., of those with root-cause is bound up with wise 
attention, etc., not with the associated root-causes. And if the profitableness, etc., 
resided in the associated root-causes as an individual essence, then either the 
non-greed bound up with the root-cause in the associated states would be only 
profitable or it would be only indeterminate; but since it can be both, 
profitableness, etc., in the root-causes must still be sought for, just as in the 
associated states [such as wise attention, and so on]. 

70. But when the root-causes' sense of root is taken as establishing stableness, 
rather than as establishing profitableness, etc., there is no contradiction. For 
states that have obtained a root-cause condition are firm, like trees, and stable; 

10. "This refers to the teacher Revata" (Vism-mht 582). 

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but those without root-cause are, like moss [with roots no bigger than] sesame 
seeds, etc., unstable. So an assistantial state may be understood as a root-cause 
condition, since it establishes stableness through being of assistance in the 
sense of a root. 

71. (2) As to the others that follow, a state that assists by being an object is an 
object condition. Now, there are no states that are not object conditions; for the 
passage beginning "The visible-data base [is a condition, as object condition,] 
for the eye-consciousness element" concludes thus: "When any states, as states 
of consciousness and consciousness-concomitants, arise contingent upon any 
states, these [latter] states are conditions, as object condition, for those [former] 
states" (Patth I l). 11 For just as a weak man both gets up and stands by hanging 
on to (alambitva) a stick or rope, so states of consciousness and consciousness- 
concomitants always arise and are present contingent upon visible data, etc., as 
their object (arammana = alambana). Therefore all states that are objects of 
consciousness and consciousness-concomitants should be understood as object 
condition. [534] 

72. (3) A state that assists in the sense of being foremost is a predominance 
condition. It is of two kinds as conascent and as object. Herein, because of the 
passage beginning "Predominance of zeal is a condition, as predominance 
condition, for states associated with zeal and for the kinds of materiality 
originated thereby" (Patth I 2), it is the four states called zeal, [purity of] 
consciousness, energy, and inquiry, that should be understood as predominance 
condition; but not simultaneously, for when consciousness occurs with emphasis 
on zeal and putting zeal foremost, then it is zeal and not the others that is 
predominant. So with the rest. But the state, by giving importance to which, 
immaterial states occur, is their object-predominance. Hence it is said: "When any 
states, as states of consciousness and consciousness-concomitants, arise by giving 
importance to any states, these [latter] states are a condition, as predominance 
condition, for those [former] states" (Patth I 2). 

73. (4), (5) A state that assists by being proximate is a proximity condition. A 
state that assists by being contiguous is a contiguity condition. The explanation of 
this pair of conditions is very diffuse, but substantially it is this: 12 the regular 
order of consciousness begins thus, mind element is proximate (next) after eye- 
consciousness, mind-consciousness element is proximate (next) after mind 
element, and this is established only by each preceding consciousness, not 
otherwise; consequently, a state that is capable of arousing an appropriate kind 

11 . "'Which are contingent upon other such states': because it is said without distinction 
of all visible-data bases ... and of all mental-data bases, there is consequently no 
dhamma (state) among the formed, unformed, and conceptual dhammas, classed as 
sixfold under visible data, etc., that does not become an object condition" (Vism-mht 
584). 

12. "Proximity and contiguity conditions are not stated in accordance with the 
distinction between making occur and giving opportunity, as the absence and 
disappearance conditions are: rather they are stated as the causes of the regular order 
of consciousness [in the cognitive series]" (Vism-mht 585). 

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of consciousness proximate (next) to itself is a proximity condition. Hence it is 
said: "Proximity condition: eye-consciousness and the states associated 
therewith are a condition, as proximity condition, for mind element and for the 
states associated therewith" (Patth I 2). 

74. (5) Proximity condition is the same as contiguity condition. The difference 
here is only in the letter, there is none in the meaning; just as in the case of the 
words "growth" and "continuity" (XIV66), etc., and as in the case of the 
"terminology dyad," "language dyad," (Dhs §1306) and so on. 

75. The opinion of [certain] teachers 13 is that proximity condition refers to 
proximity of aim (fruit) and contiguity condition refers to proximity of time. But 
that is contradicted by such statements as "The profitable [consciousness] 
belonging to the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception in 
one who emerges from cessation is a condition, as contiguity condition, for 
fruition attainment [consciousness]" (Patth I 160). 

76. Now, they say in this context that "the ability of states to produce [their 
fruit] is not diminished, but the influence of meditative development prevents 
states from arising in proximity." But that only establishes that there is no 
proximity of time; and we also say the same, namely, that there is no proximity of 
time there owing to the influence of development. [535] But since there is no 
proximity of time, the state of contiguity condition is therefore impossible 
[according to them] since their belief is that the contiguity condition depends on 
proximity of time (cf. M-a II 363). Instead of adopting any such misinterpretation, 
the difference should be treated as residing in the letter only, not in the meaning. 
How? There is no interval (antara) between them, thus they are proximate 
(anantara); they are quite without interval because [even the distinction of] co- 
presence is lacking, thus they are contiguous (samanantara) . u 

77. (6) A state that, while arising, assists [another state] by making it arise 
together with itself is a conascence condition, as a lamp is for illumination. With 
the immaterial aggregates, etc., it is sixfold, according as it is said: "(i) The four 
immaterial aggregates are a condition, as conascence condition, for each other, 
(ii) the four great primaries are . . . for each other; (iii) at the moment of descent 
into the womb mentality and materiality are ... for each other; (iv) states of 
consciousness and its concomitants are . . . for the kinds of materiality originated 

13. "This refers to the Elder Revata too" (Vism-mht 586). 

14. "The state of proximity condition is the ability to cause arising proximately (without 
interval) because there is no interval between the cessation of the preceding and the 
arising of the subsequent. The state of contiguity condition is the ability to cause arising by 
being quite proximate (without interval) through approaching, as it were, identity with 
itself owing to absence of any distinction that 'This is below, above, or around that,' which 
is because of lack of any such co-presence as in the case of the [components of the] 
material groups, and because of lack of any co-positionality of the condition and the 
conditionally arisen. And [in general], because of the uninterestedness of [all] states 
(dhamma), when a given [state] has ceased, or is present, in a given mode, and [other] states 
(dhamma) come to be possessed of that particular mode, it is that [state's] mode that must 
be regarded as what is called 'ability to cause arising'" (Vism-mht 586). 

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by consciousness; (v) the great primaries are . . . for derived materiality; (vi) material 
states are sometimes [as at rebirth-linking] a condition, as conascence condition, 
and sometimes [as in the course of an existence] not a condition as conascence 
condition, for immaterial states" (Patth I 3). This refers only to the heart-basis. 

78. (7) A state that assists by means of mutual arousing and consolidating is a 
mutuality condition, as the three sticks of a tripod give each other consolidating 
support. With the immaterial aggregates, etc., it is threefold, according as it is 
said: "The four immaterial aggregates are a condition, as mutuality condition, 
[for each other]; the four great primaries are a condition, as mutuality condition, 
[for each other]; at the moment of descent into the womb mentality and materiality 
are a condition, as mutuality condition, [for each other]" (Patth I 3). 

79. (8) A state that assists in the mode of foundation and in the mode of support 
is a support condition, as the earth is for trees, as canvas is for paintings, and so 
on. It should be understood in the way stated for conascence thus: "The four 
immaterial aggregates are a condition, as support condition, for each other" 
(Patth I 3), but the sixth instance has been set forth in this way here: "The eye 
base [is a condition, as support condition,] for the eye-consciousness element 
[and for the states associated therewith]; the ear base ... the nose base ... the 
tongue base . . . the body base is a condition, as support condition, for the body- 
consciousness element and for the states associated therewith; the materiality 
with which as their support the mind element and the mind-consciousness element 
occur is a condition, as support condition, for the mind element, for the mind- 
consciousness element, and for the states associated therewith" (Patth 1 4). 

80. (9) Decisive-support condition: firstly, here is the word-meaning: [536] it is 
treated as support, not dispensed with, by its own fruit because [its own fruit's] 
existence is dependent on it, thus it is the support. But just as great misery is 
despair, so great support is decisive support. This is a term for a cogent reason. 
Consequently, a state that assists by being a cogent reason should be understood 
as a decisive-support condition. 

It is threefold, namely, (a) object-decisive-support, (b) proximate-decisive- 
support, and (c) natural-decisive-support condition. 

81. (a) Herein, firstly, object-decisive-support condition is set forth without 
differentiating it from object-predominance in the way beginning: "Having given 
a gift, having undertaken the precepts of virtue, having done the duties of the 
Uposatha, a man gives that importance and reviews it; he gives importance to 
former things well done and reviews them. Having emerged from jhana, he 
gives jhana importance and reviews it. Trainers give importance to change-of- 
lineage and review it. They give importance to cleansing and review it. 15 Trainers, 
having emerged from a path, give importance to the path and review it" 
(Patth I 165). Herein, the object in giving importance to which consciousness 

15. "Reviewing change-of-lineage" (the consciousness that precedes the path 
consciousness) applies to stream-enterers. "Reviewing cleansing" (the "cleansing" 
that consists in attaining a higher path than the first) applies to once-returners and 
non-returners (see Vism-mht 589). 

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and consciousness concomitants arise, is necessarily a cogent one among these 
objects. So their difference may be understood in this way: object-predominance is 
in the sense of what is to be given importance to, and object-decisive-support is in 
the sense of a cogent reason. 

82. (b) Also proximate-decisive-support condition is set forth without 
differentiating it from the proximity condition in the way beginning, "Any 
preceding profitable aggregates are a condition, as decisive-support condition, 
for any succeeding aggregates" (Patth I 165). But in the exposition there is a 
distinction, because in the exposition of the schedule (matika-nikkhepa) they are 
given as proximity in the way beginning, "Eye-consciousness element and the 
states associated therewith are a condition, as proximity condition, for mind 
element and for the states associated therewith" (Patth I 2) and as decisive- 
support in the way beginning, "Any preceding profitable states are a condition 
as decisive-support condition, for any succeeding profitable states" (Patth I 4), 
though it comes to the same thing as regards the meaning. Nevertheless, 
proximity may be understood as the ability to cause the occurrence of an 
appropriate conscious arising proximate (next) to itself, and decisive support as 
the preceding consciousness's cogency in the arousing of the succeeding 
consciousnesses. 

83. For while in the cases of root-cause and other such conditions 
consciousness can arise actually without any of those conditions, there is no 
arising of consciousness without a proximate consciousness [to precede it], so 
this is a cogent condition. Their difference, then, may be understood in this way: 
proximity condition arouses an appropriate consciousness proximate (next) to 
itself, while proximity-decisive-support condition is a cogent reason. 

84. (c) As to natural-decisive-support: the decisive-support is natural, thus it is a 
natural-decisive-support. Faith, virtue, etc., produced in, or climate, food, etc., 
habitual to, one's own continuity are called natural. Or else, it is a decisive- 
support by nature, [537] thus it is a natural-decisive-support. The meaning is 
that it is unmixed with object and proximity. It should be understood as variously 
divided up in the way beginning: "Natural-decisive-support: with faith as 
decisive-support a man gives a gift, undertakes the precepts of virtue, does the 
duties of the Uposatha, arouses jhana, arouses insight, arouses the path, arouses 
direct-knowledge, arouses an attainment. With virtue ... With learning ... With 
generosity ... With understanding as decisive-support a man gives a gift ... 
arouses an attainment. Faith, virtue, learning, generosity, understanding, are 
conditions, as decisive-support condition, for [the repeated arising of] faith, 
virtue, learning, generosity, understanding" (Patth I 165). So these things 
beginning with faith are natural-decisive-support since they are both natural 
and decisive-supports in the sense of a cogent reason. 

85. (10) A state that assists by being present, having arisen previously, is a 
prenascence condition. It is elevenfold as physical basis and object in the five 
doors, and as the heart-basis, according as it is said: "The eye base is a condition, 
as prenascence condition, for the eye-consciousness element and for the states 
associated therewith. The ear base ... The nose base ... The tongue base ... The 



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body base . . . The visible-data base . . . The sound base . . . The odour base . . . The 
flavour base . . . The tangible-data base is a condition, as prenascence condition, 
for the body-consciousness element and for the states associated therewith. The 
visible-data base . . . The sound base . . . The odour base . . . The flavour base . . . the 
tangible database [is a condition, as prenascence condition,] for the mind element. 
The materiality with which as their support the mind element and mind- 
consciousness element occur is a condition, as prenascence condition, for the 
mind-element and for the states associated therewith, and it is sometimes [as in 
the course of an existence] a condition, as prenascence condition, sometimes [as 
at rebirth-linking] not a condition, as prenascence condition, for the mind- 
consciousness element and for the states associated therewith" (Patth I 4-5). 

86. (11) An immaterial state that [while present] assists prenascent material 
states [also present] by consolidating them is a postnascence condition, like the 
volition of appetite for food, which assists the bodies of vultures' young. Hence 
it is said: "Postnascent [538] states of consciousness and its concomitants are a 
condition, as postnascence condition, for the prenascent [co-present] body" 
(Patth I 5). 

87. (12) A state that assists the efficiency and power of the proximate (next) in 
the sense of repetition is a repetition condition, like repeated application to books 
and so on. It is threefold as profitable, unprofitable, and functional impulsion; 
for it is said: "Preceding profitable states are a condition, as repetition condition, 
for succeeding profitable states . . . Preceding unprofitable . . . Preceding functional 
indeterminate states are a condition, as repetition condition, for succeeding 
functional indeterminate states" (Patth I 5). 

88. (13) A state that assists by means of the action called intervening of 
consciousness is a kamma condition. It is twofold as (a) profitable and unprofitable 
volition acting from a different time, and (b) as all conascent volition (see Patth I 
172), according as it is said: "Profitable and unprofitable kamma is a condition, 
as kamma condition, for resultant aggregates and for the kinds of materiality 
due to kamma performed. Conascent volition is a condition, as kamma condition, 
for associated states and for the kinds of materiality originated thereby" (Patth 1 5). 

89. (14) A resultant state that, by effortless quiet, assists effortless quiet [in 
other states] is a kamma-result condition. In the course of an existence it is a 
condition for states originated by it, and at rebirth-linking for the kinds of 
materiality due to kamma performed, and in both cases for the associated states, 
according as it is said: "One resultant indeterminate aggregate is a condition, 
as kamma-result condition, for three aggregates and for the kinds of materiality 
originated by consciousness ... At the moment of rebirth-linking one resultant 
indeterminate aggregate [is a condition ...] for three aggregates ... Three 
aggregates [are a condition ...] for one aggregate ... Two aggregates are a 
condition, as kamma-result condition, for two aggregates and for the kinds of 
materiality due to kamma performed. Aggregates are a condition, as kamma- 
result condition, for the physical basis" (Patth I 173). 

90. (15) The four kinds of nutriment, which assist material and immaterial 
states by consolidating them, are nutriment conditions, according as it is said: 

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"Physical nutriment is a condition, as nutriment condition, for this body. 
Immaterial nutriments are conditions, as nutriment condition, for associated 
states and for the kinds of materiality originated by them" (Patth I 5). But in the 
Question Section it is said: "At the moment of rebirth-linking, resultant 
indeterminate nutriments are conditions, as nutriment condition, for aggregates 
associated therewith and for the kinds of materiality due to kamma performed" 
(Patth I 174). 

91. (16) Leaving out the femininity and masculinity faculties, the twenty 
remaining faculties (see XIV1), which assist in the sense of predominance, [539] 
are faculty conditions. Herein, the five, namely, the eye faculty, etc., are conditions 
only for immaterial states, the rest are conditions for material and immaterial 
states, according as it is said: "The eye faculty [is a condition, as faculty 
condition,] for eye-consciousness element [and for the states associated therewith]. 
The ear faculty . . . The nose faculty . . . The tongue faculty . . . The body faculty is 
a condition, as faculty condition, for the body-consciousness element and for 
the states associated therewith. The material life faculty is a condition, as faculty 
condition, for the kinds of materiality due to kamma performed. The immaterial 
faculties are a condition, as faculty condition, for the states associated therewith 
and for the kinds of materiality originated thereby" (Patth 1, 5-6). But in the 
Question Section it is said: "At the moment of rebirth-linking resultant 
indeterminate faculties are a condition, as faculty condition, for associated 
aggregates and for the kinds of materiality due to kamma performed" (Patth 1 175). 

92. (17) All the seven jhana factors classed as profitable, etc. — leaving out the 
pair, pleasant and painful feeling, in the case of the two sets of five 
consciousnesses — which factors assist in the sense of constituting a state of 
jhana, are jhana conditions, according as it is said: "The jhana factors are a 
condition, as jhana condition, for the states associated with jhana and for the 
kinds of materiality originated thereby" (Patth I 6). But in the Question Section it 
is said: "At the moment of rebirth-linking, resultant indeterminate jhana factors 
are a condition, as jhana condition, for associated aggregates and for the kinds 
of materiality due to kamma performed" (Patth I 175). 

93. (18) The twelve path factors classed as profitable, etc., which assist in the 
sense of an outlet from whatever it may be, are path conditions, according as it is 
said: "The path factors are a condition, as path condition, for states associated 
therewith and for the kinds of materiality originated thereby" (Patth I 6). But in 
the Question Section it is said: "At the moment of rebirth-linking, resultant 
indeterminate path factors are a condition, as path condition, for aggregates 
associated therewith and for the kinds of materiality due to kamma performed" 
(Patth I 176). 

But these two, namely, jhana and path conditions, should be understood as 
inapplicable to the two sets of five consciousnesses and to the consciousnesses 
without root-cause ((34)-(41), (50)-(56), (70)-(72)). 

94. (19) Immaterial states that assist by the kind of association consisting in 
having the same physical basis, same object, same arising, same cessation, are 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

association conditions, according as it is said: "The four immaterial aggregates 
are a condition, as association condition, for each other" (Patth I 6). 

95. (20) Material states that assist immaterial states, and immaterial states that 
assist material states by not having sameness of physical basis, etc., are dissociation 
conditions. This is threefold as conascent, postnascent, and prenascent, for this 
is said: "Conascent profitable aggregates are a condition, as dissociation 
condition, for the kinds of materiality originated by consciousness. Postnascent 
[540] profitable [mental] aggregates are a condition, as dissociation condition, 
for this prenascent body" (Patth 1 176). But in the analysis of the conascent in the 
indeterminate clause it is said: "At the moment of rebirth-linking, resultant 
indeterminate aggregates are a condition, as dissociation condition, for the kinds 
of materiality due to kamma performed. The aggregates are a condition, as 
dissociation condition, for the physical basis, and the physical basis for the 
aggregates" (Patth I 176). But the prenascent should be understood as the eye 
faculty, etc., and the physical basis, according as it is said: "The prenascent eye 
base [is a condition, as dissociation condition,] for eye-consciousness ... The 
body base is a condition, as dissociation condition, for body-consciousness. The 
physical basis [is a condition, as dissociation condition,] for resultant- 
indeterminate and functional-indeterminate aggregates ... The physical basis 
[is a condition, as dissociation condition,] for profitable aggregates ... The 
physical basis [is a condition, as dissociation condition,] for unprofitable 
aggregates" (Patth I 176-77). 

96. (21) A state that, by means of existingness characterized by presence, assists 
a like state by consolidating it, is a presence condition. A sevenfold summary is 
laid down for it according to immaterial aggregates, great primaries, mentality- 
materiality consciousness and consciousness-concomitants, great primaries, 
bases, and physical [heart] basis, according as it is said: "The four immaterial 
aggregates are a condition, as presence condition, for each other. The four great 
primaries . . . are . . . for each other. At the time of descent into the womb mentality 
and materiality [are a condition, as presence condition,] for each other. States of 
consciousness and consciousness-concomitants are . . . for the kinds of materiality 
originated by consciousness. The four great primaries are ... for derived 
materiality. The eye base is ... for the eye-consciousness element [and for the 
states associated therewith]. The [ear base ... nose base ... tongue base ...] body 
base is . . . for the body-consciousness element . . . The visible-data base [is ... for 
the eye-consciousness element . . . The sound base . . . odour base . . . flavour base 
...] tangible-data base is a condition, as presence condition, for the body- 
consciousness element and for the states associated therewith. The visible-data 
base ... The [sound base ... odour base ... flavour base ...] tangible-data base is 
a condition, as presence condition, for the mind element and for the states 
associated therewith. The materiality with which as their support the mind 
element and mind-consciousness element occur is a condition, as presence 
condition, for the mind element, for the mind-consciousness element, and for 
the states associated therewith" (Patth I 6). 



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97. But in the Question Section, after setting forth conascence, prenascence, 
postnascence, nutriment, and faculty, the description is given first under 
conascence in the way beginning, "One aggregate is a condition, as presence 
condition, for three aggregates and for materiality originated thereby" (Patth I 
178). Under prenascence the description is given according to the prenascent 
eye and so on. Under postnascence the description is given according to 
postnascent consciousness and consciousness-concomitants as conditions for 
this body. Under nutriments and faculties [respectively] the description is given 
thus: "Physical nutriment is a condition, as presence condition, for this body," 
[541] and "The material life faculty is a condition, as presence condition, for 
materiality due to kamma performed" (Patth I 178). 16 

98. (22) Immaterial states that, by their ceasing in contiguity [before], assist by 
giving opportunity to immaterial states that arise proximately (next) after them 
are absence conditions, according as it is said: "States of consciousness and 
consciousness-concomitants that have ceased in contiguity are a condition, as 
absence condition, for present states of consciousness and consciousness- 
concomitants" (Patth I 7). 

99. (23) Those same states, because they assist by their disappearance, are a 
disappearance condition, according as it is said: "States of consciousness and 
consciousness-concomitants that have disappeared in contiguity are a condition, 
as disappearance condition, for present states of consciousness and 
consciousness-concomitants" (Patth I 7). 

100. (24) The same states that are presence condition, because they assist by 
their non-disappearance, should be understood as a non-disappearance condition. 
Or this dyad is stated as an embellishment of teaching to suit the needs of those 
who are teachable, just as [in the Matika of the Dhammasangam] the "dissociated- 
from-cause dyad" is given after the "causeless dyad." 



16. "The presence (atthi) condition is not applicable to Nibbana. For a presence 
condition is that which is unhelpful by its absence of existingness (atthi-bhavabhava) 
and becomes helpful by obtaining existingness. And Nibbana does not, after being 
unhelpful by its own absence of existingness to those states that have Nibbana as 
their object, become helpful to them by obtaining existingness. Or alternatively the 
presence condition, which by its non-existingness is the opposite of helpfulness to 
those states that are associated with arising, etc., is helpful to them by its existingness. 
So Nibbana is not a presence condition" (Vism-mht 597). 

It may be noted that atthi has more than one use, among which the following two 
may be mentioned: (1) atthi (is) = npalabbhaniya (is (a) "apprehendable," and (b) not a 
self-contradictory impossibility) — "atthi, bhikkhave, ajatam — There is an unborn' (Ud 
80), and the discussion on the existence of Nibbana (XVI.67ff.). (2) Atthi (is) = uppanna 
(arisen) — see "Yam, bhikkhave, rupam jatam patubhutam atthi ti tassa sankha — Of the 
materiality that is born, manifested, it is said that 'It is'" (S II 71f.). The atthi-paccaya 
(presence condition), being implicitly equated with the latter, cannot be applied to 
Nibbana because Nibbana is not subject to arising (A I 152). 



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[How Ignorance is a Condition for Formations] 

101. Now, as regards these twenty-four conditions: 

For those of merit ignorance 
Is a condition in two ways 
And for the next in many ways 
But for the last kind only once. 

102. Herein, for those of merit ignorance is a condition in two ways: it is a condition 
in two ways, namely, as object condition and as decisive-support condition. For 
ignorance is a condition, as object condition, for formations of merit of the sense 
sphere at the time of comprehending [by means of insight] ignorance as liable to 
destruction and fall; and it is likewise for those of the fine-material sphere at the 
time of knowing a confused mind by means of direct-knowledge consciousness 
[through penetrating others' minds, and so on]. But it is a condition, as decisive- 
support condition, in two cases, that is to say, [for the sense-sphere formation] in 
one who, for the purpose of surmounting ignorance, fulfils the various instances 
of sense-sphere merit-making consisting in giving, etc., and [for the fine-material- 
sphere formation] in one who arouses the fine-material jhanas [for the same 
purpose]. Likewise in one who effects that merit while aspiring to the delight of 
sense-sphere becoming and fine-material becoming because he is confused by 
ignorance. 

103. And for the next in many ways: it is a condition for formations of demerit in 
many ways. How? As object condition at the time of the arising of greed, etc., 
contingent upon ignorance; as object-predominance and object-decisive-support 
respectively at the times of giving importance [to ignorance] and enjoying [it]; 
as decisive-support in one who, being confused by ignorance and unaware of 
danger, kills living things, etc.; as proximity, contiguity, proximity-decisive- 
support, repetition, absence, and disappearance, for the second impulsion and 
those that follow; as root-cause, conascence, mutuality, support, association, 
presence, and non-disappearance, in one doing anything unprofitable. It is 
thus a condition in many ways. 

104. But for the last kind only once: [542] it is reckoned as a condition in one way, 
namely, as decisive-support condition only, for formations of the imperturbable. 
But its relation as decisive-support condition should be understood as stated 
under formations of merit. 

[No Single Fruit from Single Cause] 

105. Here it may he asked: But how is this? Is ignorance the only condition for 
formations, or are there other conditions? What is the position here? For firstly, if 
it is the only one, there follows the assertion of a single cause; 17 but then if there 
are others, the description of it as a single cause, namely, "With ignorance as 

17. "The assertion of a single cause (karana) is undesirable because it follows that 
there would be production of everything all the time, and because it follows that there 
would be a single homogeneous state;" (Vism-mht 599) cf. XIX. 3. 

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condition there are formations," is incorrect — It is not incorrect. Why not? Here 
is the reason: 

Nor from a single cause arise 

One fruit or many, nor one fruit from many; 

Tis helpful, though, to utilize 

One cause and fruit as representative. 

106. Here there is no single or multiple fruit of any kind from a single cause, 
nor a single fruit from multiple causes, but only multiple fruit from multiple 
causes. So from multiple causes, in other words, from temperature, earth, seed, 
and moisture, is seen to arise a multiple fruit, in other words, the shoot, which 
has visible form, odour, taste, and so on. But one representative cause and fruit 
given in this way, "With ignorance as condition there are formations; with 
formations as condition, consciousness," have a meaning and a use. 

107. For the Blessed One employs one representative cause and fruit when it is 
suitable for the sake of elegance in instruction and to suit the idiosyncrasies of 
those susceptible of being taught. And he does so in some instances because it 
is a basic factor, and in some instances because it is the most obvious, and in 
some instances because it is not common to all. 

In the passage "With contact as condition, feeling" (M I 261) he mentions a 
single cause and fruit because they are basic factors. For contact is the basic 
cause of feeling since the kinds of feeling are defined according to the kinds of 
contact [as "eye-contact-born feeling" and so on], and feeling is contact's basic 
fruit since contact is defined according to the kinds of feeling [that it produces]. 
He mentions a single cause in the passage "Disease due to phlegm" (A V 110) 
because that is the most obvious. For here what is obvious is the phlegm, not the 
kamma, etc., [mentioned later in the same sutta]. He mentions a single cause in 
the passage "Bhikkhus, any states whatever that are unprofitable are all rooted 
in unwise attention" (cf. S V 91) because it is not common to all. For unwise 
attention to unprofitable things is not common to all [states] in the way that, say, 
physical basis and object are common to all. 

108. Consequently, although other causes of formations such as physical basis 
and object, conascent states, etc., are actually existent, still ignorance may be 
understood as the representative cause of formations [firstly] because it is the 
basic factor as the cause of other causes of formations such as craving, etc., as it 
is said: "Craving increases in one who dwells seeing enjoyment" (S II 84), and 
"With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of cankers" (M I 55); and 
again because it is the most obvious, "Not knowing, bhikkhus, in ignorance, he 
forms the formation of merit" (cf. S II 82); and lastly because it is not common to 
all. [543] So the use of one representative cause and fruit should in each instance 
be understood according to this explanation of it. 18 

109. Here it may be said: "We admit that. But ignorance is reprehensible and 
has entirely undesirable fruit. How then can it rightly be a condition for formations 
of merit and of the imperturbable? Sugarcane does not grow from [bitter] nimba 

18. Parihara-vacana — "explanation": not in PED in this sense. 

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seeds." Why should it not be right? For in the world [that is, even among thinkers 
outside the Dispensation it is recognized that] 

Both as opposed and unopposed 
A state's conditions may be found, 
And both as like and unlike too: 
That does not make it their result. 

110. It is established in the world that when states have a condition, it may be 
opposed or unopposed to them as to presence, individual essence, function, and 
so on. For a preceding consciousness is a condition, opposed as to presence, for 
the succeeding consciousness; and the preceding training is a condition likewise 
for the plying of crafts, etc., which take place subsequently. Kamma is a condition, 
opposed as to individual essence, for materiality; and so are milk, etc., for curds, 
and so on. Light is a condition, opposed as to function, for eye-consciousness; 
and so are molasses, etc., for intoxicants, and so on. But eye-cum-visible-data, 
etc., are respectively a condition, unopposed as to presence, for eye-consciousness, 
and so on. And the first impulsion, and those that follow, are a condition, 
unopposed as to individual essence and function, for the impulsions that follow 
them. And just as conditions operate as opposed and unopposed, so also they 
operate as like and unlike. Materiality — for example, temperature and 
nutriment — is a condition for materiality: the like for the like. And so are paddy 
seeds, etc., for paddy crops, and so on. The material is a condition for the 
immaterial, and so is the immaterial for the material: the unlike for the like. And 
so are ox hair and ram's hair, horns, curd, and sesame flour, etc., respectively for 
dabba grass, reeds, bhutanaka grass, and so on. 19 And those states for which these 
are the opposed and unopposed, like and unlike, conditions are not the results 
of these states as well. 

111. So although this ignorance has entirely undesirable fruit for its result 
and is reprehensible in its individual essence, yet it should be understood as a 
condition, opposed or unopposed and like or unlike as the case may be, as to 
presence, function, and individual essence, for all these formations of merit, etc. 
And its state as a condition has already been given in the way beginning, "For 
when unknowing — in other words, ignorance — of suffering, etc., is unaban- 
doned in a man, owing firstly to his unknowing about suffering and about the 
past, etc., then be believes the suffering of the round of rebirths to be pleasant 

19. Avi — "a goat or sheep": not in PED. The Vism text reads " golomavilomavisana- 
dadhitilapitthadtni ca dubbasarabhutanakadinam." Vism-mht explains thus: "Golomavilomadi 
ti adisu golomavilomani dubbaya avi ti ratta elaka veditabba visanam sarassa dadhitilapitthagulani 
bhutinakassa sevalam tanduleyyakassa kharavalava assatarassa ti evam adi adisaddena 
sangahito," which renders thus: "As to 'Ox hair and ram's hair, etc.,' and the rest: ox hair 
and ram's hair [are conditions for the unlike] dubba (dabba) grass — a ram (avi) should 
be understood as a red sheep (elaka); horn is for reeds (sara); curds, sesame flour and 
molasses are for bhutinaka grass; moss is for the tanduleyyaka plant; a she donkey is 
for a mule; and so on in this way as included by the word 'etc.'" (Vism-mht 601). 
Except for the last-mentioned, it seems problematical why these things, if rightly 
interpreted, should be conditions for the things mentioned. 

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and he embarks upon the three kinds of formations, which are the cause of that 
very suffering" (§62). 

112. Moreover, there is this way of explanation as well: 

Now, when a man is ignorant 
Of death and rebirth and the round, 
The characteristics of the formed, 
Dependently-arisen states, [544] 

And in his ignorance he forms 
Formations of this triple kind, 
Then ignorance itself will be 
Condition for each of the three. 

113. But how does a man who is confused about these things perform these 
three kinds of formations? Firstly, when he is confused about death, instead of 
taking death thus, "Death in every case is break-up of aggregates," he figures 
that it is a [lasting] being that dies, that it is a [lasting] being's transmigration to 
another incarnation, and so on. 

114. When he is confused about reappearance, instead of taking rebirth thus, 
"Birth in every case is manifestation of aggregates," he figures that it is a lasting 
being's manifestation in a new body. 

115. When he is confused about the round of rebirths, instead of taking the 
round of rebirths as pictured thus: 

The endless chain of aggregates, 

Of elements, of bases too, 

That carries on unbrokenly 

Is what is called "the round of births," 

he figures that it is a lasting being that goes from this world to another world, 
that comes from another world to this world. 

116. When he is confused about the characteristics of formations, instead of 
apprehending their specific and general characteristics, he figures that 
formations are self, belong to a self, are lasting, pleasant, beautiful. 

117. When he is confused about dependently-arisen states, instead of taking 
the occurrence of formations to be due to ignorance, etc., he figures that it is a self 
that knows or does not know, that acts and causes action, that appears in rebirth- 
linking, and he figures that atoms, an Overlord, etc., shape its body in the various 
states of the embryo and endow it with faculties, and that when it has been 
endowed with faculties it touches, feels, craves, clings, and endeavours, and that 
it becomes anew in the next becoming; or he figures thus, "All beings ... [are] 
moulded by fate, coincidence and nature" (D I 53). 

118. Thus he figures, blinded by ignorance. He is like a blind man who wanders 
about the earth, encountering now right and now wrong paths, now heights 
and now hollows, now even and now uneven ground, and so he forms formations 
now of merit, now of demerit, now imperturbable. 

119. Hence this is said: 



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As one born blind, who gropes along 
Without assistance from a guide, 
Chooses a road that may be right 
At one time, at another wrong, 

So while the foolish man pursues 
The round of births without a guide, 
Now to do merit he may choose 
And now demerit in such plight. 

But when the Dhamma he comes to know 
And penetrates the truths besides, 
Then ignorance is put to flight 
At last, and he in peace may go. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause, "With ignorance as condition 
there are formations." [545] 

[(m) Consciousness] 

1(1) Kinds of Mundane Resultant Consciousness] 

120. In the clause, with formations as condition, consciousness, consciousness is 
sixfold as eye-consciousness, and so on. Herein, eye-consciousness is twofold, 
namely, profitable [kamma-]resultant and unprofitable [kamma-]resultant (see 
Table II for bracketed numbers that follow). Likewise ear-, nose-, tongue-, and 
body-consciousness ((34)-(38) and (50)-(54)). But mind-consciousness is twenty- 
two-fold, namely, the two profitable and unprofitable resultant mind elements 
((39) and (55)), the three root-causeless mind-consciousness elements ((40), (41) 
and (56)), the eight sense-sphere resultant consciousnesses with root-cause 
((42)-(49)), the five of the fine-material sphere ((57)-(61)), and the four of the 
immaterial sphere ((62)-(65)). So all the thirty-two mundane resultant 
consciousnesses ((34)-(65)) are included by these six kinds of consciousness. 
But the supramundane kinds do not belong to the exposition of the round [of 
becoming], and so they are not included. 

121. Here it may be asked: "But how is it to be known that this consciousness 
of the kind stated actually has formations as its condition?" — Because there is 
no kamma-result when there is no stored-up kamma. For this consciousness is 
kamma-result, and kamma-result does not arise in the absence of stored-up 
kamma. If it did, then all kinds of kamma-resultant consciousnesses would 
arise in all kinds of beings, and they do not do so. This is how it should be 
known that such consciousness has formations as its condition. 

122. But which kind of consciousness has which kind of formations as its 
condition? 

Firstly, the following sixteen kinds arise with the sense-sphere formation of 
merit as condition: the five profitable resultants beginning with eye- 
consciousness ((34)-(38)), and in the case of mind-consciousness one kind of 
mind element (39) and two kinds of mind-consciousness element ((40)-(41)), 



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and the eight kinds of sense-sphere resultant ((42)-(49)), according as it is said: 
"Owing to profitable kamma of the sense sphere having been performed, stored 
up, resultant eye-consciousness" (Dhs §431), "ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- 
consciousness" (Dhs §443), "resultant mind element arises" (Dhs §455), "mind- 
consciousness element accompanied by joy arises" (Dhs §469), "mind- 
consciousness element accompanied by equanimity arises" (Dhs §484), 
"accompanied by joy and associated with knowledge ... accompanied by joy, 
associated with knowledge and prompted ... accompanied by joy and 
dissociated from knowledge ... accompanied by joy, dissociated from knowledge 
and prompted ... accompanied by equanimity and associated with knowledge 
... accompanied by equanimity, associated with knowledge and prompted ... 
accompanied by equanimity and dissociated from knowledge ... accompanied 
by equanimity, dissociated from knowledge and prompted" (Dhs §498). 

123. There are five kinds of resultant fine-material-sphere consciousness ((57)- 
(61)) with the fine-material-sphere formation of merit as condition, according as 
it is said: "Owing to that same profitable kamma of the fine-material sphere 
having been performed, stored up, [by the development of that same profitable 
jhana,] [546] secluded from sense desires ... he enters upon and dwells in the 
resultant first jhana ... fifth jhana" (Dhs §499). 

124. There are seven kinds of consciousness with the formation of demerit as 
condition: the five unprofitable resultants beginning with eye-consciousness 
((50)-(54)), one mind element (55), and one mind-consciousness element (56), 
according as it is said: "Because of unprofitable kamma having been performed 
and stored up, resultant eye-consciousness has arisen . . . ear- . . . nose- . . . tongue- 
... body-consciousness has arisen" (Dhs §556), "resultant mind element" (Dhs 
§562), "resultant mind-consciousness element has arisen" (Dhs §564). 

125. There are four kinds of immaterial resultant consciousness ((62)-(65)) with 
the formation of the imperturbable as condition, according as it is said: "Owing to 
that same profitable kamma of the immaterial sphere having been performed, stored 
up [by the development of that same profitable immaterial jhana, with the abandoning 
of bodily pleasure and pain ... he enters upon and dwells in the resultant fourth 
jhana, which,] with the complete surmounting of perceptions of material form ... is 
accompanied by the base consisting of boundless space" (Dhs §501), "accompanied 
by the base consisting of boundless consciousness" (Dhs §502), "accompanied by 
the base consisting of nothingness" (Dhs §503), "accompanied by the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception" (Dhs §504). 

126. After knowing what kind of consciousness has what formations as its 
condition, one should now understand how it occurs as follows. 

[(2) The Occurrence of Resultant Consciousness] 

Now, this resultant consciousness all occurs in two ways, namely, (a) in the 
course of an individual existence (or continuity), and (b) at the rebirth-linking 
[moment]. 

Herein, there are the two fivefold consciousnesses ((34)-(38) and (50)-(54)), 
two mind elements ((39) and (55)), and root-causeless mind-consciousness 



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element accompanied by joy (40), that is, thirteen which occur only in the course 
of an existence in the five-constituent kind of becoming. 20 The remaining nineteen 
occur in the three kinds of becoming, either in the course of an existence or at 
rebirth-linking, as appropriate. How? 

[2. (a) In the Course of an Existence] 

127. Firstly, in one who has been reborn by means of either profitable-result or 
unprofitable result: according as his faculties mature, so the five profitable- 
resultant eye-, etc., consciousnesses occur accomplishing the respective functions 
of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching ((d)-(h)), contingent respectively 
upon a desirable or desirable-neutral visible datum, etc., as object that has come 
into the focus of the eye, etc., and having the sensitivity of the eye, etc., as [material] 
support. And likewise the five unprofitable-resultant consciousnesses; the only 
difference being this, that the visible data, etc., as object for these are undesirable 
or undesirable-neutral. And these ten are invariable as to their door, object, 
physical basis, and position [in the cognitive series], and invariable as to their 
functions. 

128. After that, next to the profitable-resultant eye-, etc., consciousness, the 
profitable-resultant mind element (39) occurs accomplishing the function of 
receiving (i), contingent upon the same object as that of the former, and having 
the heart-basis as support. [547] And next after the unprofitable-resultant eye-, 
etc., consciousness, the unprofitable-resultant mind element (55) occurs likewise. 
But these two, while variable as to door and object, are invariable as to physical 
basis and position, and invariable as to function. 

129. Then next to the profitable-resultant mind element, the root-causeless 
mind-consciousness element accompanied by joy (40) occurs accomplishing 
the function of investigation (j), contingent upon the same object as that of the 
mind element, and having the heart-basis as support. And when the object is a 
vivid one in any of the six doors belonging to sense-sphere beings, usually at 
the end of impulsions associated with greed it holds up the [renewal of the] 
course of the life-continuum (b) by occurring either once or twice as registration 
(m), having the same object as that apprehended by the impulsions — so it is said 
in the Majjhima Commentary 21 But in the Abhidhamma Commentary two turns 
of consciousness have been handed down with respect to registration. This 
consciousness has two names, "registration" (tad-arammana — lit. having that object 
that the preceding impulsions had) and "aftermath life-continuum" (pitthi- 
bhavahga — see XIV122). It is variable as to door and object, it is invariable as to 
physical basis, and it is variable as to position and function. 



20. For five-constituent becoming, etc., see §§253-54. "Unprofitable resultant eye- 
consciousness, etc. sometimes arise even in Brahmas when undesirable visible data, 
etc., come into focus" (Vism-mht 604); cf. §180. 

21. This refers to the old Sinhalese commentary no longer extant. 



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This, in the first place, it should be understood, is how thirteen kinds of 
consciousness occur only in the course of an individual existence in the five- 
constituent kind of becoming. 

130. As to the remaining nineteen ((41)-(49) and (56)-(65)), there is none that 
does not occur as a rebirth-linking (a) appropriate to it (see §133). But in the 
course of an individual existence, firstly, two, namely, profitable-resultant and 
unprofitable-resultant root-causeless mind-consciousness elements ((41) and 
(56)) occur accomplishing four functions, that is to say, the function of investigating 
in the five doors (j) next after profitable-resultant and unprofitable-resultant 
mind element, the function of registration (m) in the six doors in the way already 
stated, the function of life-continuum (b) that continues after rebirth-linking given 
by themselves, as long as there is no thought-arising to interrupt the life- 
continuum, and lastly the function of death (n) at the end [of the course of an 
existence]. And so these two are invariable as to [possession of heart-] basis, and 
variable as to door, object, position, and function. 

131. The eight sense-sphere consciousnesses with root-cause ((42)-(49)) occur 
accomplishing three functions, namely, the function of registration (m) in the six 
doors in the way already stated, the function of life-continuum (b) after rebirth- 
linking given by themselves, as long as there is no thought-arising to interrupt 
the life-continuum, and lastly the function of death (n) at the end. And they are 
invariable as to [possession of heart-] basis, and variable as to door, position, 
and function. 

132. The five fine-material consciousnesses ((57)-(61)) and the four immaterial 
consciousnesses ((62)-(65)) occur accomplishing two functions, namely, the 
function of life- continuum (b) that continues after rebirth-linking given by 
themselves, as long as there is no thought-arising to interrupt the life-continuum, 
and the function of death (n) at the end. As regards these, those of the fine- 
material sphere are invariable as to [possession of heart-]basis and as to their 
object, and they are variable as to position and function, while the others occur 
invariably without [heart-] basis, and they are invariable as to object, and variable 
as to position and function. 

This, in the first place, is how the thirty-twofold resultant consciousness occurs 
in the course of an individual existence with formations as condition. And there 
[in the course of an existence] these several formations are conditions, as kamma 
condition and decisive-support condition, for this [thirty-twofold resultant 
consciousness]. [548] 

[2. (b) At Rebirth-Linking] 

133. But what was said above, namely, "as to the remaining nineteen, there is 
none that does not occur as a rebirth-linking appropriate to it" (§130), is hard to 
understand since it is too brief. Hence, in order to show the details it may be asked: 
(i) How many kinds of rebirth-linking are there? (ii) How many kinds of rebirth- 
linking consciousness? (iii) Where and by what means does rebirth-linking come 
about? (iv) What does rebirth-linking [consciousness] have as its object? 



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134. (i) Including the rebirth-linking of non-percipient beings there are twenty 
kinds of rebirth-linking. 

(ii) There are nineteen kinds of rebirth-linking consciousnesses, as already 
described. 

(iii) Herein, rebirth-linking by means of the unprofitable-resultant root- 
causeless mind-consciousness element (56) comes about in the states of loss. 
Rebirth-linking by means of the profitable-resultant (41) comes about in the 
human world among those blind from birth, born deaf, born mad, born drivelling 
(see M I 20; M-a I 118), the sexless, and so on. Rebirth-linking by means of the 
eight principal resultant consciousnesses with root-cause ((42)-(49)) comes 
about among deities of the sense sphere and the meritorious among men. That 
by means of the five fine-material resultant kinds comes about in the fine-material 
Brahma-world. That by means of the four immaterial-sphere resultant kinds 
comes about in the immaterial world. So rebirth-linking [consciousness] 
conforms to the means by which, and the place in which, it comes about. 

(iv) Briefly, rebirth-linking [consciousness] has three kinds of objects, namely, 
past, present, and not-so-classifiable (see Ch. Ill, n. 32). Non-percipient rebirth- 
linking [consciousness] has no object. 

135. Herein, in the base consisting of boundless consciousness and the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, the object of rebirth-linking 
is past. That of the ten kinds of sense-sphere rebirth-linking is past or present. 
That of the rest is not-so-classifiable. But while the rebirth-linking consciousness 
occurs thus with three kinds of objects, the death consciousness, next to which it 
occurs, has only a past or a not-so-classifiable object, there being no death 
consciousness with a present object. Consequently, it should be understood 
how it occurs in the happy destinies and the unhappy destinies as follows, that 
is to say, how rebirth-linking consciousness with one of three kinds of objects 
occurs next to death consciousness with one of two kinds of objects. 

136. [From happy to unhappy destiny. .] For example, firstly in the case of a person 
in the happy destinies of the sense-sphere who is an evildoer, when he is lying 
on his deathbed, his evil kamma according as it has been stored up, or its sign, 
comes into focus in the mind door. For it is said, "Then [the evil deeds that he did 
in the past] ... cover him [and overspread him and envelop him]" (M III 164), and 
so on. Then next to the cognitive series of impulsions ending in registration 22 
that arose contingent upon that [kamma or its sign], death consciousness arises 
making the life-continuum's objective field its object. When it has ceased, rebirth- 
linking consciousness arises contingent upon that same kamma or kamma sign 
that had come into focus, and it does so located in the unhappy destiny, being 
driven there by the force of defilements that have not been cut off. [549] This is the 
kind of rebirth-linking that has a past object and comes next to death 
consciousness with a past object. 



22. Vibh-a (Be) adds "suddhaya va javanavithiya" here, as in §140 below in all texts. 

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137. In another's case, owing to kamma of the kind already described, there 
comes into focus at the mind door at the time of death the sign of the unhappy 
destinies with the appearance of fire and flames, etc., in the hells, and so on. 23 So 
when the life-continuum has twice arisen and ceased, three sorts of cognitive- 
series consciousness arise contingent upon that object, namely, the one adverting, 
impulsions numbering five because of the slowing down due to the nearness of 
death, and two registrations. After that, one death consciousness arises making 
the life-continuum's objective field its object. At this point eleven consciousnesses 
have elapsed. Then, having that same object, which has a life span of the 
remaining five conscious moments, his rebirth-linking consciousness arises. 
This is the kind of rebirth-linking that has a present object and comes next to 
death with a past object. 

138. In another's case, at the time of death there comes into focus in one of the 
five doors an inferior object that is a cause of greed, and so on. When a series of 
consciousnesses up to determining have arisen in due succession, there arise 
impulsions numbering five because of slowing down due to the nearness of 
death, and two registrations. After that, one death consciousness arises making 
the life-continuum's objective field its object. At this point fifteen consciousnesses 
have elapsed, namely, two life-continuums, one each adverting, seeing, receiving, 
investigating and determining, five impulsions, two registrations, and one death 
consciousness. Then, having that same object, which has a life span of the 
remaining one conscious moment, his rebirth-linking consciousness arises. This 
also is the kind of rebirth-linking that has a present object and comes next to a 
death consciousness with a past object. 

This, firstly, is how rebirth-linking in an unhappy destiny with past and present 
objects occurs next to death consciousness in a happy destiny with a past object. 

139. [From unhappy to happy destiny.] In the case of one in an unhappy destiny 
who has stored up blameless kamma all should be understood in the same way, 
substituting the bright for the dark side thus: His good kamma, [according as it 
has been stored up], or its sign, comes into focus in the mind door [and 
continuing] in the way already stated. 

This is how rebirth-linking occurs in a happy destiny with past and present 
objects next to death consciousness in an unhappy destiny with a past object. 

140. [From happy to happy destiny.] In the case of one in a happy destiny who 
has stored up blameless kamma, when he is lying on his death-bed, his blameless 
kamma according as it has been stored up, or its sign, comes into focus in the 
mind door. For it is said, "Then [the good deeds he did in the past] . . . cover him 
[and overspread him and envelop him]" (M III 171), and so on. And that applies 
only in the case of one who has stored up blameless sense-sphere kamma. [550] 
But in the case of one who has stored up kamma of the exalted spheres only the 
sign of the kamma comes into focus. Then next to the cognitive series of 

23. "'With the appearance of fire and flames, etc., in the hells' is said owing to likeness to 
that; appearance of hell and fire does not itself come into focus for him then" 
(Vism-mht 607). 

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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

impulsions ending in registration, or of simple impulsions, that arose contingent 
upon that [kamma or its sign], death consciousness arises making the life- 
continuum's objective field its object. When it has ceased, rebirth-linking 
consciousness arises contingent upon that same kamma or sign of kamma that 
had come into focus, and it does so located in the happy destiny, being driven 
there by the force of defilements that have not been cut off. This is the kind of 
rebirth-linking that has a past or a not-so-classifiable object and comes next to 
death consciousness with a past object. 

141. In another's case, owing to blameless sense-sphere kamma, there comes 
into focus in the mind door at the time of death the sign of a happy destiny, in 
other words, the appearance of the mother's womb 24 in the case of the human 
world or the appearance of pleasure groves, divine palaces, wishing trees, etc., 
in the case of the divine world. His rebirth-linking consciousness arises next to 
the death consciousness in the order shown for the sign of an unhappy destiny. 
This is the kind of rebirth-linking that has a present object and comes next to 
death consciousness with a past object. 

142. In another's case, relatives present [objects to him] at the five sense doors, 
such as a visible datum as object, perhaps flowers, garlands, flags, banners, etc., 
saying, "This is being offered to the Blessed One for your sake, dear, set your 
mind at rest"; or a sound as object, perhaps, preaching of the Dhamma, offerings 
of music, etc.; or an odour as object, perhaps incense, scents, perfumes, etc.; or a 
taste as object, perhaps honey, molasses, etc., saying, "Taste this, dear, it is a gift 
to be given for your sake"; or a tangible datum as object, perhaps Chinese silk, 
silk of Somara, saying, "Touch this, dear, it is a gift to be given for your sake." 
Now, when that visible datum, or whatever it may be, as object has come into 
focus for him and the consciousnesses ending in determining have arisen in 
due succession, there arise in him impulsions numbering five because of slowing 
down due to the nearness of death, and two registrations; after that, one death 
consciousness, making the life-continuum's objective field its object. At the end 
of that, having that same object, which lasts only a single conscious moment, 
rebirth-linking consciousness arises. This also is the kind of rebirth-linking 
with a present object and comes next to a death consciousness with a past object. 

143. But in the case of another who is in a happy destiny and has obtained 
exalted [consciousness] through earth-kasina jhana, etc., at the time of his death 

24. The Sammohavinodanl adds more details here: "When hell appears it does so like 
a metal cauldron; when the human world appears, the mother's womb appears like a 
woollen slipper (kambala-yana — for yana as footwear or sandals see M-a III 222); when 
the heavenly world appears, wishing trees, divine palaces and couches, etc., appear." 
Vism-mht remarks here: "By the words 'the appearance of the mother's womb,' 
etc., only visual appearance is given as the sign of destiny. Herein, in the first place it 
would be logical that sound has not been given in the Commentaries as a sign of 
destiny because it is included in the happy destinies as not-clung-to, but the reason 
for odour, etc., not having been given, will be inquired into" (Vism-mht 609). This 
question is in fact dealt with at length at Vism-mht 611, but the arguments are not 
reproduced here. See note 26 below. 

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there comes into focus at the mind door the sense-sphere profitable kamma or 
the sign of the kamma or the sign of the destiny, or else the sign of the earth 
kasina, etc., or else the exalted consciousness, [551] or else there comes into 
focus a superior object of the eye or ear that is a cause for profitable rebirth. When 
the consciousnesses ending in determining have arisen in due succession, there 
arise in him impulsions numbering five because of slowing down due to the 
nearness of death. But in those who belong to an exalted destiny there is no 
registration. So the one death consciousness arises next to the impulsion and 
making the life-continuum's objective field its object. At the end of that, rebirth- 
linking consciousness arises located in one of the happy destinies of the sense 
sphere or exalted sphere, and having as its object whichever one among the 
aforesaid objects has appeared. This is the kind of rebirth-linking with a past, 
present, or not-so-classifiable object next to death consciousness in a happy destiny 
with a not-so-classifiable object. 

144. Rebirth-linking next to immaterial-sphere death should be understood in 
this way too. This is how rebirth-linking occurs with a past, present, or not-so- 
classifiable object next to death consciousness in a happy destiny with a past or 
not-so-classifiable object. 

145. [Prom unhappy to unhappy destiny. .] In the case of one in an unhappy destiny 
who is an evil-doer, that kamma, or its sign, or the sign of the destiny, comes into 
focus in the mind door, or in the five doors, as the object that is the cause for the 
unprofitable rebirth. Then his rebirth-linking consciousness arises in due 
succession at the end of the death consciousness and located in the unhappy 
destiny and with one of those objects as its object. This is how rebirth-linking 
occurs with a past or present object next to death in an unhappy destiny with a 
past object. 

[How Kamma is a Condition] 

146. Up to this point there has been shown the occurrence of the nineteenfold 
consciousness as rebirth-linking. Also all this [is further classified; for] 

While it occurs in linking thus, 

It has a double class beside 

Through kamma, and as mixed and not, 

And is still further classified. 

147. When this nineteenfold kamma-resultant consciousness occurs thus in 
rebirth-linking, it does so by means of kamma in two ways; for according to the 
way in which the kamma that generates it occurs, the kamma can be its condition 
both as kamma condition acting from a different time and as decisive-support 
condition, since this is said: "Profitable ... [and] unprofitable kamma is a 
condition, as decisive-support condition, for [its] result" (Patth I 167, 169). 

148. It should be understood that when it occurs thus, its double class, etc., is 
mixed and not, and it is still further classified. 

For example: though this [type of consciousness] occurs in one way only as 
rebirth-linking, still it is twofold as divided into mixed and unmixed with 



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materiality; [552] it is threefold as divided according to sense-desire, fine-material, 
and immaterial becoming (M I 50); it is fourfold as egg-born, womb-born, 
putrescence- (moisture-) born, and of apparitional generation (M I 73); it is 
fivefold according to destiny (M I 73); it is sevenfold according to the stations of 
consciousness (D III 253), and it is eightfold according to the abodes of beings 
[excluding non-percipient beings] (see D III 263). 

149. Herein: 

The mixed is double, sexed and not, 
And that with sex is double too; 
The least decads the first has got 
Respectively are three and two. 

150. The mixed is double, sexed and not: that rebirth-linking consciousness, which, 
leaving aside the immaterial becoming, arises here mixed with materiality, is 
twofold as "with sex" and "without sex," 25 because it arises in the fine-material 
sphere without the sex called femininity faculty and masculinity faculty, and 
because — leaving aside the rebirth-linking of one born as a eunuch — it arises in 
the sense-sphere becoming together with that [twofold] sex. 

And that with sex is double too: there also that with sex is twofold because it 
arises in association with either the female or the male sex. 

151. The least decads the first has got respectively are three or two: together with the 
rebirth-linking consciousness that is mixed with materiality and comes first in 
the pair "mixed and unmixed," there arise, at the least, the two decads (see 
18. 5f.) of physical basis and body, or else the three decads of physical basis, body, 
and sex. There is no reducing the materiality below that. 

152. But when that minimal amount arises in the two kinds of generation 
termed egg-born and womb-born, it amounts to no more than a drop of cream of 
ghee on a single fibre of new-born [kid's] wool, and it is known as the "embryo 
in the first stage" (S I 206). 

153. Herein, how the different kinds of generation come about may be 
understood according to the kind of destiny. For as regards these: 

No first three generations are 

In hell, or with the deities, 

Save those of earth; all four are found 

In the three other destinies. 

154. Herein, by the words with deities it should be understood that, as in hell 
and among deities — excepting earth deities — so also among the ghosts 
consumed with thirst, the first three kinds of generation are not found; for they 
are apparitional only. But in the remaining three kinds of destiny, in other words, 
among animals, ghosts and human beings, and among the earth deities excepted 
above, there are all four kinds of generation. 



25. Sa-bhava (with sex) and a-bhava (without sex) are not to be confused with sabhava 
(individual essence) and abhava (absence, non-existence). 



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155. Now: 

The fine material gods have thirty-nine; 
The apparitional and moisture-born 
Have seventy material instances 
At most, and they have thirty at the least. 

156. Firstly among the fine-material Brahmas of apparitional generation there 
arise together with rebirth-linking consciousness thirty and also nine material 
instances [553] with the four groups, namely the decads of the eye, ear, and physical 
basis, and the ennead of life. But leaving the fine-material Brahmas aside, among 
the others of apparitional generation and those of the moisture-born generation 
there are seventy instances of materiality at the most with the decads of the eye, ear, 
nose, tongue, body, physical basis and sex. And these are invariably to be found 
among deities [of the sense sphere]. Now, the group of material states comprising 
the ten material instances, namely, colour, odour, flavour, nutritive essence, and the 
four primary elements, with eye sensitivity and life, are called the "eye decad." The 
remaining [groups of material states] should be understood in the same way 

157. At the least, thirty material instances arise with the decads of the tongue, 
body, and physical basis, in those who are blind from birth, deaf, noseless, 26 and 
sexless. Between the most and the least, the allotment should be understood 
according as appropriate. 

158. After knowing this, again: 

One ought to consider the [pair] death and birth 
Under aggregates, object, cause, destiny, feeling, 
Happiness, and then thinking applied and sustained, 
Distinguishing them by unlikeness and likeness. 

159. The meaning is this: there is rebirth-linking that is twofold as mixed and 
unmixed [with materiality], and there is the death consciousness next before it, 
and their unlikeness and likeness according to these aggregates, etc., must be 
known. How? 

160. Sometimes, next to a four-aggregate immaterial death there is a four- 
aggregate rebirth-linking having a like object; sometimes there is an exalted 
rebirth-linking with an internal object next to an unexalted death with an external 
object. This, firstly, is the method in the case of the immaterial planes. 

Sometimes there is a five-aggregate sense-sphere rebirth-linking next to a four- 
aggregate immaterial death. Sometimes there is a four-aggregate immaterial rebirth- 
linking next to a five-aggregate sense-sphere death or fine-material-sphere death. 

Thus there is rebirth-linking with a present object 27 next to a death with a past 
object, there is rebirth-linking in a certain unhappy destiny next to death in a 

26. Vism-mht (p. 611) has a long discussion here of the difficulty of speaking of the 
Brahma-world (where there are only the senses of seeing and hearing) in terms of the 
decads, which contain the components of odour and flavour. (§156) It ends by defending 
the Visuddhimagga standpoint. 

27. Sammohavinoda.nl (Be) has "rebirth-linking with a past, not so-classifiable, and 
present object next to" and so on. 

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certain happy destiny, there is rebirth-linking with root-cause next to root- 
causeless death, there is triple-root-cause rebirth-linking next to double-root- 
cause death, there is rebirth-linking accompanied by joy next to death 
accompanied by equanimity, there is rebirth-linking with happiness next to 
death without happiness, there is rebirth-linking with applied thought next to 
death without applied thought, there is rebirth-linking with sustained thought 
next to death without sustained thought, there is rebirth-linking with applied 
and sustained thought next to death without applied and sustained thought. 

In this way they can be coupled together by opposites as appropriate. 

161. A mere state that has got its conditions 
Ushers in the ensuing existence; 
While it does not migrate from the past, 
With no cause in the past it is not. 

162. So it is a mere material and immaterial state, arising when it has obtained 
its conditions, that is spoken of, saying that it comes into the next becoming; it is 
not a lasting being, [554] not a soul. And it has neither transmigrated from the 
past becoming nor yet is it manifested here without cause from that. 

163. We shall explain this by the normal process of human death and rebirth- 
linking. When in the past becoming a man near to a natural or violent death is 
unable to bear the onset of the unbearable daggers of the [painful] feelings that 
end in death as they sever the ligatures of the joints in all the limbs, his body 
gradually withers like a green palm leaf lying in the glare of the sun, and when 
the faculties of the eye, etc., have ceased and the body faculty, mind faculty, and 
life faculty remain on in the heart-basis alone, then consciousness, which has as 
its support the heart-basis still remaining at that moment, either occurs 
contingent upon some kamma classed as "weighty," "repeated," performed 
"near" [to death] or previously, 28 in other words, the formation that has obtained 
the remaining conditions, or contingent upon the objective field made to appear 
by that kamma, in other words, the sign of the kamma or sign of the destiny 29 
And while it is occurring thus, because craving and ignorance have not been 
abandoned, craving pushes it and the conascent formations fling it forward 30 



28. See the classification of kamma at XIX.74ff. "Repeated" (samasevita) kamma is not 
mentioned there as such. Of "near" kamma Vism-mht says, "It is that performed next 
to death, or which is conspicuous in the memory then, whenever it was performed" 
(Vism-mht 617). 

29. '"Sign of the kamma' is the event (vatthu) by means of which a man accumulates 
kamma through making it the object at the time of accumulation. Even if the kamma 
was performed as much as a hundred thousand eons ago, nevertheless at the time of 
its ripening it appears as kamma or sign of kamma. The 'sign of the destiny' is one of 
the visual scenes in the place where rebirth is due to take place. It consists in the 
visual appearance of flames of fire, etc., to one ready to be reborn in hell, and so on as 
already stated" (Vism-mht 617). 

30. "Owing to craving being unabandoned, and because the previously-arisen 
continuity is similarly deflected, consciousness occurs inclining, leaning and tending 



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on to that objective field, the dangers in which are concealed by ignorance. And 
while, as a continuous process, 31 it is being pushed by craving and flung forward 
by formations, it abandons its former support, like a man who crosses a river by 
hanging on to a rope tied to a tree on the near bank, and, whether or not it gets 
a further support originated by kamma, it occurs by means of the conditions 
consisting only in object condition, and so on. 

164. The former of these [two states of consciousness] is called "death" (cuti) 
because of falling (cavana), and the latter is called "rebirth-linking" (patisandhi) 
because of linking (patisandhana) across the gap separating the beginning of 
the next becoming. But it should be understood that it has neither come here 
from the previous becoming nor has it become manifest without the kamma, the 
formations, the pushing, the objective field, etc., as cause. 

165. An echo, or its like, supplies 
The figures here; connectedness 
By continuity denies 
Identity and otherness. 

166. And here let the illustration of this consciousness be such things as an 
echo, a light, a seal impression, a looking-glass image, for the fact of its not 
coming here from the previous becoming and for the fact that it arises owing to 
causes that are included in past becomings. For just as an echo, a light, a seal 
impression, and a shadow have respectively sound, etc., as their cause and come 
into being without going elsewhere, so also this consciousness. 

167. And with a stream of continuity there is neither identity nor otherness. 
For if there were absolute identity in a stream of continuity, there would be no 
forming of curd from milk. And yet if there were absolute otherness, the curd 
would not be derived from the milk. And so too with all causally arisen things. 
And if that were so there would be an end to all worldly usage, which is hardly 
desirable. So neither absolute identity nor absolute otherness should be assumed 
here. [555] 

168. Here it might be asked: "If no transmigration is manifested, then after the 
cessation of the aggregates in this human person, that fruit could be another 
person's or due to other [kamma], since the kamma that is the condition for the 
fruit does not pass on there [to where the fruit is]? And whose is the fruit since 
there is no experiencer? Therefore this formulation seems to be unsatisfactory." 

169. Here is the reply: 



towards the place of rebirth-linking. The 'conascent formations' are the volitions conascent 
with the impulsion consciousness next to death. Or they are all those that begin with 
contact. They fling consciousness on to that place of rebirth-linking, which is the 
object of the kamma and so on. The meaning is that they occur as the cause for the 
establishment of consciousness on the object by rebirth-linking as though flinging it 
there" (Vism-mht 617). 

31. "As a continuous process consisting of death, rebirth-linking, and the adjacent 
consciousnesses" (Vism-mht 617). 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

In continuity the fruit 
Is neither of nor from another; 
Seed's forming processes will suit 
To show the purport of this matter. 

170. When a fruit arises in a single continuity, it is neither another's nor from 
other [kamma] because absolute identity and absolute otherness are excluded 32 
there. The formative processes of seeds establish the meaning of this. For once 
the formative processes of a mango seed, etc., have been set afoot, when the 
particular fruit arises in the continuity of the seed's [growth], later on owing to 
the obtaining of conditions, it does so neither as the fruit of other seeds nor from 
other formative processes as condition; and those seeds or formative processes 
do not themselves pass on to the place where the fruit is. This is the analogy 
here. And the meaning can also be understood from the fact that the arts, crafts, 
medicine, etc., learnt in youth give their fruit later on in maturity. 

171. Now, it was also asked, "Whose is the fruit, since there is no experiencer?" 
Herein: 

"Experiencer" is a convention 
For mere arising of the fruit; 
They say "It fruits" as a convention, 
When on a tree appears its fruit. 

172. Just as it is simply owing to the arising of tree fruits, which are one part of 
the phenomena called a tree, that it is said "The tree fruits" or "The tree has 
fruited," so it is simply owing to the arising of the fruit consisting of the pleasure 
and pain called experience, which is one part of the aggregates called "deities" 
and "human beings," that it is said "A deity or a human being experiences or 
feels pleasure or pain." There is therefore no need at all here for a superfluous 
experiencer. 

173. But it may be said: "That may be so; but then these formations must be the 
conditions for the fruit either when they are present or when they are not present, 
and if it is when they are present, their result must come about only at the 
moment of their occurrence; but if it is when they are not present, they must bear 
fruit constantly both before and after their occurrence." It can be replied: 

They are conditions when performed; 
They bear fruit once, but not again; 
The agent and such similes 
Will serve to make the meaning plain. 

174. Formations are conditions for their own fruit because they have been 
performed, not because of presence or non-presence, according as it is said: 
[556] "Due to profitable kamma of the sense sphere having been performed, 
stored up [in the past], resultant eye-consciousness arises [in the present]" (Dhs 
§431), and so on. Having become conditions for their own fruit according to 

32. Patisiddhatta — "because ... excluded": patisiddha is not in PED. Abhisankham here 
might mean "planting work," not "formative processes." 

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their capacity, they do not again bear fruit since the result has already ripened. 
And in explaining the meaning of this the analogy of the agent, etc., should be 
understood. For just as in the world when someone becomes an agent with the 
aim of completing some business or other, and he buys goods, say, or obtains a 
loan, it is simply the fact of his performing the transaction that is the condition 
for completing that business, not the transaction's actual presence or non- 
presence; and after the completion of the business he has no further liability. 
Why not? Because the business has been completed. So it is because they have 
been performed that formations are conditions for their own fruit, and they do 
not bear fruit after they have already given fruit according to their capacity. 

Up to this point the occurrence, with formations as condition, of rebirth- 
linking consciousness that occurs in the two ways as mixed and unmixed [with 
materiality] has been illustrated. 

1(3) How Formations are a Condition for Consciousness] 

175. Now, in order to eliminate confusion about all these thirty-two kinds of 
resultant consciousness: 

One should of these formations see 
For which and how they are conditions 
In birth and life in all the three 
Kinds of becoming and the rest. 

176. Herein, the three kinds of becoming, the four kinds of generation, the five 
kinds of destiny, the seven stations of consciousness, and the nine abodes of 
beings are what are called "The kinds of becoming and the rest." The meaning 
is that it should be recognized for what kinds of resultant consciousness these 
[formations] are conditions in rebirth-linking and in the course of an individual 
existence, and in what way they are conditions in the various kinds of becoming 
and so on. 

177. Herein, firstly as regard the formation of merit: the formation of merit 
comprising the eight volitions of the sense sphere ((l)-(8)) is a condition in two 
ways, as kamma condition acting from a different time and as decisive-support 
condition, equally for all the nine kinds of resultant consciousness ((41)-(49)) in 
rebirth-linking in a happy destiny in the sense-sphere becoming. That formation 
comprising the five profitable volitions of the fine-material sphere ((9)-(13)) [is a 
condition] in like manner for the five kinds of rebirth-linking in the fine-material 
becoming ((57)-(61)). 

178. That of the sense sphere divided up as aforesaid is a condition in two 
ways, as aforesaid, for seven kinds of limited [-sphere] resultant consciousness 
((34)-(40)) — excluding the root-causeless mind-consciousness element 
accompanied by equanimity (41) — in the course of an existence, but not in rebirth- 
linking, in the happy destinies in the sense-sphere becoming. And that same 
formation is a condition likewise for five kinds of resultant consciousness ((34), 
(35), (39)-(41)) in the course of an existence, not in rebirth-linking, in the fine- 
material becoming. It is a condition likewise for eight kinds of limited [-sphere] 



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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

resultant consciousness ((34)-(41)) in the course of existence, not in rebirth- 
linking, in the unhappy destinies in the sense-sphere becoming. [557] For then 
it is a condition [for such profitable-resultant consciousness occurring] in hell 
encountering a desirable object [on such occasions] as the Elder Maha 
Moggallana's visits to hell, and so on. But among animals and powerful ghosts 
too a desirable object is obtained [through the same condition]. 

179. This eightfold formation of merit is also a condition likewise for sixteen 
kinds of profitable-resultant consciousness in the course of an existence ((34)- 
(41)) and in rebirth-linking ((42)-(49)) in the happy destinies in the sense- 
sphere becoming. It is also a condition equally for all ten kinds of resultant 
consciousness in the course of an existence ((34), (35), (39)-(41)) and in rebirth- 
linking ((57)-(61)) in the fine-material becoming. 

180. The formation of demerit, comprising the twelve unprofitable volitions 
((22)-(33)), is a condition likewise in the unhappy destinies in the sense-sphere 
becoming for one kind of consciousness in rebirth-linking (56), not in the course 
of an existence; also for six kinds in the course of an existence ((50)-(55)), not in 
rebirth-linking; and for all the seven kinds partly in the course of an existence 
and partly in rebirth-linking. And in the happy destinies in the sense-sphere 
becoming it is a condition likewise for those same seven kinds in the course of 
an existence, not in rebirth-linking. In the fine-material becoming it is a condition 
likewise for four kinds of resultant consciousness ((50)-(51), (55), (56)) in the 
course of an existence, not in rebirth-linking. Then it is a condition for [Brahmas'] 
seeing undesirable visible data and hearing undesirable sounds that are in the 
sense sphere: there are no undesirable visible data, etc., in the Brahma-world 
itself; and likewise in the divine world of the sense sphere. 33 

181. The formation of the imperturbable is a condition likewise for four kinds of 
resultant consciousness ((62)-(65)) in the course of an existence and in rebirth- 
linking in the immaterial becoming. 

This, firstly, is how it should be understood what kinds of resultant 
consciousness these formations are conditions for in rebirth-linking and in the 
[three] kinds of becoming, and in what way they are conditions. And it should 
also be understood in the same way of the kinds of generation and so on. 

182. Here is a statement of the bare headings starting from the beginning. Of 
these [three kinds of] formations, firstly the formation of merit, when giving 
rebirth-linking, produces the whole of its result in two of the kinds of becoming; 
likewise in the four kinds of generation beginning with the egg-born, in two of 
the kinds of destiny, in other words, the divine and the human; in four of the 
stations of consciousness, [the human, and the planes of the first, second and 
third jhanas,] described thus, "Different in body and different in perception . . . 
different in body and same in perception ... same in body and different in 
perception ... same in body and same in perception ...;" (D III 253) and in only 

33. Vism-mht points out that this is generally but not always so, since deities see 
such portents of their death as the fading of their flowers, etc., which are undesirable 
visible data (see note 43). 

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four of the abodes of beings, because in the abode of non-percipient 
beings it only forms materiality. Therefore it is a condition in the way 
already stated for twenty-one kinds of resultant consciousness in these 
two kinds of becoming, four kinds of generation, two kinds of destiny, 
four stations of consciousness, and four abodes of beings according 
as they are produced in rebirth-linking ((41)-(49), (57)-(61)) [558] 
and the course of an existence ((34)-(41)), as appropriate. 

183. The formation of demerit as rebirth-linking ripens in the sense- 
sphere becoming only, in the four kinds of generation, in the remaining 
three destinies, in the one station of consciousness described thus 
"different in body and same in perception" (D III 253), and in the one 
corresponding abode of beings. Therefore it is a condition in the way 
already stated for seven kinds of resultant consciousness in one kind 
of becoming, in four kinds of generation, in three kinds of destiny, in 
one station of consciousness, and in one abode of beings, both in 
rebirth-linking (56) and in the course of an existence ((50)-(56)). 

184. The formation of the imperturbable as rebirth-linking ripens in the 
immaterial becoming, in the apparitional kind of generation only in the 
divine destiny only, in the three stations of consciousness beginning 
with the base consisting of boundless space, and in the four abodes of 
beings beginning with the base consisting of boundless space ((62)- 
(65)). Therefore it is a condition in the way already stated for the four 
kinds of consciousness in one kind of becoming, in one kind of generation, 
in one kind of destiny, in three stations of consciousness, and in four 
abodes of beings, both in rebirth-linking and in the course of becoming. 34 

185. This is how: 

One should of these formations see 
For which and how they are conditions 



34. A Sinhalese text adds the following paragraph: "Also the bodily formation, when 
giving rebirth-linking, gives the whole of its results in the sense-sphere becoming 
alone in the four generations, in the five destinies, in the first two stations of 
consciousness, and in two abodes of beings. Therefore it is a condition in the way 
already stated for the twenty-three kinds of consciousness in one kind of becoming, 
four generations, five destinies, two stations of consciousness, and two abodes of 
beings, both in rebirth-linking and in the course of an existence. The same method 
applies to the verbal formation. But the mental formation does not fail to ripen anywhere 
except in one abode of beings. Therefore it is a condition in the way already stated for 
the thirty-two kinds of resultant consciousness, as appropriate, in the three kinds of 
becoming, four generations, five destinies, seven stations of consciousness, and eight 
abodes of beings, both in rebirth-linking and in the course of an existence. There is no 
consciousness with formations as condition in the non-percipient abode of beings. 
Furthermore, in the case of non-percipient beings, the formation of merit is a condition, 
as kamma condition acting from a different time, for the kinds of materiality due to 
kamma performed." 



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In birth and life and the three 
Kinds of becoming and the rest. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause, "With formations as condition, 
consciousness." 

[(iv) Mentality-Materiality] 

186. For the clause, "With consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality": 

(1) By analysis of mind and matter, 

(2) Occurrence in becoming, etc., 

(3) Inclusion, and (4) manner of condition, 
The exposition should be known. 

187. 1. By analysis of mind and matter: here "mind" (nama — mentality) is the 
three aggregates, that is, feeling, perception, and formations, because of their 
bending (namana) on to the object. "Matter" (rupa — materiality) is the four great 
primary elements and the materiality derived [by clinging] from the four great 
primaries. Their analysis is given in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV34f., 
125f.). This, in the first place, is how the exposition of mentality-materiality should 
be known "by analysis." 

188. 2. By occurrence in becoming, et cetera: excepting one abode of beings, [that 
is, the non-percipient,] mentality occurs in all the kinds of becoming, generation, 
destiny, and station of consciousness, and in the remaining abodes of beings. 
Materiality occurs in two kinds of becoming, four kinds of generation, five 
destinies, the first four stations of consciousness, and the first five abodes of 
beings. 

189. Now, when this mentality-materiality occurs thus, [559] then in the case 
of sexless embryos and the egg-born, at the moment of their rebirth-linking there 
are manifested as materiality two organic continuities, that is, the two decads of 
physical basis and body, and also the three immaterial aggregates. So in their 
case there are in detail these twenty-three states, namely, twenty states as concrete 
matter and three immaterial aggregates, which should be understood as 
"mentality-materiality with consciousness as condition." But omitting 
repetitions, 35 and so cancelling nine material instances (see 11.88) from one of 
the organic continuities, fourteen states remain. 

By adding the sex decad for those possessed of sex [before making the above 
cancellation] there are thirty-three. And omitting repetitions and so cancelling 
eighteen material instances [nine each] from two of the organic continuities, in 
this case fifteen states remain. 

190. At the moment of rebirth-linking of those of Brahma's Retinue, among 
apparitionally born beings, four organic continuities are manifested as 
materiality, that is, the decads of eye, ear, and physical basis, and the ennead of 
the life faculty, and three immaterial aggregates. So in their case in detail these 

35. Resolve compound agahitagahanena as gahitassa a-gahanena, not as a-gahitassa 
gahanena; i.e. it is "by not taking what is taken," not "by taking what has not been 
taken"; cf. IV75. 

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forty-two states, namely, thirty-nine states as concrete materiality and three 
immaterial aggregates, should be understood as "mentality-materiality with 
consciousness as condition." But omitting repetitions and so cancelling twenty- 
seven instances of materiality [nine each] from three of the organic continuities, 
fifteen states remain. 

191. In the sense-sphere becoming, seven organic continuities are manifested 
as materiality, and also three immaterial aggregates at the moment of rebirth- 
linking of the remaining kinds of apparitionally born or of the moisture-born 
possessing sex and matured sense bases. So in their case in detail these seventy- 
three states, namely, seventy instances of concrete materiality and three immaterial 
aggregates, should be understood as "mentality-materiality with formations as 
condition." But omitting repetitions and so cancelling fifty-four material 
instances [nine each] from six of the organic continuities, nineteen states remain. 

This is the maximum. But at minimum the computation of "mentality- 
materiality with consciousness as condition" in the rebirth-linking of those 
who lack such and such an organic continuity can be understood in brief and 
detail by reducing it appropriately. [The blind, for instance, lack the eye decad.] 

192. For mentality-materiality immaterial beings have only the three [mental] 
aggregates; while non-percipient beings have only the life-faculty ennead, and 
that represents materiality. 

193. In the course of an existence, in all places where materiality occurs there 
is manifested the temperature-originated bare [material] octad, which is due 
[initially] to the temperature that occurred together with the rebirth-linking 
consciousness at the moment of its presence. 36 Rebirth-linking consciousness 
does not originate materiality. For, just as a man who is falling into a chasm 
cannot support another, so it, too, is unable to originate materiality because of its 
weakness, which is due to the weakness of the physical basis. But from the first 
life-continuum after the rebirth-linking consciousness onwards, [560] the bare 
octad originated by consciousness appears. And at the time when sound 
becomes manifest there is the sound ennead due both to temperature occurring 
after the moment of rebirth-linking and to consciousness. 

194. The bare octad originated by nutriment appears in beings in the womb 
who live on matter consisting of physical nutriment as soon as their body is 
suffused by nutriment swallowed by the mother; for it is said: 

And so it is that when his mother 
Eats, consuming food and drink, 
One hidden in his mother's womb 
Thereby obtains his nourishment (S I 206). 

And it appears in apparitionally born beings as soon as they first swallow 
the spittle that has come into their own mouths. 



36. "This means, due to the heat element in the materiality that arose together with 
the rebirth-linking consciousness. It is because the heart-basis is arisen only at that 
very moment, that there is weakness of the physical basis" (Vism-mht 622). 

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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

So, with the twenty-six [material instances] consisting of the bare octad 
originated by nutriment, and of the, at most, two [sound] enneads originated 
respectively by temperature and consciousness, and also with the already- 
mentioned seventy kamma-originated instances (§191) that arise three times in 
each conscious moment [at the instants of arising, presence, and dissolution], 
there are thus ninety-six material instances; and with the three immaterial 
aggregates there is thus a total of ninety-nine states. 

195. Or because sound is not regularly present since it is only sometimes 
manifested, subtracting it therefore as twofold [being temperature-originated 
and consciousness-originated], there are these ninety-seven states to be 
understood as "mentality-materiality with consciousness as condition" in all 
beings, according as it happens to be produced. For whether these beings are 
sleeping or idling or eating or drinking, these states keep on occurring in them 
day and night with consciousness as condition. And we shall explain later 
how they have consciousness as their condition (see §200ff.). 

196. Now, although this kamma-born materiality is the first to find a footing 
in the several kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station of consciousness, 
and abode of beings, it is nevertheless unable to carry on without being 
consolidated by materiality of triple origination [by consciousness, temperature, 
and nutriment], nor can that of triple origination do so without being 
consolidated by the former. But when they thus give consolidating support to 
each other, they can stand up without falling, like sheaves of reeds propped 
together on all four sides, even though battered by the wind, and like [boats 
with] broken floats 37 that have found a support, even though battered by waves 
somewhere in mid-ocean, and they can last one year, two years ... a hundred 
years, until those beings' life span or their merit is exhausted. 

This is how the exposition should be understood here "by occurrence in 
becoming, etc." 

197. 3. By inclusion: now there is (a) the simple mentality with consciousness 
as condition in both the course of an existence and rebirth-linking in the 
immaterial sphere, and in the course of an existence in the five-constituent 
becoming, and (b) the simple materiality with consciousness as condition in 
both cases among the non-percipient, and in the course of an existence in the 
five-constituent becoming, and (c) the [combined] mentality-materiality [561] 
with consciousness as condition in both cases in the five-constituent becoming. 
All that mentality and materiality and mentality-materiality should be 
understood as "mentality-materiality with consciousness as condition," 
including them under mentality-materiality according to the method that allows 
any one part to represent any remaining one of its kind. 38 



37. Vahanika — "having a float": not in PED. The context suggests a catamaran, 
universal in Indian waters. 

38. The expression " ekadesasarupekasesa" is grammatically explained at Vism-mht 
623; see allied expressions, "katekasesa" (§204) and "ekasese kate" (§223). Cf. Panini 1 2, 64. 



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198. Is this correct in view of the absence of consciousness in non-percipient 
beings? — It is not incorrect. For: 

This consciousness, as cause of mind 
And matter, is twice reckoned: 
Result, and also not-result. 
Wherefore this is correctly said. 

199. The consciousness that is the cause of mentality-materiality is reckoned 
to be twofold classed as resultant and not resultant. And since in the case of 
non-percipient beings materiality is originated by kamma, it has as its condition 
kamma-formation consciousness that occurred in the five-constituent becoming. 
This applies also to the kamma-originated materiality arising in the course of 
an existence in the five-constituent becoming at the moment of profitable or any 
other consciousness. So this is correct. 

This is how the exposition can also be known here "by inclusion." 

200. 4. By manner of condition: here: 

Resultant-consciousness conditions 
Mentality first in nine ways, 
Then basis matter in nine ways, 
And other matter in eight ways; 

Formation-consciousness conditions 
This matter in a single way. 
The rest of consciousness conditions 
This matter as the case may be. 

201. Rebirth-linking or some other kind of resultant consciousness is a 
condition in nine ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, association, kamma- 
result, nutriment, faculty, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, either at 
rebirth-linking or in the course of an existence, for that mentality called resultant, 
whether mixed with materiality or not. At rebirth-linking it is a condition in 
nine ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, kamma-result, nutriment, faculty, 
dissociation, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the materiality of 
the physical [heart-] basis. It is a condition in eight ways, namely, as the above 
conditions omitting the mutuality condition, for materiality other than the 
materiality of the physical basis. 

Kamma-formation consciousness is a condition in one way only, as decisive- 
support condition, for the materiality of non-percipient beings, or for the kamma- 
born materiality in the five-constituent becoming, according to the Suttanta 
method. 

All the remaining kinds of consciousness from the time of the first life- 
continuum [consciousness following rebirth-linking] onwards should be 
understood as a condition for some kind of mentality-materiality as appropriate. 
But since the whole contents of the Patthana must be cited in order to show how 
it acts in detail, we do not undertake that. 

202. Here it may be asked: "But how is it to be known [562] that the mentality- 
materiality of rebirth-linking has consciousness as its condition?" From the 

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suttas and from logic. For in the suttas it is established in many places that 
feeling, etc., have consciousness as condition in the way beginning, "States 
with parallel occurrence through consciousness" (Dhs §1522). But as to logic: 

From matter seen here to be born 
Of consciousness a man can tell 
That consciousness is a condition 
For matter when unseen as well. 

Whether consciousness likes it or not, [certain] material instances are seen to 
arise in conformity with it. And the unseen is inferred from the seen. So it can be 
known, by means of the consciousness-born materiality that is seen, that 
consciousness is also a condition for the unseen materiality of rebirth-linking. 
For it is said in the Patthana that, like the consciousness-originated, also the 
kamma-originated has consciousness as its condition (see Patth I 172-73). 

This is how the exposition should be known "by manner of condition." 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With consciousness as 
condition, mentality-materiality" 

[(v) The Sixfold Base] 

203. As to the clause "With mentality-materiality as condition, the sixfold 
base": 

Three aggregates are "mind"; the basis, 
Primaries, and the rest are "matter": 
And while all that conditions this 
A part can represent the rest. 

204. In the case of the mentality-materiality that is here a condition for the 
sixfold base, mentality is the three aggregates beginning with feeling, while 
materiality should be understood as that included in one's own continuity stated 
thus "primaries and the rest are 'matter'," that is to say, the four primaries, six 
physical bases, and life faculty, [since they are conditioning factors] invariably. 
But this mentality and this materiality and this mentality-materiality each one 
representing the rest as "mentality-materiality" should be understood as a 
condition for the sixfold base consisting of the sixth base and the sixfold base 
each one representing the rest as the "sixfold base." Why? Because in the 
immaterial becoming there is only mentality as a condition, and that is a condition 
only for the sixth base, [namely, the mind base,] not for any other. For it is said in the 
Vibhahga, "With mentality as condition, the sixth base" (Vibh 179). 

205. Here it may be asked: "But how is it to be known that mentality-materiality 
is a condition for the sixfold base?" Because the latter exists when mentality- 
materiality exists. For a given base exists when a given kind of mentality and 
materiality exists, not otherwise. But the way in which the one comes to exist 
when the other does will be explained below in the section dealing with how it 
is a condition. [563] Therefore: 

A wise man should contrive to tell 
Which one conditions which, and how, 



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At rebirth and in life as well; 
[The explanation follows now.] 

206. Herein what follows illustrates the meaning. 

[(1) Mentality as Condition] 

In immaterial rebirth 
And life the mind alone will come 
In seven ways and six to be 
Condition at the minimum. 

207. How? In rebirth-linking, firstly, mentality is a condition in seven ways at 
the minimum, as conascence, mutuality, support, association, kamma-result, 
presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the sixth base. Some mentality, 
however, is a condition, as root-cause condition [that is, greed, etc.,] and some as 
nutriment condition [that is, contact and mental volition]. So it is also a condition 
in other ways. It is by the [two latter] that the maximum and minimum should be 
understood. In the course of an existence, too, resultant mentality is a condition 
as already stated. But the other [non-resultant] kind is a condition in six ways at 
minimum, as the aforesaid conditions except for kamma-result condition. Some, 
however, are a condition, as root-cause condition, and some as nutriment 
condition. So it is also a condition in other ways. It is by these that the maximum 
and minimum should be understood. 

208. In five-constituent becoming 

At rebirth, mind in the same ways 
Acts as condition for the sixth, 
And for the others in six ways. 

209. Besides the immaterial states, also in the five-constituent becoming that 
resultant mentality, in association with the heart-basis, is a condition in seven 
ways at the minimum for the sixth, the mind base, in the same way as was said 
with respect to the immaterial states. But in association with the four primary 
elements, it is a condition in six ways, as conascence, support, kamma-result, 
dissociation, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the other five 
beginning with the eye base. Some, however, are a condition as root-cause 
condition, and some as nutriment condition. It is by these that the maximum 
and minimum should be understood. 

210. Result is for result condition 
During a life in the same ways; 
While non-result the non-resultant 
Sixth conditions in six ways. 

211. For, as in rebirth-linking, so also in the course of an existence in the five- 
constituent becoming, resultant mentality is a condition in the seven ways at 
minimum for the resultant sixth base. But non-resultant mentality is a condition 
in six ways at minimum for the non-resultant sixth base, leaving out kamma- 
result condition. The maximum and minimum should be understood in the way 
already stated. 



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212. And during life, result conditions 
The other five in fourfold way; 
The non-resultant kind can be 
Explained in the aforesaid way. [564] 

213. Again, in the course of an existence, the other resultant mentality, which 
has as its physical basis the eye sensitivity, etc., is a condition in four ways, as 
postnascence, dissociation, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for 
the rest of the five beginning with the eye base. And as the resultant, so also the 
non-resultant is explained; therefore [the mentality] classed as profitable, etc., 
should be understood as their condition in four ways. 

This, firstly, is how it should be understood what bases mentality alone is a 
condition for in rebirth-linking and in the course of an existence, and how it is a 
condition. 

214. [(2) Materiality as Condition] 

Not even for a single base 
In immaterial becoming 
Is matter a condition here. 
But in five-aggregate becoming 

Basis as matter is condition 
At rebirth in a sixfold way 
For the sixth base; the primaries 
Are for the five in fourfold way. 

215. As to matter, the materiality of the physical [heart-] basis is a condition in 
rebirth-linking in six ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, dissociation, 
presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the sixth, the mind base. But 
the four primaries are in general, that is to say, in rebirth-linking and in the 
course of an existence, conditions in four ways, as conascence, support, presence, 
and non-disappearance conditions, for any of the five bases beginning with the 
eye, whenever they arise. 

216. Life and in lifetime food as well. 
Conditions five in threefold way; 
These five, the sixth in sixfold way; 
Basis, the sixth in fivefold way 

217. But in rebirth-linking and in the course of an existence the material life 
[faculty] is a condition in three ways, as presence, non-disappearance, and faculty 
conditions, for these five beginning with the eye. Nutriment too is a condition in 
three ways, as presence, non-disappearance, and nutriment conditions, and that 
is so in the course of an existence, not in rebirth-linking, and applies when the 
bodies of beings subsisting on nutriment are suffused with the nutriment. In the 
course of an existence, not in rebirth-linking, those five bases beginning with 
the eye are conditions in six ways, as support, prenascence, faculty, dissociation, 
presence and non-disappearance conditions, for [that part of] the sixth, the 
mind base, comprising eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousness. But 
in the course of an existence, not at rebirth-linking, the materiality of the [heart- 



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] basis is a condition in five ways, as support, prenascence, dissociation, presence, 
and non-disappearance conditions, for the remaining mind base apart from the 
five consciousnesses. This is how it should be understood what bases materiality 
alone is a condition for in rebirth-linking and in the course of an existence, and 
how it is a condition. [565] 

1(3) Mentality-Materiality as Condition] 

218. Which mind-cum-matter combination 
Is a condition for which kind 

And how it is so in each case, 

A wise man should now seek to find. 

219. For example, firstly, in rebirth-linking in the five-constituent becoming, 
the mentality-materiality in other words, the trio of aggregates with the materiality 
of the [heart-] basis, is a condition, as conascence, mutuality, support, kamma- 
result, association, dissociation, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, 
etc., for the sixth, the mind base. This is merely the heading; but since it can all 
be construed in the way already stated, the detail is not given here. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With mentality-materiality as 
condition, the sixfold base." 

[(vi) Contact] 

220. As to the clause "With the sixfold base as condition, contact": 

Contact is briefly of six kinds 
With eye-contact and others too; 
According to each consciousness 
It is in detail thirty-two. 

221. Briefly, with the clause "With the sixfold base as condition, contact," 
there are only the six kinds beginning with eye-contact, that is to say, eye-contact, 
ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, and mind-contact. But 
in detail the five profitable resultant and the five unprofitable resultant beginning 
with eye-contact make ten; the rest, which are associated with the twenty-two 
kinds of mundane resultant consciousness, make twenty-two. So all these come 
to thirty-two ((34)-(65)), like the consciousness with formations as condition 
given above. 

222. But as to the sixfold base that is a condition for this thirty-twofold contact. 
Herein: 

Some wise men take the sixfold base 
To be the five internal bases 
With the sixth; but others count 
These plus the six external bases. 

223. Herein, firstly, there are those who take this to be an exposition of the 
occurrence of what is clung to, [that is, kammically-acquired aggregates,] and 
they maintain that the conditioning [bases] and the conditionally-arisen [contact] 
are only what is included in one's own continuity. They take any one part to 

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Chapter XVII The Soil of Understanding (conclusion): Dependent Origination 

represent any remaining one of its kind, since the condition for contact in the 
immaterial states is the sixth base [only], according to the text "With the sixth 
base as condition, contact" (Vibh 179), and elsewhere it is the sixfold base 
inclusively. So they have it that "sixfold base" means the internal [five] beginning 
with the eye plus the sixth (mind) base. For that sixth base and that sixfold base 
are styled "sixfold base." But there are those who maintain that it is only the 
conditionally-arisen [contact] that is contained in a single continuity, while the 
conditioning [bases] are contained in separate [that is, past] continuities as well. 
They maintain that all and any such bases are a condition for contact, and they 
include also the [six] external ones. So they have it that "sixfold base" means the 
same internal [five] plus the sixth plus the external ones beginning with visible 
data. For that sixth base and that [partial] sixfold base and the sixfold base 
along with these [external ones] each representing the rest [566] are styled 
sixfold base too. 

224. Here it may be asked: "One kind of contact does not derive from all the 
bases, nor all the kinds of contact from one base. And yet 'With the sixfold base 
as condition, contact' is said in the singular. Why is that?" 

225. Here is the answer: It is true that neither is one derived from all nor all 
from one. However, one is derived from many. For eye-contact is derived from the 
eye base, from the visible-data base, from the mind base reckoned as eye- 
consciousness, and from the mental-datum base consisting of the remaining 
associated states. And each case should be construed as appropriate in this way. 
Therefore: 

Though stated in the singular, 
He shows therewith in all such cases 
That this contact, though only one, 
Is yet derived from several bases. 

Though stated in the singular: the meaning is, by this statement in the singular 
that "With the sixfold base as condition, contact," it is pointed out by the Blessed 
One (Tadin) that contact, which is of one kind, comes into being from many 
bases. 

[How the Sixfold Base is a Condition for Contact] 

226. But as regards these bases: 

Five in six ways; and after that 
One in nine ways; the external six 
As contact's conditionality 
According to each case we fix. 

227. Here is the explanation: firstly, the five consisting of the eye base, etc., are 
conditions in six ways, as support, prenascence, faculty, dissociation, presence, 
and non-disappearance conditions, for contact classed in five ways as eye- 
contact, and so on. After that, the single resultant mind base is a condition in 
nine ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, result, nutriment, faculty, 
association, presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the variously- 



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classed resultant mind contact. But in the case of the external bases, the visible- 
data base is a condition in four ways, as object, prenascence, presence, and non- 
disappearance conditions, for eye-contact. Likewise the sound base, etc., 
respectively for ear-contact, and so on. But these and mental data as object are 
conditions likewise, and as object condition too, for mind-contact, so "the external 
six as contact's conditionality according to each case we fix." 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With the sixfold base as 
condition, contact." 

[(vn) Feeling] 

228. As to the clause "With contact as condition, feeling": 

Feelings, when named by way of door 
"Eye-contact-born" and all the rest, 
Are only six; but then they are 
At nine and eighty sorts assessed. 

229. In the analysis of this clause [in the Vibhariga] only six kinds of feeling 
according to door are given thus, "Eye-contact-born feeling, ear-, nose-, tongue-, 
body-, mind-contact-born feeling" (Vibh 136). [567] Still, when classed according 
to association with the eighty-nine kinds of consciousness, they are "at nine 
and eighty sorts assessed." 

230. But from the nine and eighty feelings 
Thirty-two, no more, appear 
Associated with result, 

And only those are mentioned here. 

Herein, contact in the five doors 
Conditions five in eightfold way, 
And single way the rest; it acts 
In the mind door in the same way. 

231. Herein, in the five doors contact beginning with eye-contact is a condition 
in eight ways, as conascence, mutuality, support, result, nutriment, association, 
presence, and non-disappearance conditions, for the five kinds of feeling that 
have respectively eye sensitivity, etc., as their physical basis. But that contact 
beginning with eye-contact is a condition in one way only, as decisive-support 
condition, for the rest of resultant feeling in the sense sphere occurring in each 
door as receiving, investigation and registration. 

232. In the mind door in the same way: the contact called conascent mind-contact 
is also a condition in the same eight ways for sense-sphere resultant feeling 
occurring as registration in the mind door, and so also for the kinds of resultant 
feeling in the three planes occurring with rebirth-linking, life-continuum and 
death. But the mind-contact associated with mind-door adverting is a condition 
in one way only, as decisive-support condition, for the kinds of feeling that occur 
in the mind door as registration in the sense sphere. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With contact as condition, 
feeling." 



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[(vin) Craving] 

233. As regards the clause "With feeling as condition, craving": 

Six cravings, for things visible 
and all the rest, are treated here; 
And each of these, when it occurs, 
Can in one of three modes appear. 

234. Six kinds of craving are shown in the analysis of this clause [in the 
Vibhahga] as "visible-data craving, sound, odour, flavour, tangible-data, and 
mental-data craving" (Vibh 136), called after their objects, as a son is called after 
his father "banker's son," "brahman's son." Each of these six kinds of craving 
is reckoned threefold according to its mode of occurrence as craving for sense 
desires, craving for becoming, or craving for non-becoming. 

235. When visible-data craving occurs enjoying with sense-desire enjoyment 
a visible datum as object that has come into the focus of the eye, it is called 
craving for sense desires. But when [that same visible-data craving] occurs along 
with the eternity view that assumes that same object to be lasting and eternal, 
[568] it is called craving for becoming; for it is the greed accompanying the 
eternity view that is called craving for becoming. When it occurs along with the 
annihilation view that assumes that same object to break up and be destroyed, it 
is called craving for non-becoming; for it is the greed accompanying the 
annihilation view that is called craving for non-becoming. So also in the case of 
craving for sounds, and so on. 

These amount to eighteen kinds of craving. The eighteen with respect to 
one's own visible data (one's own appearance), etc., and eighteen with respect 
to external [visible data (another's appearance), etc.,] together make thirty-six 
kinds. Thirty-six in the past, thirty-six in the future, and thirty-six in the present, 
make one-hundred-and-eight kinds of craving. When these are reduced again, 
they should be understood to amount to the six kinds only with visible data, etc., 
as object; and these, to three only, as craving for sense desires, and so on. 

236. Out of selfish affection for feeling after taking pleasure in it when it arises 
through a visible datum as object, etc., these beings accord much honour to 
painters, musicians, perfumers, cooks, weavers, distillers of elixirs, 39 physicians, 
etc., who furnish respectively visible data as object, etc., just as out of affection 
for a child they reward the child's nurse after taking pleasure in the child. That 
is why it should be understood that these three kinds of craving have feeling as 
their condition. 

237. What is intended here is but 
Resultant pleasant feeling; hence 
'Tis a condition in one way 

For all this craving's occurrence. 

In one way: it is a condition as decisive-support condition only. 

238. Or alternatively: 

39. Rasayana — "elixir": not in PED; cf. D-a 568 and Ud-a (commentary to Ud 8.5) 

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A man in pain for pleasure longs, 
And finding pleasure, longs for more; 
The peace of equanimity 
Is counted pleasure too; therefore 

The Greatest Sage announced the law 
"With feeling as condition, craving," 
Since all three feelings thus can be 
Conditions for all kinds of craving. 
Though feeling is condition, still 
Without inherent tendency 
No craving can arise, and so 
From this the perfect saint is free. 40 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With feeling as condition, 
craving." 

[(ix) Clinging] 

239. As regards the clause "With craving as condition, clinging": 

Four cringings need to be explained 

(1) As to analysis of meaning, 

(2) As to the brief and full account 

Of states, (3) and also as to order. [569] 

240. Herein, this is the explanation: firstly, there are these four kinds of clinging 
here, namely, sense-desire clinging, [false-] view clinging, rules-and-vows 
clinging, and self-doctrine clinging. 

241. 1. The analysis of meaning is this: it clings to the kind of sense-desire called 
sense-desire's physical object (see Ch. TV, n. 24), thus it is sense-desire clinging. 
Also, it is sense-desire and it is clinging, thus it is sense-desire clinging. Clinging 
(upadana) is firm grasping; for here the prefix upa has the sense of firmness, as in 
upayasa (great misery — see §48) and upakuttha (great pox), 41 and so on. Likewise, 
it is [false] view and it is clinging, thus it is [false-] view clinging; or, it clings to 



40. '"Though feeling is condition' is said in order to prevent a generalization from the 
preceding words 'With feeling as condition' to the effect that craving arises in the 
presence of every condition accompanied by feeling — But is it not impossible to 
prevent over-generalization in the absence of any such statements as 'Feeling 
accompanied by inherent tendency is a condition for craving'? — No; for we are dealing 
with an exposition of the round of rebirths. Since there is no round of rebirths without 
inherent tendencies, so far as the meaning is concerned it may be taken for granted 
that the condition is accompanied by inherent tendency. Or alternatively it may be 
recognized that this condition is accompanied by inherent tendency because it follows 
upon the words 'With ignorance as condition.' And with the words 'With feeling as 
condition, craving' the ruling needed is this: 'There is craving only with feeling as 
condition/ and not 'With feeling as condition there is only craving'" (Vism-mht). For 
inherent tendencies see XXII.45, 60; MN 64. The Arahant has none. 

41. Upakuttha — "great pox" or "great leprosy": not in PED; see kuttha. 

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[false] view, thus it is [false-] view clinging; for in [the case of the false view] 
"The world and self are eternal" (D I 14), etc., it is the latter kind of view that 
clings to the former. Likewise, it clings to rite and ritual, thus it is rules-and- 
vows clinging; also, it is rite and ritual and it is clinging, thus it is rules-and- 
vows clinging; for ox asceticism, ox vows, etc. (see M I 387f.), are themselves 
kinds of clinging, too, because of the misinterpretation (insistence) that 
purification comes about in this way. Likewise, they indoctrinate by means of 
that, thus that is doctrine; they cling by means of that, thus that is clinging. What 
do they indoctrinate with? What do they cling to? Self. The clinging to doctrines 
of self is self-doctrine clinging. Or by means of that they cling to a self that is a 
mere doctrine of self; thus that is self-doctrine clinging. This, firstly, is the 
"analysis of meaning." 

242. 2. But as regards the brief and full account of states, firstly, in brief sense- 
desire clinging is called "firmness of craving" since it is said: "Herein, what is 
sense-desire clinging? That which in the case of sense desires is lust for sense 
desires, greed for sense desires, delight in sense desires, craving for sense desires, 
fever of sense desires, infatuation with sense desires, committal to sense desires: 
that is called sense-desire clinging" (Dhs §1214). "Firmness of craving" is a 
name for the subsequent craving itself, which has become firm by the influence 
of previous craving, which acts as its decisive-support condition. But some have 
said: Craving is the aspiring to an object that one has not yet reached, like a 
thief's stretching out his hand in the dark; clinging is the grasping of an object 
that one has reached, like the thief's grasping his objective. These states oppose 
fewness of wishes and contentment and so they are the roots of the suffering 
due to seeking and guarding (see D II 58f.). The remaining three kinds of clinging 
are in brief simply [false] view. 

243. In detail, however, sense-desire clinging is the firm state of the craving 
described above as of one-hundred-and-eight kinds with respect to visible data 
and so on. [False-] view clinging is the ten-based wrong view, according as it is 
said: "Herein what is [false-] view clinging? There is no giving, no offering, ... 
[no good and virtuous ascetics and brahmans who have themselves] realized by 
direct-knowledge and declare this world and the other world: such view as this 
... such perverse assumption is called [false-]view clinging" (Vibh 375; Dhs 
§1215). Rules-and-vows clinging is the adherence [to the view that] purification 
comes through rules and vows, according as it is said: "Herein, what is rules- 
and-vows clinging? ... That purification comes through a rite, that purification 
comes through a ritual, [570] that purification comes through a rite and ritual: 
such view as this . . . such perverse assumption is called rules-and-vows clinging" 
(Dhs §1216). Self-doctrine clinging is the twenty-based [false] view of 
individuality, according as it is said: "Herein, what is self-doctrine clinging? 
Here the untaught ordinary man ... untrained in good men's Dhamma, sees 
materiality as self . . . such perverse assumption is called self-doctrine clinging" 
(Dhs §1217). This is the "brief and full account of states." 

244. 3. As to order, here order is threefold (see XIV211), that is to say, order of 
arising, order of abandoning, and order of teaching. Herein, order of arising of 



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defilements is not meant literally because there is no first arising of defilements 
in the beginningless round of rebirths. But in a relative sense it is this: usually 
in a single becoming the misinterpretation of (insistence on) eternity and 
annihilation are preceded by the assumption of a self. After that, when a man 
assumes that this self is eternal, rules-and-vows clinging arises in him for the 
purpose of purifying the self. And when a man assumes that it breaks up, thus 
disregarding the next world, sense-desire clinging arises in him. So self-doctrine 
clinging arises first, and after that, [false-] view clinging, and rules-and-vows 
clinging or sense-desire clinging. This, then, is their order of arising in one 
becoming. 

245. And here [false-] view clinging, etc., are abandoned first because they 
are eliminated by the path of stream-entry Sense-desire clinging is abandoned 
later because it is eliminated by the path of Arahantship This is the order of 
their abandoning. 

246. Sense-desire clinging, however, is taught first among them because of 
the breadth of its objective field and because of its obviousness. For it has a 
broad objective field because it is associated with eight kinds of consciousness 
((22)-(29)). The others have a narrow objective field because they are associated 
with four kinds of consciousness ((22), (23), (26) and (27)). And usually it is 
sense-desire clinging that is obvious because of this generation's love of 
attachment (see M 1 167), not so the other kinds. One possessed of sense-desire 
clinging is much given to display and ceremony (see M I 265) for the purpose of 
attaining sense desires. [False-] view clinging comes next to the [sense-desire 
clinging] since that [display and ceremony] is a [false-] view of his. 42 And that 
is then divided in two as rules-and-vows clinging and self -doctrine clinging. 
And of these two, rules-and-vows clinging is taught first, being gross, because 
it can be recognized on seeing [it in the forms of] ox practice and dog practice. 
And self-doctrine clinging is taught last because of its subtlety. This is the 
"order of teaching." 

[How Craving is a Condition for Clinging] 

247. For the first in a single way; 

But for the three remaining kinds 
In sevenfold or eightfold way. 

248. As regards the four kinds of clinging taught in this way, craving for 
sense desires is a condition in one way, as decisive-support, for the first kind, 
namely, sense-desire clinging, because it arises in relation to the objective field 
in which craving delights. But it is a condition in seven ways, as conascence, 
mutuality, support, association, presence, non-disappearance, and root-cause, 
or in eight ways, as [those and] decisive-support as well, for the remaining 
three kinds. And when it is a condition as decisive-support, then it is never 
conascent. 



42. Ee has "sassatan ti"; Ae has "sa'ssa ditthi ti"; Vibh-a (Be), "na sassataditthi ti." 

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This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With craving as condition, 
clinging." [571] 

[(x) Becoming] 

249. As to the clause "With clinging as condition, becoming": 

(1) As to meaning, (2) as to state, 

(3) Purpose, (4) analysis, (5) synthesis, 

(6) And which for which becomes condition, 

The exposition should be known. 

250. 1. As to meaning: Herein, it becomes (bhavati), thus it is becoming (bhava). 
That is twofold as kamma-process becoming and rebirth-process becoming, 
according as it is said: "Becoming in two ways: there is kamma-process becoming 
and there is rebirth-process becoming" (Vibh 137). Herein, the kamma process 
itself as becoming is "kamma-process becoming"; likewise the rebirth process 
itself as becoming is "rebirth-process becoming." And here, rebirth is becoming 
since it becomes; but just as "The arising of Buddhas is bliss" (Dhp 194) is said 
because it causes bliss, so too kamma should be understood as "becoming," 
using for it the ordinary term for its fruit, since it causes becoming. This, firstly, 
is how the exposition should be known here "as to meaning." 

251. 2. As to state: firstly, kamma-process becoming in brief is both volition and 
the states of covetousness, etc., associated with the volition and reckoned as 
kamma too, according as it is said: "Herein, what is kamma-process becoming? 
The formation of merit, the formation of demerit, the formation of the 
imperturbable, either with a small (limited) plane or with a large (exalted) plane: 
that is called kamma-process becoming. Also all kamma that leads to becoming 
is called kamma-process becoming" (Vibh 137). 

252. Here the formation of merit is, in terms of states, the thirteen kinds of 
volition ((1)-(13)), the formation of demerit is the twelve kinds ((22)-(33)), and 
the formation of the imperturbable is the four kinds ((14)-(17)). So with the 
words either with a small (limited) plane or with a large (exalted) plane the 
insignificance or magnitude of these same volitions' result is expressed here. 
But with the words also all kamma that leads to becoming the covetousness, etc., 
associated with volition are expressed. 

253. Rebirth-process becoming briefly is aggregates generated by kamma. It is 
of nine kinds, according as it is said: "Herein, what is rebirth-process becoming? 
Sense-desire becoming, fine-material becoming, immaterial becoming, percipient 
becoming, non-percipient becoming, neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient 
becoming, one-constituent becoming, [572] four-constituent becoming, five- 
constituent becoming: this is called rebirth-process becoming" (Vibh 17). 

254. Herein, the kind of becoming called "having sense desires" is sense-desire 
becoming. Similarly with the fine-material and immaterial kinds of becoming. It is 
the becoming of those possessed of perception, or there is perception here in 
becoming, thus it is percipient becoming. The opposite kind is non-percipient 
becoming. Owing to the absence of gross perception and to the presence of subtle 



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perception there is neither perception nor non-perception in that kind of 
becoming, thus it is neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient becoming. It is becoming 
constituted out of the materiality aggregate only, thus it is one-constituent becoming, 
or that kind of becoming has only one constituent, [the materiality aggregate, or 
dimension,] thus it is one-constituent becoming. And similarly the four-constituent 
[has the four mental aggregates, or dimensions,] and the five-constituent [has the 
material and the four mental aggregates, or dimensions]. 

255. Herein, sense-desire becoming is five aggregates acquired through kamma 
(clung to). Likewise the fine-material becoming. Immaterial becoming is four. 
Percipient becoming is four and five. Non-percipient becoming is one aggregate 
that is acquired through kamma (clung to). Neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient 
becoming is four. One-constituent becoming, etc., are respectively one, four, and 
five aggregates as aggregates that are acquired through kamma (clung to). 

This is how the exposition should be known here "as to state." 

256. 3. As to purpose: although formations of merit, etc., are of course dealt with 
in the same way in the description of becoming and in the description of 
formations (see Vibh 135, 137), nevertheless the repetition has a purpose. For in 
the former case it was because it was a condition, as past kamma, for rebirth- 
linking here [in this becoming], while in the latter case it is because it is a 
condition, as present kamma, for rebirth-linking in the future [becoming]. Or 
alternatively, in the former instance, in the passage beginning, "Herein, what is 
the formation of merit? It is profitable volition of the sense sphere" (Vibh 135), it 
was only volitions that were called "formations"; but here, with the words "All 
kamma that leads to becoming" (Vibh 137), the states associated with the volition 
are also included. And in the former instance it was only such kamma as is a 
condition for consciousness that was called 'formations'; but now also that which 
generates non-percipient becoming is included. 

257. But why so many words? In the clause "With ignorance as condition 
there are formations," only profitable and unprofitable states are expressed as 
the formation of merit, etc.; but in the clause "With clinging as condition, 
becoming," profitable and unprofitable and also functional states are expressed 
because of the inclusion of rebirth-process becoming. So this repetition has a 
purpose in each case. This is how the exposition should be known "as to purpose 
here." 

258. 4. As to analysis, synthesis means as to both the analysis and the synthesis 
of becoming that has clinging as its condition. The kamma with sense-desire 
clinging as its condition that is performed and generates sense-desire becoming 
is "kamma-process becoming." The aggregates generated by that are "rebirth- 
process becoming"; similarly in the case of fine-material and immaterial 
becoming. So [573] there are two kinds of sense-desire becoming with sense- 
desire clinging as condition, included in which are percipient becoming and 
five-constituent becoming. And there are two kinds of fine-material becoming, 
included in which are percipient, non-percipient, one-constituent, and five- 
constituent becoming. And there are two kinds of immaterial becoming, included 
in which are percipient becoming, neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient 

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becoming, and four-constituent becoming. So, together with what is included 
by them, there are six kinds of becoming with sense-desire clinging as condition. 
Similarly too with the [three] remaining kinds of clinging as condition. So, as to 
analysis, there are, together with what is included by them, twenty-four kinds of 
becoming with clinging as condition. 

259. 5. As to synthesis, however, by uniting kamma-process becoming and rebirth- 
process becoming there is, together with what is included by it, one kind of 
sense-desire becoming with sense-desire clinging as its condition. Similarly 
with fine-material and immaterial becoming. So there are three kinds of becoming. 
And similarly with the remaining [three] kinds of clinging as condition. So by 
synthesis, there are, together with what is included by them, twelve kinds of 
becoming with clinging as condition. 

260. Furthermore, without distinction the kamma with clinging as its condition 
that attains sense-desire becoming is kamma-process becoming. The aggregates 
generated by that are rebirth-process becoming. Similarly in the fine-material 
and immaterial becoming. So, together with what is included by them, there are 
two kinds of sense-desire becoming, two kinds of fine-material becoming, and 
two kinds of immaterial becoming. So, by synthesis, there are six kinds of 
becoming by this other method. Or again, without making the division into 
kamma-process becoming and rebirth-process becoming, there are, together 
with what is included by them, three kinds of becoming as sense-desire becoming, 
and so on. Or again, without making the division into sense-desire becoming, 
etc., there are, together with what is included by them, two kinds of becoming, as 
kamma-process becoming and rebirth-process becoming. And also without 
making the division into kamma process and rebirth process there is, according 
to the words "With clinging as condition, becoming," only one kind of becoming. 

This is how the exposition of becoming with clinging as condition should be 
known here "as to analysis and synthesis." 

261. 6. Which for which becomes condition means that here the exposition should 
be known according to what kind of clinging is a condition for what [kind of 
becoming]. But what is condition for what here? Any kind is a condition for any 
kind. For the ordinary man is like a madman, and without considering "Is this 
right or not?" and aspiring by means of any of the kinds of clinging to any of the 
kinds of becoming, he performs any of the kinds of kamma. Therefore when 
some say that the fine-material and immaterial kinds of becoming do not come 
about through rules-and-vows clinging, that should not be accepted: what should 
be accepted is that all kinds come about through all kinds. 

262. For example, someone thinks in accordance with hearsay or [false] view 
that sense desires come to be fulfilled in the human world among the great 
warrior (khattiya) families, etc., and in the six divine worlds of the sense sphere. 
[574] Misled by listening to wrong doctrine, etc., and imagining that "by this 
kamma sense desires will come to be fulfilled," he performs for the purpose of 
attaining them acts of bodily misconduct, etc., through sense-desire clinging. 
By fulfilling such misconduct he is reborn in the states of loss. Or he performs 
acts of bodily misconduct, etc., aspiring to sense desires visible here and now 

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and protecting those he has already acquired. By fulfilling such misconduct he 
is reborn in the states of loss. The kamma that is the cause of rebirth there is 
kamma-process becoming. The aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth- 
process becoming. But percipient becoming and five-constituent becoming are 
included in that, too. 

263. Another, however, whose knowledge has been intensified by listening to 
good Dhamma and so on, imagines that "by this kind of kamma sense desires 
will come to be fulfilled." He performs acts of bodily good conduct, etc., through 
sense-desire clinging. By fulfilling such bodily good conduct he is reborn among 
deities or human beings. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there is 
kamma-process becoming. The aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth- 
process becoming. But percipient becoming and five-constituent becoming are 
included in that, too. 

So sense-desire clinging is a condition for sense-desire becoming with its 
analysis and its synthesis. 

264. Another hears or conjectures that sense desires come to still greater 
perfection in the fine-material and immaterial kinds of becoming, and through 
sense-desire clinging he produces the fine-material and immaterial attainments, 
and in virtue of his attainments he is reborn in the fine-material or immaterial 
Brahma-world. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there is kamma-process 
becoming. The aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming. 
But percipient, non-percipient, neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, one- 
constituent, four-constituent, and five-constituent kinds of becoming are included 
in that, too. Thus sense-desire clinging is a condition for fine-material and 
immaterial becoming with its analysis and its synthesis. 

265. Another clings to the annihilation view thus: "This self comes to be entirely 
cut off when it is cut off in the fortunate states of the sense sphere, or in the fine- 
material or immaterial kinds of becoming," and he performs kamma to achieve 
that. His kamma is kamma-process becoming. The aggregates generated by the 
kamma are rebirth-process becoming. But the percipient, etc., kinds of becoming 
are included in that too. So [false-]view clinging is a condition for all three, 
namely, for the sense-desire, fine-material, and immaterial kinds of becoming 
with their analysis and their synthesis. 

266. Another through self-theory clinging thinks, "This self comes to be 
blissful, or comes to be free from fever, in the becoming in the fortunate states in 
the sense sphere or in one or other of the fine-material and immaterial kinds of 
becoming," and he performs kamma to achieve that. That kamma of his is kamma- 
process becoming. The aggregates generated by the kamma are [575] rebirth- 
process becoming. But the percipient, etc., kinds of becoming are included in 
that, too. Thus this self-theory clinging is a condition for all the three, namely, 
becoming with their analysis and their synthesis. 

267. Another [thinks] through rules-and-vows clinging, "This rite and ritual 
leads him who perfects it to perfect bliss in becoming in the fortunate states of 
the sense sphere or in the fine-material or immaterial kinds of becoming," and 
he performs kamma to achieve that. That kamma of his is kamma-process 

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becoming. The aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming. 
But the percipient, etc., kinds of becoming are included in that, too. So rules-and- 
vows clinging is a condition for all three, namely, the sense-desire, fine-material 
and immaterial kinds of becoming with their analysis and their synthesis. 

This is how the exposition should be known here according to "which is 
condition for which." 

[How Clinging is a Condition for Becoming] 

268. But which is condition for which kind of becoming in what way here? 

Now, clinging as condition for becoming, 
Both fine-material and immaterial, 
Is decisive-support; and then conascence 
And so on for the sense-desire kind. 

269. This clinging, though fourfold, is a condition in only one way as decisive- 
support condition for becoming both fine-material and immaterial, [that is,] for the 
profitable kamma in the kamma-process becoming that takes place in sense-desire 
becoming and for the rebirth-process becoming. It is a condition, as conascence and so 
on, that is, as conascence, mutuality, support, association, presence, non- 
disappearance, and root-cause conditions, for the unprofitable kamma-process 
becoming associated with [the fourfold clinging] itself in the sense-desire becoming. 
But it is a condition, as decisive-support only, for that which is dissociated. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With clinging as condition, 
becoming." 

[(xi)-(xii) Birth, Etc.] 

270. As regards the clause "With becoming as condition, birth," etc., the 
definition of birth should be understood in the way given in the Description of 
the Truths (XIV31ff.) 

Only kamma-process becoming is intended here as "becoming"; for it is that, 
not rebirth-process becoming, which is a condition for birth. But it is a condition 
in two ways, as kamma condition and as decisive-support condition. 

271. Here it may be asked: "But how is it to be known that becoming is a 
condition for birth?" Because of the observable difference of inferiority and 
superiority. For in spite of equality of external circumstances, such as father, 
mother, seed, blood, nutriment, etc., the difference of inferiority and superiority 
of beings is observable even in the case of twins. And that fact is not causeless, 
since it is not present always and in all; [576] nor has it any cause other than 
kamma-process becoming since there is no other reason in the internal continuity 
of beings generated by it. Consequently, it has only kamma-process becoming 
for its cause. And because kamma is the cause of the difference of inferiority and 
superiority among beings the Blessed One said, "It is kamma that separates 
beings according to inferiority and superiority" (M III 203). From that it can be 
known that becoming is a condition for birth. 



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272. And when there is no birth, neither ageing and death nor the states beginning 
with sorrow come about; but when there is birth, then ageing and death come about, 
and also the states beginning with sorrow, which are either bound up with ageing 
and death in a fool who is affected by the painful states called ageing and death, or 
which are not so bound up in one who is affected by some painful state or other; 
therefore this birth is a condition for ageing and death and also for sorrow and so 
on. But it is a condition in one way as decisive-support type. 

This is the detailed explanation of the clause "With becoming as condition, 
birth." 

[Section C. The Wheel of Becoming] 

[(i) The Wheel] 

273. Now, here at the end sorrow, etc., are stated. Consequently, the ignorance 
stated at the beginning of the Wheel of Becoming thus, "With ignorance as 
condition there are formations," is established by the sorrow and so on. So it 
should accordingly be understood that: 

Becoming's Wheel reveals no known beginning; 
No maker, no experiencer there; 
Void with a twelvefold voidness, and nowhere 
It ever halts; forever it is spinning. 

274. But (1) how is ignorance established by sorrow, etc.? (2) How has this 
Wheel of Becoming no known beginning? (3) How is there no maker or 
experiencer there? (4) How is it void with twelvefold voidness? 

275. 1. Sorrow, grief and despair are inseparable from ignorance; and 
lamentation is found in one who is deluded. So, firstly, when these are established, 
ignorance is established. Furthermore, "With the arising of cankers there is the 
arising of ignorance" (M I 54) is said, and with the arising of cankers these 
things beginning with sorrow come into being. How? 

276. Firstly, sorrow about separation from sense desires as object has its arising 
in the canker of sense desire, according as it is said: 

If, desiring and lusting, his desires elude him, 

He suffers as though an arrow had pierced him (Sn 767), 

and according as it is said: 

"Sorrow springs from sense desires" (Dhp 215). 

277. And all these come about with the arising of the canker of views, according 
as it is said: "In one who [577] possesses [the view] T am materiality/ 'my 
materiality' with the change and transformation of materiality there arise sorrow 
and lamentation, pain, grief and despair" (S III 3). 

278. And as with the arising of the canker of views, so also with the arising of 
the canker of becoming, according as it is said: "Then whatever deities there are, 
long-lived, beautiful, blissful, long-resident in grand palaces, when they hear 
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urgency" (S III 85), as in the case of deities harassed by the fear of death on 
seeing the five signs. 43 

279. And as with the arising of the canker of becoming, so also with the canker 
of ignorance, according as it is said: "The fool, bhikkhus, experiences pain and 
grief here and now in three ways" (M III 163). 

Now, these states come about with the arising of cankers, and so when they 
are established, they establish the cankers which are the cause of ignorance. 
And when the cankers are established, ignorance is also established because it 
is present when its condition is present. This, in the first place, is how ignorance, 
etc., should be understood to be established by sorrow and so on. 

280. 2. But when ignorance is established since it is present when its condition 
is present, and when "with ignorance as condition there are formations; with 
formations as condition, consciousness," there is no end to the succession of 
cause with fruit in this way. Consequently, the Wheel of Becoming with its twelve 
factors, revolving with the linking of cause and effect, is established as having 
"no known beginning." 

281. This being so, are not the words "With ignorance as condition there are 
formations," as an exposition of a simple beginning, contradicted? — This is not 
an exposition of a simple beginning. It is an exposition of a basic state (see 
§107). For ignorance is the basic state for the three rounds (see §298). It is owing 
to his seizing ignorance that the fool gets caught in the round of the remaining 
defilements, in the rounds of kamma, etc., just as it is owing to seizing a snake's 
head that the arm gets caught in [the coils of] the rest of the snake's body. But 
when the cutting off of ignorance is effected, he is liberated from them just as the 
arm caught [in the coils] is liberated when the snake's head is cut off, according 
as it is said, "With the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance" 
(S II 1), and so on. So this is an exposition of the basic state whereby there is 
bondage for him who grasps it, and liberation for him who lets it go: it is not an 
exposition of a simple beginning. 

This is how the Wheel of Becoming should be understood to have no known 
beginning. [578] 

282. 3. This Wheel of Becoming consists in the occurrence of formations, etc., 
with ignorance, etc., as the respective reasons. Therefore it is devoid of a maker 
supplementary to that, such as a Brahma conjectured thus, "Brahma the Great, 
the Highest, the Creator" (D 1 18), to perform the function of maker of the round 
of rebirths; and it is devoid of any self as an experiencer of pleasure and pain 
conceived thus, "This self of mine that speaks and feels" (cf. M I 8). This is how 
it should be understood to be without any maker or experiencer. 

283. 4. However, ignorance — and likewise the factors consisting of formations, 
etc. — is void of lastingness since its nature is to rise and fall, and it is void of 
beauty since it is defiled and causes defilement, and it is void of pleasure since 



43. Their flowers wither, their clothes get dirty, sweat comes from their armpits, 
their bodies become unsightly, and they get restless (see M-a IV 170). 

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it is oppressed by rise and fall, and it is void of any selfhood susceptible to the 
wielding of power since it exists in dependence on conditions. Or ignorance — 
and likewise the factors consisting of formations, etc. — is neither self nor self's 
nor in self nor possessed of self. That is why this Wheel of Becoming should be 
understood thus, "Void with a twelvefold voidness." 

[(h) The Three Times] 

284. After knowing this, again: 

Its roots are ignorance and craving; 

Its times are three as past and so on, 

To which there properly belong 

Two, eight, and two, from its [twelve] factors. 

285. The two things, ignorance and craving, should be understood as the root 
of this Wheel of Becoming. Of the derivation from the past, ignorance is the root 
and feeling the end. And of the continuation into the future, craving is the root 
and ageing-and-death the end. It is twofold in this way. 

286. Herein, the first applies to one whose temperament is [false] view, and 
the second to one whose temperament is craving. For in the round of rebirths 
ignorance leads those whose temperament favours [false] view, and craving 
those whose temperament favours craving. Or the first has the purpose of 
eliminating the annihilation view because, by the evidence of the fruit, it 
proves that there is no annihilation of the causes; and the second has the 
purpose of eliminating the eternity view because it proves the ageing and 
death of whatever has arisen. Or the first deals with the child in the womb 
because it illustrates successive occurrence [of the faculties], and the second 
deals with one apparitionally born because of [their] simultaneous 
appearance. 

287. The past, the present and the future are its three times. Of these, it should 
be understood that, according to what is given as such in the texts, the two 
factors ignorance and formations belong to the past time, the eight beginning 
with consciousness belong to the present time, and the two, birth and ageing- 
and-death, belong to the future time. [579] 

[(in) Cause and Fruit] 

288. Again, it should be understood thus: 

(1) It has three links with cause, fruit, cause, 
As first parts; and (2) four different sections; 

(3) Its spokes are twenty qualities; 

(4) With triple round it spins forever. 

289. 1. Herein, between formations and rebirth-linking consciousness there is 
one link consisting of cause-fruit. Between feeling and craving there is one link 
consisting of fruit-cause. And between becoming and birth there is one link 
consisting of cause-fruit. This is how it should be understood that it has three 
links with cause, fruit, cause, as first parts. 



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290. 2. But there are four sections, which are determined by the beginnings 
and ends of the links, that is to say, ignorance/ formations is one section; 
consciousness/mentality-materiality/ sixfold base/contact/feeling is the 
second; craving /clinging/ becoming is the third; and birth/ageing-and-death 
is the fourth. This is how it should be understood to have four different sections. 

291. 3. Then: 

(a) There were five causes in the past, 

(b) And now there is a fivefold fruit; 

(c) There are five causes now as well, 

(d) And in the future fivefold fruit. 

It is according to these twenty spokes called "qualities" that the words its 
spokes are twenty qualities should be understood. 

292. (a) Herein, [as regards the words] There were five causes in the past, firstly only 
these two, namely, ignorance and formations, are mentioned. But one who is ignorant 
hankers, and hankering, clings, and with his clinging as condition there is 
becoming; therefore craving, clinging and becoming are included as well. Hence it 
is said: "In the previous kamma-process becoming, there is delusion, which is 
ignorance; there is accumulation, which is formations; there is attachment, which is 
craving; there is embracing, which is clinging; there is volition, which is becoming; 
thus these five things in the previous kamma-process becoming are conditions for 
rebirth-linking here [in the present becoming]" (Patis I 52). 

293. Herein, In the previous kamma-process becoming means in kamma-process 
becoming done in the previous birth. There is delusion, which is ignorance means that 
the delusion that there then was about suffering, etc., deluded whereby the man did 
the kamma, was ignorance. There is accumulation, which is formations means the prior 
volitions arisen in one who prepares the things necessary for a gift during a month, 
perhaps, or a year after he has had the thought "I shall give a gift." [580] But it is the 
volitions of one who is actually placing the offerings in the recipients' hands that 
are called "becoming." Or alternatively it is the volition that is accumulation in six of 
the impulsions of a single adverting that is called "formations," and the seventh 
volition is called "becoming." Or any kind of volition is called "becoming" and the 
accumulations associated therewith are called "formations." There is attachment, 
which is craving means that in one performing kamma, whatever attachment and 
aspiration there is for its fruit as rebirth-process-becoming is called craving. There is 
embracing, which is clinging means that the embracing, the grasping, the adherence, 
which is a condition for kamma-process becoming and occurs thus, "By doing this 
I shall preserve, or I shall cut off, sense desire in such and such a place," is called 
clinging. There is volition, which is becoming means the kind of volition stated already 
at the end of the [sentence dealing with] accumulation is becoming. This is how the 
meaning should be understood. 

294. (b) And now there is a fivefold fruit (§291) means what is given in the text 
beginning with consciousness and ending with feeling, according as it is said: 
"Here [in the present becoming] there is rebirth-linking, which is consciousness; 
there is descent [into the womb], which is mentality-materiality; there is sensitivity, 
which is sense base; there is what is touched, which is contact; there is what is felt, 

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which is feeling; thus these five things here in the [present] rebirth-process 
becoming have their conditions 44 in kamma done in the past" (Patis I 52). 

295. Herein, there is rebirth-linking, which is consciousness means that it is what 
is called "rebirth-linking" because it arises linking the next becoming that is 
consciousness. There is descent [into the ivomb], which is mentality-materiality means 
that it is what consists in the descent of the material and immaterial states into a 
womb, their arrival and entry as it were, that is mentality-materiality. There is 
sensitivity, which is sense base: this is said of the five bases beginning with the eye. 
There is what is touched, which is contact means that it is what is arisen when an 
object is touched or in the touching of it, that is contact. There is what is felt, which 
is feeling means that it is what is felt as results [of kamma] that is arisen together 
with rebirth-linking consciousness, or with the contact that has the sixfold base 
as its condition, that is feeling. Thus should the meaning be understood. 

296. (c) There are five causes now as well (§291) means craving, and so on. 
Craving, clinging and becoming are given in the text. But when becoming is 
included, the formations that precede it or that are associated with it are included 
too. And by including craving and clinging, the ignorance associated with 
them, deluded by which a man performs kamma, is included too. So they are 
five. Hence it is said: "Here [in the present becoming], with the maturing of the 
bases there is delusion, which is ignorance; there is accumulation, which is 
formations; there is attachment, which is craving; there is embracing, which is 
clinging; there is volition, which is becoming; thus these five things here in the 
[present] kamma-process becoming are conditions for rebirth-linking in the 
future" (Patis I 52). [581] 



44. As regards these four paragraphs from the Patisambhida (see §§292, 294, 296, and 
297), all four end with the word 'paccaya' (nom. pi. and abl. s. of paccaya = condition). In the 
first and third paragraphs (§§292 and 296) this is obviously nom. pi. and agrees with 'ime 
panca dhamma' (these five things). But in the second and fourth paragraphs the context 
suggests vipaka (results) instead of conditions. However, there is no doubt that the accepted 
reading is paccaya here too; for the passage is also quoted in XIX.13, in the SammohavinodanT 
(Paccayakara-Vibhanga commentary = present context), and at M-a I 53. The 
Paramatthamanjusa and Mula Tlka do not mention this point. The Saddhammappakasinl 
(Patisambhida commentary) comments on the first paragraph: "Purimakammabhavasmin 
ti atltajatiya kammabhave kanyamane pavatta; idha patisandhiya paccaya ti paccuppanna patisandhiya 
paccayabhuta," and on the second paragraph: "Idh'upapattibhavasmim pure katassa kammassa 
paccaya ti paccuppanne vipakabhave atltajatiyam katassa kammassa paccayena pavattl ti attho." 
The Majjhima Nikaya Tlka (M-a I 53) says of the second paragraph: "Ime paccaya ti ime 
vinhanadayo panca kotthasika dhamma, purimabhave katassa kammassa, kammavattassa, paccaya, 
paccayabhavato, tarn paticca, idha, etarahi, upapattibhavasmirn upapattibhavabhavena va hontl ti 
attho." From these comments it is plain enough that "paccaya" in the second and fourth 
paragraphs is taken as abl. sing. (e.g. avijja-paccaya sahkhara). There is a parallel ablative 
construction with genitive at Patis II 72, 1.8: "Gatisampattiya nanasampayutte atthannam 
hetunam paccaya uppatti hoti." Perhaps the literal rendering of the second and fourth 
paragraphs' final sentence might be: "Thus there are these five things here in the [present] 
rebirth-process becoming with their condition [consisting] of kamma done in the past," 
and so on. The point is unimportant. 



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Herein, the words Here [in the present becoming], with the maturing of the bases 
point out the delusion existing at the time of the performance of the kamma in 
one whose bases have matured. The rest is clear. 

297. (d) And in the future fivefold fruit: the five beginning with consciousness. 
These are expressed by the term "birth." But "ageing-and-death" is the ageing 
and the death of these [five] themselves. Hence it is said: "In the future there is 
rebirth-linking, which is consciousness; there is descent [into the womb], which is 
mentality-materiality; there is sensitivity, which is sense base; there is what is 
touched, which is contact; there is what is felt, which is feeling; thus these five 
things in the future rebirth-process becoming have their condition in kamma 
done here [in the present becoming]" (Patis I 52). 

So this [Wheel of Becoming] has twenty spokes with these qualities. 

298. 4. With triple round it spins forever (§288): here formations and becoming 
are the round of kamma. Ignorance, craving and clinging are the round of 
defilements. Consciousness, mentality-materiality the sixfold base, contact and 
feeling are the round of result. So this Wheel of Becoming, having a triple round 
with these three rounds, should be understood to spin, revolving again and 
again, forever, for the conditions are not cut off as long as the round of defilements 
is not cut off. 

[(iv) Various] 

299. As it spins thus: 

(1) As to the source in the [four] truths, 

(2) As to function, (3) prevention, (4) similes, 
(5) Kinds of profundity, and (6) methods, 

It should be known accordingly. 

300. 1. Herein, [as to source in the truths:] profitable and unprofitable kamma are 
stated in the Saccavibhariga (Vibh 106f.) without distinction as the origin of 
suffering, and so formations due to ignorance [stated thus] "With ignorance as 
condition there are formations" are the second truth with the second truth as 
source. Consciousness due to formations is the first truth with the second truth 
as source. The states beginning with mentality-materiality and ending with 
resultant feeling, due respectively to consciousness, etc., are the first truth with 
the first truth as source. Craving due to feeling is the second truth with the first 
truth as source. 

Clinging due to craving is the second truth with the second truth as source. 
Becoming due to clinging is the first and second truths with the second truth as 
source. Birth due to becoming is the first truth with the second truth as source. 
Ageing-and-death due to birth is the first truth with the first truth as source. 
This, in the first place, is how [the Wheel of Becoming] should be known "as to 
... source in the four truths" in whichever way is appropriate. 

301. 2. [As to function:] ignorance confuses beings about physical objects [of 
sense desire] and is a condition for the manifestation of formations; likewise 
[kamma-] formations [582] form the formed and are a condition for consciousness; 



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consciousness recognizes an object and is a condition for mentality-materiality; 
mentality-materiality is mutually consolidating and is a condition for the sixfold 
base; the sixfold base occurs with respect to its own [separate] objective fields 
and is a condition for contact; contact touches an object and is a condition for 
feeling; feeling experiences the stimulus of the object and is a condition for 
craving; craving lusts after lust-arousing things and is a condition for clinging; 
clinging clings to clinging-arousing things and is a condition for becoming; 
becoming flings beings into the various kinds of destiny and is a condition for 
birth; birth gives birth to the aggregates owing to its occurring as their generation 
and is a condition for ageing-and-death; and ageing-and-death ensures the 
decay and dissolution of the aggregates and is a condition for the manifestation 
of the next becoming because it ensures sorrow, etc. 45 So this [Wheel of Becoming] 
should be known accordingly as occurring in two ways "as to function" in 
whichever way is appropriate to each of its parts. 

302. 3. [As to prevention:] the clause "With ignorance as condition there are 
formations" prevents seeing a maker; the clause "With formations as condition, 
consciousness" prevents seeing the transmigration of a self; the clause "With 
consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality" prevents perception of 
compactness because it shows the analysis of the basis conjectured to be "self"; 
and the clauses beginning "With mentality-materiality as condition, the sixfold 
base" prevent seeing any self that sees, etc., cognizes, touches, feels, craves, clings, 
becomes, is born, ages and dies. So this Wheel of Becoming should be known 
"as to prevention" of wrong seeing appropriately in each instance. 

303. 4. [As to similes:] ignorance is like a blind man because there is no seeing 
states according to their specific and general characteristics; formations with 
ignorance as condition are like the blind man's stumbling; consciousness with 
formations as condition is like the stumbler's falling; mentality-materiality with 
consciousness as condition is like the appearance of a tumour on the fallen 
man; the sixfold base with mentality-materiality as condition is like a gathering 
that makes the tumour burst; contact with the sixfold base as condition is like 
hitting the gathering in the tumour; feeling with contact as condition is like the 
pain due to the blow; craving with feeling as condition is like longing for a 
remedy; clinging with craving as condition is like seizing what is unsuitable 
through longing for a remedy; [583] becoming with clinging as condition is 
like applying the unsuitable remedy seized; birth with becoming as condition is 
like the appearance of a change [for the worse] in the tumour owing to the 
application of the unsuitable remedy; and ageing-and-death with birth as 
condition is like the bursting of the tumour after the change. 

Or again, ignorance here as "no theory" and "wrong theory" (see §52) befogs 
beings as a cataract does the eyes; the fool befogged by it involves himself in 
formations that produce further becoming, as a cocoon-spinning caterpillar does 



45. "Sorrow, etc., have already been established as ignorance; but death consciousness 
itself is devoid of ignorance and formations and is not a condition for the next becoming; 
that is why 'because it assures sorrow, etc.' is said" (Vism-mht 640). 

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with the strands of the cocoon; consciousness guided by formations establishes 
itself in the destinies, as a prince guided by a minister establishes himself on a 
throne; [death] consciousness conjecturing about the sign of rebirth generates 
mentality-materiality in its various aspects in rebirth-linking, as a magician does 
an illusion; the sixfold base planted in mentality-materiality reaches growth, increase 
and fulfilment, as a forest thicket does planted in good soil; contact is born from the 
impingement of the bases, as fire is born from the rubbing together of fire sticks; 
feeling is manifested in one touched by contact, as burning is in one touched by fire; 
craving increases in one who feels, as thirst does in one who drinks salt water; one 
who is parched [with craving] conceives longing for the kinds of becoming, as a 
thirsty man does for drinks; that is his clinging; by clinging he clings to becoming 
as a fish does to the hook through greed for the bait; when there is becoming there 
is birth, as when there is a seed there is a shoot; and death is certain for one who is 
born, as falling down is for a tree that has grown up. 

So this Wheel of Becoming should be known thus "as to similes" too in 
whichever way is appropriate. 

304. 5. [Kinds of profundity:] Now, the Blessed One's words, "This dependent 
origination is profound, Ananda, and profound it appears" (D II 55), refer to 
profundity (a) of meaning, (b) of law, (c) of teaching, and (d) of penetration. So 
this Wheel of Becoming should be known "as to the kinds of profundity" in 
whichever way is appropriate. 

305. (a) Herein, the meaning of ageing-and-death produced and originated 
with birth as condition is profound owing to difficulty in understanding its 
origin with birth as condition thus: Neither does ageing-and death not come 
about from birth, nor, failing birth, does it come about from something else; it 
arises [only] from birth with precisely that nature [of ageing-and-death]. And 
the meaning of birth with becoming as condition ... and the meaning of 
formations produced and originated with ignorance as condition are treatable 
in like manner. That is why this Wheel of Becoming is profound in meaning. 
This, firstly, is the profundity of meaning here. [584] For it is the fruit of a cause 
that is called "meaning," according as it is said, "Knowledge about the fruit of 
a cause is the discrimination of meaning" (Vibh 293). 

306. (b) The meaning of ignorance as condition for formations is profound 
since it is difficult to understand in what mode and on what occasion 46 ignorance 
is a condition for the several formations . . . The meaning of birth as a condition 
for ageing-and-death is similarly profound. That is why this Wheel of Becoming 
is profound in law. This is the profundity of law here. For "law" is a name for 
cause, according as it is said, "Knowledge about cause is discrimination of law" 
(Vibh 293). 

307. (c) Then the teaching of this [dependent origination] is profound since it 
needs to be given in various ways for various reasons, and none but omniscient 
knowledge gets fully established in it; for in some places in the suttas it is 
taught in forward order, in some in backward order, in some in forward and 

46. Avattha — "occasion": not in PED. 

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backward order, in some in forward or in backward order starting from the 
middle, in some in four sections and three links, in some in three sections and 
two links, and in some in two sections and one link. That is why this Wheel of 
Becoming is profound in teaching. This is the profundity of teaching. 

308. (d) Then the individual essences of ignorance, etc., owing to the penetration 
of which ignorance, etc., are rightly penetrated as to their specific characteristic, 
are profound since they are difficult to fathom. That is why this Wheel of 
Becoming is profound in penetration. For here the meaning of ignorance as 
unknowing and unseeing and non-penetration of the truth is profound; so is 
the meaning of formations as forming and accumulating with and without 
greed; so is the meaning of consciousness as void, uninterested, and 
manifestation of rebirth-linking without transmigration; so is the meaning of 
mentality-materiality as simultaneous arising, as resolved into components or 
not, and as bending [on to an object] (namana) and being molested (ruppana); so 
is the meaning of the sixfold base as predominance, world, door, field, and 
possession of objective field; so is the meaning of contact as touching, 
impingement, coincidence, and concurrence; so is the meaning of feeling as the 
experiencing of the stimulus of an object, as pleasure or pain or neutrality, as 
soulless, and as what is felt; so is the meaning of craving as a delighting in, as 
a committal to, as a current, as a bindweed, as a river, as the ocean of craving, 
and as impossible to fill; so is the meaning of clinging as grasping, seizing, 
misinterpreting, adhering, and hard to get by; so is the meaning of becoming as 
accumulating, forming, and flinging into the various kinds of generation, destiny, 
station, and abode; so is the meaning of birth as birth, coming to birth, descent 
[into the womb], rebirth, and manifestation; and so is the meaning of ageing- 
and-birth as destruction, fall, break-up and change. This is profundity of 
penetration. 

309. 6. [As to methods:] Then [585] there are four methods of treating the meaning 
here. They are (a) the method of identity, (b) the method of diversity, (c) the method 
of uninterest, 47 and (d) the method of ineluctable regularity. So this Wheel of 
Becoming should also be known accordingly "as to the kinds of method." 48 

47. Avyapara — "uninterest": here the equivalent of anabhoga, see IV171 and IX. 108. 
The perhaps unorthodox form "uninterest" has been used to avoid the "unselfish" 
sense sometimes implied by "disinterestedness." Vyapara is clearly intended 
throughout this work as "motivated action" in contrast with "blind action of natural 
forces." The word "interest" has therefore been chosen to bring out this effect. 

48. The dependent origination, or structure of conditions, appears as a flexible formula 
with the intention of describing the ordinary human situation of a man in his world (or 
indeed any conscious event where ignorance and craving have not entirely ceased). 
That situation is always complex, since it is implicit that consciousness with no object, 
or being (bhava — becoming, or however rendered) without consciousness (of it), is 
impossible except as an artificial abstraction. The dependent origination, being designed 
to portray the essentials of that situation in the limited dimensions of words and 
using only elements recognizable in experience, is not a logical proposition (Descartes' 
cogito is not a logical proposition). Nor is it a temporal cause-and-effect chain: each 
member has to be examined as to its nature in order to determine what its relations to 

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310. (a) Herein, the non-interruption of the continuity in this way, "With 
ignorance as condition there are formations; with formations as condition, 
consciousness," just like a seed's reaching the state of a tree through the state of 
the shoot, etc., is called the "method of identity." One who sees this rightly 
abandons the annihilation view by understanding the unbrokenness of the 
continuity that occurs through the linking of cause and fruit. And one who sees 
it wrongly clings to the eternity view by apprehending identity in the non- 
interruption of the continuity that occurs through the linking of cause and fruit. 

311. (b) The defining of the individual characteristic of ignorance, etc., is called 
the "method of diversity." One who sees this rightly abandons the eternity view 
by seeing the arising of each new state. And one who sees it wrongly clings to 



the others are (e.g. whether successive in time or conascent, positive or negative, etc., 
etc.). A purely cause-and-effect chain would not represent the pattern of a situation 
that is always complex, always subjective-objective, static-dynamic, positive-negative, 
and so on. Again, there is no evidence of any historical development in the various 
forms given within the limit of the Sutta Pitaka (leaving aside the Patisambhidamagga), 
and historical treatment within that particular limit is likely to mislead, if it is hypothesis 
with no foundation. 

Parallels with European thought have been avoided in this translation. But perhaps 
an exception can be made here, with due caution, in the case of Descartes. The revolution 
in European thought started by his formula cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am") 
is not yet ended. Now, it will perhaps not escape notice that the two elements, "I think" 
and "I am," in what is not a logical proposition parallel to some extent the two members 
of the dependent origination, consciousness and being (becoming). In other words, 
consciousness activated by craving and clinging as the dynamic factory guided and 
blinkered by ignorance ("I think" or "consciousness with the conceit T am'"), 
conditions being ("therefore I am") in a complex relationship with other factors relating 
subject and object (not accounted for by Descartes). The parallel should not be pushed 
too far. In fact it is only introduced because in Europe the dependent origination 
seems to be very largely misunderstood with many strange interpretations placed 
upon it, and because the cogito does seem to offer some sort of reasonable approach. 

In this work, for convenience because of the special importance attached here to the 
aspect of the death-rebirth link, the dependent origination is considered from only 
one standpoint, namely, as applicable to a period embracing a minimum of three lives. 
But this is not the only application. With suitable modifications it is also used in the 
Vibhanga to describe the structure of the complex in each one of the 89 single type- 
consciousnesses laid down in the Dhammasahganl; and Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa 
says: "This structure of conditions is present not only in (a continuity period consisting 
of) multiple consciousnesses but also in each single consciousness as well" (Vibh-a 
199-200). Also the Patisambhidamagga gives five expositions, four describing 
dependent origination in one life, the fifth being made to present a special inductive 
generalization to extend what is observable in this life (the fact that consciousness is 
always preceded by consciousness, cf. this Ch. §83f. — i.e. that it always has a past and 
is inconceivable without one) back beyond birth, and (since craving and ignorance 
ensure its expected continuance) on after death. There are, besides, various other, 
differing applications indicated by the variant forms given in the suttas themselves. 



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the annihilation view by apprehending individual diversity in the events in a 
single continuity as though it were a broken continuity. 

312. (c) The absence of interestedness on the part of ignorance, such as 
"Formations must be made to occur by me," or on the part of formations, such as 
"Consciousness must be made to occur by us," and so on, is called the "method 
of uninterestedness." One who sees this rightly abandons the self view by 
understanding the absence of a maker. One who sees it wrongly clings to the 
moral-inefficacy-of-action view, because he does not perceive that the causative 
function of ignorance, etc., is established as a law by their respective individual 
essences. 

313. (d) The production of only formations, etc., respectively and no others 
with ignorance, etc., as the respective reasons, like that of curd, etc., with milk, 
etc., as the respective reasons, is called the "method of ineluctable regularity." 
One who sees this rightly abandons the no-cause view and the moral-inefficacy- 
of-action view by understanding how the fruit accords with its condition. One 
who sees it wrongly by apprehending it as non-production of anything from 
anything, instead of apprehending the occurrence of the fruit in accordance 
with its conditions, clings to the no-cause view and to the doctrine of fatalism. 
So this Wheel of Becoming: 

As to source in the [four] truths, 
As to function, prevention, similes, 
Kinds of profundity, and methods, 
Should be known accordingly. 

314. There is no one, even in a dream, who has got out of the fearful round of 
rebirths, which is ever destroying like a thunderbolt, unless he has severed with 
the knife of knowledge well whetted on the stone of sublime concentration, this 
Wheel of Becoming, which offers no footing owing to its great profundity and is 
hard to get by owing to the maze of many methods. [586] 

And this has been said by the Blessed One: "This dependent origination is 
profound, Ananda, and profound it appears. And, Ananda, it is through not 
knowing, through not penetrating it, that this generation has become a tangled 
skein, a knotted ball of thread, root-matted as a reed bed, and finds no way out of 
the round of rebirths, with its states of loss, unhappy destinies, . . . perdition" (D 
II 55). 

Therefore, practicing for his own and others' benefit and welfare, and 
abandoning other duties: 

Let a wise man with mindfulness 
So practice that he may begin 
To find a footing in the deeps 
Of the dependent origin. 



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Chapter XVIII 

Purification of View 
(Ditthi-visuddhi-niddesa) 

1. [587] Now, it was said earlier (XFV32) that he "should first fortify his knowledge 
by learning and questioning about those things that are the 'soil' after he has 
perfected the two purifications — purification of virtue and purification of 
consciousness — that are the 'roots.'" Now, of those, purification of virtue is the quite 
purified fourfold virtue beginning with Patimokkha restraint; and that has already 
been dealt with in detail in the Description of Virtue; (Chs. I and II) and the purification 
of consciousness, namely, the eight attainments together with access concentration, 
has also been dealt with in detail in all its aspects in the Description of Concentration, 
(Chs. Ill to XIII) stated under the heading of "consciousness" [in the introductory 
verse]. So those two purifications should be understood in detail as given there. 

2. But it was said above (XIV32) that "The five purifications, purification of 
view, purification by overcoming doubt, purification by knowledge and vision 
of what is the path and what is not the path, purification by knowledge and 
vision of the way, and purification by knowledge and vision, are the 'trunk.'" 
Herein, "purification of view" is the correct seeing of mentality-materiality 1 

[Defining of Mentality-Materiality] 

[(1) Definition Based on the Four Primaries] 

[(a) Starting ivith Mentality] 

3. One who wants to accomplish this, if, firstly, his vehicle is serenity 2 should 
emerge from any fine-material or immaterial jhana, except the base consisting of 
neither perception nor non-perception, 3 and he should discern, according to 

1. "Mentality should be taken here as the four aggregates beginning with feeling 
and belonging to the three planes, not omitting consciousness as in the case of 'With 
consciousness as condition, mentality-materiality' and not including the supramundane 
aggregates associated with Nibbana" (Vism-mht 744 (Be)). 

2. Serenity (samatha) is a general term for concentration, as the complement of insight 
(vipassana), which is roughly the equivalent of understanding (panna). 

3. "One who is beginning this work has difficulty in discerning the highest form of 
becoming, that is, the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception" (Vism- 
mht 744). This is owing to the diminished perception (see M III 28). 

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characteristic, function, etc., the jhana factors consisting of applied thought, 
etc., and the states associated with them, [that is, feeling, perception, and so on]. 
When he has done so, all that should be defined as "mentality" (nama) in the 
sense of bending (namana) 4 because of its bending on to the object. 

4. Then, just as a man, by following a snake that he has seen in his house, finds 
its abode, so too this meditator scrutinizes that mentality, he seeks to find out 
what its occurrence is supported by and he sees that it is supported [588] by the 
matter of the heart. After that, he discerns as materiality the primary elements, 
which are the heart's support, and the remaining, derived kinds of materiality 
that have the elements as their support. He defines all that as "materiality" (rttpa) 
because it is "molested" (ruppana) [by cold, etc.]. After that he defines in brief as 
"mentality-materiality" (nama-rupa) the mentality that has the characteristic of 
"bending" and the materiality that has the characteristic of "being molested." 

[(b) Starting with Materiality] 

5. But one whose vehicle is pure insight, or that same aforesaid one whose vehicle 
is serenity, discerns the four elements in brief or in detail in one of the various ways 
given in the chapter on the definition of the four elements (XI.27ff.). Then, when the 
elements have become clear in their correct essential characteristics, firstly, in the 
case of head hair originated by kamma there become plain ten instances of materiality 
(rupani) with the body decad thus: the four elements, colour, odour, flavour, nutritive 
essence, and life, and body sensitivity And because the sex decad is present there 
too there are another ten [that is, the same nine with sex instead of body sensitivity]. 
And since the octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth [that is, the four elements and 
colour, odour, flavour, and nutritive essence,] originated by nutriment, and that 
originated by temperature, and that originated by consciousness are present there 
too, there are another twenty-four. So there is a total of forty-four instances of 
materiality in the case of each of the twenty-four bodily parts of fourfold origination. 
But in the case of the four, namely, sweat, tears, spittle, and snot, 5 which are originated 

4. See S II 23f. "Bending in the direction of the object means that there is no occurrence 
without an object; it is in the sense of that sort of bending, or it is in the sense of 
bestowing a name (nama-karana)" (Vism-mht 744). "Name-and-form" has many 
advantages over "mentality-materiality" if only because it preserves the integrity of 
nama and excludes any metaphysical assumption of matter existing as a substance 
behind apparent forms. 

5. "Because sweat, etc., arise owing to heat, fatigue, etc., and owing to mental 
perturbation, they are called 'originated by temperature and by consciousness'" (Vism- 
mht 745). There are seven kinds of decads: those of the physical basis of mind (heart), 
sex, living, physical eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. The first nine components of a 
decad are the same in all instances, and by themselves they are called the "life ennead." 
The first eight components by themselves are called the "octad-with-nutritive-essence- 
as-eighth." This octad plus sound is called the "sound ennead." In general these are 
called "material groups" (rupa-kalapa). But this kind of group (kalapa) has nothing to 
do with the "comprehension by groups" (kalapa-sammasana) of Ch. XX, which is simply 
generalization (from one's own particular experience to each of the five aggregates as 
past, etc., i.e. as a "group"). The "material groups" are not in the Pitakas. 

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by temperature and by consciousness, there are sixteen instances of materiality with 
the two octads-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth in each. In the case of the four, 
namely, gorge, dung, pus, and urine, which are originated by temperature, eight 
instances of materiality become plain in each with the octad-with-nutritive-essence- 
as-eighth in what is originated only by temperature. This, in the first place, is the 
method in the case of the thirty-two bodily aspects. 

6. But there are ten more aspects 6 that become clear when those thirty- two 
aspects have become clear. And as regards these, firstly, nine instances of 
materiality, that is, the octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth plus life, become 
plain in the case of the kamma-born part of heat (fire) that digests what is eaten, 
etc., and likewise nine [instances of materiality], that is, the octad-with-nutritive- 
essence-as-eighth plus sound, in the case of the consciousness-born part [of air 
consisting] of in-breaths and out-breaths; and thirty-three instances of materiality, 
that is, the [kamma-born] life-ennead and the three octads-with-nutritive-essence- 
as-eighth in the case of each of the remaining eight [parts] that are of fourfold 
origination. 

7. And when these instances of materiality derived [by clinging] from the 
primaries have thus become plain in detail in the case of these forty-two aspects, 
[that is, thirty-two parts of the body, four modes of fire, and six modes of air,] 
another sixty instances of materiality become plain with the physical [heart-] 
basis and the [five] sense doors, that is, with the heart-basis decad and the five 
decads beginning with the eye decad. 

Taking all these together under the characteristic of "being molested," he 
sees them as "materiality." 

8. When he has discerned materiality thus, the immaterial states become plain 
to him in accordance with the sense doors, that is to say, the eighty-one kinds 7 of 
mundane consciousness consisting of the two sets of five consciousnesses ((34)- 
(38) and (50)-(54)), the three kinds of mind element ((39), (55) and (70)) and the 
sixty-eight [589] kinds of mind-consciousness element; and then seven 
consciousness-concomitants, that is, (i) contact, feeling, perception, (ii) volition, 
(vii) life, (viii) steadiness of consciousness, and (xxx) attention, which are 
invariably conascent with all these consciousnesses. The supramundane kinds 
of consciousness, however, are not discernible either by one who is practicing 
pure insight or by one whose vehicle is serenity because they are out of their 
reach. Taking all these immaterial states together under the characteristic of 
"bending," he sees them as "mentality." 

This is how one [meditator] defines mentality-materiality in detail through 
the method of defining the four elements. 

6. The ten are four aspects of the fire element and six aspects of the air element; 
what heats, what consumes, what burns up, what digests; up-going winds (or forces), 
down-going winds, winds in the stomach, winds in the bowels, winds in the limbs, 
breath. See XI.37, 82. 

7. "The exalted consciousness of the fine-material and immaterial spheres is only 
quite plain to one who has attained the attainments" (Vism-mht 746). 

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[(2) Definition Based on the Eighteen Elements] 

9. Another does it by means of the eighteen elements. How? Here a bhikkhu 
considers the elements thus: "There are in this person the eye element, ... the 
mind-consciousness element." Instead of taking the piece of flesh variegated 
with white and black circles, having length and breath, and fastened in the eye 
socket with a string of sinew, which the world terms "an eye," he defines as "eye 
element" the eye sensitivity of the kind described among the kinds of derived 
materiality in the Description of the Aggregates (XIV47). 

10. But he does not define as "eye element" the remaining instances of 
materiality, which total fifty-three, that is, the nine conascent instances of 
materiality consisting of the four primary elements, which are its support, the 
four concomitant instances of materiality, namely, colour, odour, flavour, and 
nutritive essence, and the sustaining life faculty; and also the twenty kamma- 
born instances of materiality that are there too, consisting of the body decad and 
sex decad; and the twenty-four unclung-to instances of materiality consisting of 
the three octads-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, which are originated by 
nutriment and so on. The same method applies to the ear element and the rest. 
But in the case of the body element the remaining instances of materiality total 
forty-three, though some say forty-five by adding sound and making nine each 
for the temperature-born and consciousness-born [sound]. 

11. So these five sensitivities, and their five respective objective fields, that is, 
visible data, sounds, odours, flavours, and tangible data, make ten instances of 
materiality, which are ten [of the eighteen] elements. The remaining instances of 
materiality are the mental-data element only. 

The consciousness that occurs with the eye as its support and contingent upon 
a visible datum is called "eye-consciousness element" [and likewise with the 
ear and so on]. In this way the two sets of five consciousnesses are the five 
"consciousness elements." The three kinds of consciousness consisting of mind 
element ((39), (55) and (70)) are the single "mind element." The sixty-eight kinds 
of mind-consciousness element are the "mind-consciousness element." So all 
the eighty-one kinds of mundane consciousness make up seven kinds of 
consciousness element; and the contact, etc., associated therewith are the mental- 
data element. 

So ten-and-a-half elements are materiality and seven-and-a-half elements 
[590] are mentality. This is how one [meditator] defines mentality-materiality by 
means of the eighteen elements. 

[(3) Definition Based on the Twelve Bases] 

12. Another does it by means of the twelve bases. How? He defines as "eye 
base" the sensitivity only, leaving out the fifty-three remaining instances of 
materiality, in the way described for the eye element. And in the way described 
there [he also defines] the elements of the ear, nose, tongue, and body, as "ear 
base, nose base, tongue base, body base." He defines five states that are their 
respective objective fields as "visible-data base, sound base, odour base, flavour 
base, tangible-data base." He defines the seven mundane consciousness elements 

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as "mind base." He defines the contact, etc., associated there with and also the 
remaining instances of materiality as "mental-data base." So here ten-and-a- 
half bases are materiality and one-and-a-half bases are mentality. This is how 
one [meditator] defines mentality-materiality by means of the twelve bases. 

[(4) Definition Based on the Five Aggregates] 

13. Another defines it more briefly than that by means of the aggregates. How? 
Here a bhikkhu defines as "the materiality aggregate" all the following twenty- 
seven instances of materiality, that is, the seventeen instances of materiality 
consisting of the four primaries of fourfold origination in this body and 
dependent colour, odour, flavour, and nutritive essence, and the five sensitivities 
beginning with the eye sensitivity, and the materiality of the physical [heart- 
Jbasis, sex, life faculty, and sound of twofold origination, which seventeen 
instances of materiality are suitable for comprehension since they are produced 
and are instances of concrete materiality; and then the ten instances of materiality, 
that is, bodily intimation, verbal intimation, the space element, and the lightness, 
malleability, wieldiness, growth, continuity, aging, and impermanence of 
materiality, which ten instances of materiality are, however, not suitable for 
comprehension since they are merely the mode-alteration and the limitation-of- 
interval; they are not produced and are not concrete materiality, but they are 
reckoned as materiality because they are mode-alterations, and limitation-of- 
interval, of various instances of materiality. So he defines all these twenty-seven 
instances of materiality as the "the materiality aggregate." He defines the feeling 
that arises together with the eighty-one kinds of mundane consciousness as the 
"feeling aggregate," the perception associated therewith as the "perception 
aggregate," the formations associated therewith as the "formations aggregate," 
and the consciousness as the "consciousness aggregate." So by defining the 
materiality aggregate as "materiality" and the four immaterial aggregates as 
"mentality," he defines mentality-materiality by means of the five aggregates. 

[(5) Brief Definition Based on the Four Primaries] 

14. Another discerns "materiality" in his person briefly thus: "Any kind of 
materiality whatever all consists of the four primary elements and the materiality 
derived from the four primary elements" (M I 222), and he likewise discerns the 
mind base and a part of the mental data base as "mentality." Then he defines 
mentality-materiality in brief thus: "This mentality and this materiality are called 
'mentality-materiality'" 8 

8. "As well as by means of the elements, etc., materiality can also be discerned 
through the faculties, the truths, and the dependent origination. How? 

"Firstly, through the faculties. These seven, namely, the five beginning with the 
eye plus femininity and masculinity are materiality; the eleven consisting of the mind 
faculty, the five feeling faculties, and the five beginning with faith, are mentality; the 
life faculty is both mentality and materiality. The last three, being supramundane, are 
not intended here. The truth of suffering is both mentality and materiality; the truth of 
origin is mentality; the other two are not intended here because they are supramundane. 
"In the structure of conditions, the first three members are mentality; the fourth and 



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[If the Immaterial Fails to Become Evident] 

15. [591] But if he has discerned materiality in one of these ways, and while he 
is trying to discern the immaterial it does not become evident to him owing to its 
subtlety then he should not give up but should again and again comprehend, 
give attention to, discern, and define materiality only. For in proportion as 
materiality becomes quite definite, disentangled and quite clear to him, so the 
immaterial states that have that [materiality] as their object become plain of 
themselves too. 

16. Just as, when a man with eyes looks for the reflection of his face in a dirty 
looking-glass and sees no reflection, he does not throw the looking-glass away 
because the reflection does not appear; on the contrary, he polishes it again and 
again, and then the reflection becomes plain of itself when the looking-glass is 
clean — and just as, when a man needing oil puts sesame flour in a basin and 
wets it with water and no oil comes out with only one or two pressings, he does 
not throw the sesame flour away; but on the contrary, he wets it again and again 
with hot water and squeezes and presses it, and as he does so clear sesame oil 
comes out — or just as, when a man wanting to clarify water has taken a katuka 
nut and put his hand inside the pot and rubbed it once or twice but the water 
does not come clear, he does not throw the katuka nut away; on the contrary he rubs 
it again and again, and as he does so the fine mud subsides and the water becomes 
transparent and clear — so too, the bhikkhu should not give up, but he should again 
and again comprehend, give attention to, discern and define materiality only 

17. For in proportion as materiality becomes quite definite, disentangled and 
quite clear to him, so the defilements that are opposing him subside, his 
consciousness becomes clear like the water above the [precipitated] mud, and the 
immaterial states that have that [materiality] as their object become plain of 
themselves too. And this meaning can also be explained in this way by other 
analogies such as the [pressing of] sugarcane, [the beating of] criminals [to 
make them confess], [the taming of] an ox, the churning of curds [to produce 
butter], and [the cooking of] fish. 

[How the Immaterial States Become Evident] 

18. When he has quite cleared up his discerning of materiality, then the 
immaterial states become evident to him through one of three aspects, that is, 
through contact, through feeling, or through consciousness. How? 

19. 1. (a) When he discerns the [four primary] elements in the way beginning, 
"The earth element has the characteristic of hardness" (XI. 93), contact becomes 
evident to him as the first conjunction. Then the feeling associated with that as 
the feeling aggregate, the associated perception as the perception aggregate, the 
associated volition together with the aforesaid contact as the formations 
aggregate, and the associated consciousness as the consciousness aggregate. 

fifth are mentality and materiality; the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth are mentality; 
the tenth is both mentality and materiality; the last two are each mentality and 
materiality" (Vism-mht 747f.). 

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1. (b) [592] Likewise [when he has discerned them in this way,] "In the head 
hair it is the earth element that has the characteristic of hardness ... in the in- 
breaths and out-breaths it is the earth element that has the characteristic of 
hardness" (XI. 31), contact becomes evident as the first conjunction. Then the 
feeling associated with it as the feeling aggregate, ... the associated 
consciousness as the consciousness aggregate. 

This is how immaterial states become evident through contact. 

20. 2. (a) To another [who discerns the four primary elements in the way 
beginning] "The earth element has the characteristic of hardness," the feeling 
that has that as its object and experiences its stimulus [as pleasant, etc.,] becomes 
evident as the feeling aggregate, the perception associated with that as the 
perception aggregate, the contact and the volition associated with that as the 
formations aggregate, and the consciousness associated with that as the 
consciousness aggregate. 

2. (b) Likewise [to one who discerns them in this way] "In the head hair it is 
the earth element that has the characteristic of hardness ... in the in-breaths and 
out-breaths it is the earth element that has the characteristic of hardness," the 
feeling that has that as its object and experiences its stimulus becomes evident 
as the feeling aggregate ... and the consciousness associated with that as the 
consciousness aggregate. 

This is how the immaterial states become evident through feeling. 

21. 3. (a) To another [who discerns the four primary elements in the way 
beginning] "The earth element has the characteristic of hardness," the 
consciousness that cognizes the object becomes evident as the consciousness 
aggregate, the feeling associated with it as the feeling aggregate, the associated 
perception as the perception aggregate, and the associated contact and volition 
as the formations aggregate. 

3. (b) Likewise [to one who discerns them in this way] "In the head hair it is 
the earth element that has the characteristic of hardness ... in the in-breaths and 
out-breaths it is the earth element that has the characteristic of hardness," the 
consciousness that cognizes the object becomes evident as the consciousness 
aggregate . . . and the associated contact and volition as the formations aggregate. 

This is how the immaterial states become evident through consciousness. 

22. In the case of [the ways of discerning materiality as consisting of] the forty- 
two aspects of the elements beginning with the head hairs [that is, thirty-two 
aspects of the body, four aspects of the fire element and six aspects of the air 
element,] either by these same means given above or by means of the method 
beginning, "In the kamma-originated head hairs it is the earth element that has 
the characteristic of hardness — and also in the case of the methods of discerning 
materiality as consisting of the eye, etc. — by means of the four primary elements 
in each, the construing should be done by working out all the differences in 
each method. 

23. Now, it is only when he has become quite sure about discerning materiality 
in this way that immaterial states become quite evident to him in the three aspects. 

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Therefore he should only undertake the task of discerning the immaterial states 
after he has completed that, not otherwise. If he leaves off discerning materiality 
when, say, one or two material states have become evident in order to begin 
discerning the immaterial, then he falls from his meditation subject like the 
mountain cow already described under the Development of the Earth Kasina 
(IV130). [593] But if he undertakes the task of discerning the immaterial after he 
is already quite sure about discerning materiality thus, then his meditation 
subject comes to growth, increase and perfection. 

[No Being Apart from Mentality-Materiality] 

24. He defines the four immaterial aggregates that have thus become evident 
through contact, etc., as "mentality." And he defines their objects, namely, the 
four primaries and the materiality derived from the four primaries, as 
"materiality." So, as one who opens a box with a knife, as one who splits a twin 
palmyra bulb in two, he defines all states of the three planes, 9 the eighteen 
elements, twelve bases, five aggregates, in the double way as "mentality- 
materiality" and he concludes that over and above mere mentality-materiality 
there is nothing else that is a being or a person or a deity or a Brahma. 

25. After defining mentality-materiality thus according to its true nature, then 
in order to abandon this worldly designation of "a being" and "a person" more 
thoroughly, to surmount confusion about beings and to establish his mind on 
the plane of non-confusion, he makes sure that the meaning defined, namely, 



9. "'All states of the three planes' is said ail-inclusively owing to the necessity not to 
omit anything suitable for comprehension. For it must be fully understood without 
any exception, and greed must be made to fade away absolutely so that the mind may 
be liberated by the fading away of greed. That is why the Blessed One said: 'Bhikkhus, 
without directly knowing, without fully understanding all, without causing the fading 
away of greed for it, without abandoning it, the mind is incapable of the destruction of 
suffering. Bhikkhus, it is by directly knowing, by fully understanding all, by causing 
the fading away of greed for it, by abandoning it, that the mind is capable of the 
destruction of suffering' (S IV 17). If all the states of the three planes are taken as 
mentality-materiality without exception, then how should one deal with what has 
been conceived by those outside the Dispensation as verbal meanings, such as the 
Primordial Essence (pakati), etc. [e.g. of the Samkhya], the substance (drabya), etc. [e.g. 
of the Vaisesika], the soul (jlva), etc., and the body (kaya), etc. [?] Since these are like the 
hallucination of lunatics and are taught by the not fully enlightened, what other way of 
dealing with them is there than to ignore them? Or alternatively, their existence or 
non-existence can be understood as established by their inclusion within mentality- 
materiality" (Vism-mht 751f.). There follows a long paragraph showing how the 
concepts of these systems are to be assimilated into mentality-materiality whereby 
they lose their significance and are shown to be impermanent and formed. Vism-mht 
concludes by saying, "Wherever the verbal meaning of self is expressed by some 
such metaphor as world-soul (pnrisa), self (atta, atman), soul (jwa), etc., these being 
themselves conceived in their various ways on the basis of mere mentality-materiality 
are mere mentality-materiality, too" (Vism-mht 754f.). 

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"This is mere mentality-materiality, there is no being, no person" is confirmed 
by a number of suttas. For this has been said: 

As with the assembly of parts 

The word "chariot" is countenanced, 

So, when the aggregates are present, 

"A being" is said in common usage (S I 135). 

26. Again, this has been said: "Just as when a space is enclosed with timber 
and creepers and grass and clay, there comes to be the term 'house,' so too, when 
a space is enclosed with bones and sinews and flesh and skin, there comes to be 
the term 'material form' {rupa)" (M I 190). 

27. And again this has been said: 

It is ill alone that rises, 

111 that remains, ill that departs. 

Nothing rises else than ill, 

And nothing ceases else than ill (S I 135). 

28. So in many hundred suttas it is only mentality-materiality that is illustrated, 
not a being, not a person. Therefore, just as when the component parts such as 
axles, wheels, frame poles, etc., are arranged in a certain way, there comes to be 
the mere term of common usage "chariot," yet in the ultimate sense when each 
part is examined there is no chariot — and just as when the component parts of 
a house such as wattles, etc., are placed so that they enclose a space in a certain 
way, there comes to be the mere term of common usage "house," yet in the ultimate 
sense there is no house — and just as when the fingers, thumb, etc., are placed in 
a certain way, there comes to be the mere term of common usage [594] "fist," — 
with body and strings, "lute"; with elephants, horses, etc., "army"; with 
surrounding walls, houses, states, etc., "city" — just as when trunk, branches, 
foliage, etc., are placed in a certain way, there comes to be the mere term of 
common usage "tree," yet in the ultimate sense, when each component is 
examined, there is no tree — so too, when there are the five aggregates [as objects] 
of clinging, there comes to be the mere term of common usage "a being," "a 
person," yet in the ultimate sense, when each component is examined, there is 
no being as a basis for the assumption "I am" or "I"; in the ultimate sense there 
is only mentality-materiality The vision of one who sees in this way is called 
correct vision. 

29. But when a man rejects this correct vision and assumes that a [permanent] 
being exists, he has to conclude either that it comes to be annihilated or that it 
does not. If he concludes that it does not come to be annihilated, he falls into the 
eternity [view]. If he concludes that it does come to be annihilated, he falls into 
the annihilation [view]. Why? Because [the assumption] precludes any gradual 
change like that of milk into curd. So he either holds back, concluding that the 
assumed being is eternal, or he overreaches, concluding that it comes to be 
annihilated. 

30. Hence the Blessed One said: "There are two kinds of view, bhikkhus, and 
when deities and human beings are obsessed by them, some hold back and 



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some overreach; only those with eyes see. And how do some hold back? Deities 
and human beings love becoming, delight in becoming, rejoice in becoming. 
When Dhamma is taught to them for the ceasing of becoming, their minds do 
not enter into it, become settled, steady and resolute. Thus it is that some hold 
back. And how do some overreach? Some are ashamed, humiliated and disgusted 
by that same becoming, they are concerned with non-becoming in this way: 
'Sirs, when with the breakup of the body this self is cut off, annihilated, does not 
become any more after death, that is peaceful, that is sublime, that is true.' Thus 
it is that some overreach. And how do those with eyes see? Here a bhikkhu sees 
what is become as become. Having seen what is become as become, he has 
entered upon the way to dispassion for it, to the fading away of greed for it, to its 
cessation. This is how one with eyes sees" (It 43; Patis I 159). 

31. Therefore, just as a marionette is void, soulless and without curiosity, and 
while it walks and stands merely through the combination of strings and wood, 
[595] yet it seems as if it had curiosity and interestedness, so too, this mentality- 
materiality is void, soulless and without curiosity, and while it walks and stands 
merely through the combination of the two together, yet it seems as if it had 
curiosity and interestedness. This is how it should be regarded. Hence the 
Ancients said: 

The mental and material are really here, 
But here there is no human being to be found, 
For it is void and merely fashioned like a doll — 
Just suffering piled up like grass and sticks. 

[Interdependence of Mentality and Materiality] 

32. And this should be explained not only by means of the simile of the 
marionette, but also by means of the analogies of the sheaves of reeds and so on. 
For just as when two sheaves of reeds are propped one against the other, each 
one gives the other consolidating support, and when one falls the other falls, so 
too, in the five-constituent becoming mentality-materiality occurs as an 
interdependent state, each of its components giving the other consolidating 
support, and when one falls owing to death, the other falls too. Hence the Ancients 
said: 

The mental and material 
Are twins and each supports the other; 
When one breaks up they both break up 
Through interconditionality 

33. And just as when sound occurs having as its support a drum that is beaten 
by the stick, then the drum is one and the sound another, the drum and the 
sound are not mixed up together, the drum is void of the sound and the sound is 
void of the drum, so too, when mentality occurs having as its support the 
materiality called the physical basis, the door and the object, then the materiality 
is one and the mentality is another, the mentality and materiality are not mixed 
up together, the mentality is void of the materiality and the materiality is void of 



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the mentality; yet the mentality occurs due to the materiality as the sound occurs 
due to the drum. Hence the Ancients said: 

The pentad based on contact comes not from the eye, 
Or from things seen, or something that is in between; 
Due to a cause it comes to be, and formed as well. 
Just as the sound that issues from a beaten drum. 

The pentad based on contact comes not from the ear. 
Or yet from sound, or something that is in between; 
Due to a cause ... 
The pentad based on contact comes not from the nose 

Or yet from smells, or something that is in between; 
Due to a cause ... 

The pentad based on contact comes not from the tongue, 
Or yet from tastes, or something that is in between; [596] 

Due to a cause ... 

The pentad based on contact comes not from the body, 
Or yet from touch, or something that is in between; 
Due to a cause ... 

Being formed, it does not come from the material basis. 
Nor does it issue from the mental-datum base; 
Due to a cause it comes to be, and formed as well. 
Just as the sound that issues from a beaten drum. 

34. Furthermore, mentality has no efficient power, it cannot occur by its own 
efficient power. It does not eat, it does not drink, it does not speak, it does not 
adopt postures. And materiality is without efficient power; it cannot occur by its 
own efficient power. For it has no desire to eat, it has no desire to drink, it has no 
desire to speak, it has no desire to adopt postures. But rather it is when supported 
by materiality that mentality occurs; and it is when supported by mentality that 
materiality occurs. When mentality has the desire to eat, the desire to drink, the 
desire to speak, the desire to adopt a posture, it is materiality that eats, drinks, 
speaks, and adopts a posture. 

35. But for the purpose of explaining this meaning they gave this simile as an 
example: a man born blind and a stool-crawling cripple wanted to go somewhere. 
The blind man said to the cripple, "Look, I can do what should be done by legs, 
but I have no eyes with which to see what is rough and smooth." The cripple 
said, "Look, I can do what should be done by eyes, but I have no legs with which 
to go and come." The blind man was delighted, and he made the cripple climb 
up on his shoulder. Sitting on the blind man's shoulder the cripple spoke thus, 
"Leave the left, take the right; leave the right, take the left." 

Herein, the blind man has no efficient power; he is impotent; he cannot travel 
by his own efficient power, by his own strength. And the cripple has no efficient 
power; he is impotent; he cannot travel by his own efficient power, by his own 
strength. But there is nothing to prevent their going when they support each 
other. So too, mentality has no efficient power; it does not arise or occur in such 



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and such functions by its own efficient power. And materiality has no efficient 
power; it does not arise or occur in such and such functions by its own efficient 
power. 

But there is nothing to prevent their occurrence when they support each 
other. 

36. Hence this is said: 

They cannot come to be by their own strength, 

Or yet maintain themselves by their own strength; 

Relying for support on other states, 

Weak in themselves, and formed, they come to be; [597] 

They come to be with others as condition. 
They are aroused by others as their objects, 
They are produced by object and condition, 
And each by something other than itself. 

And just as men depend upon 
A boat for traversing the sea. 
So does the mental body need 
The matter-body for occurrence. 

And as the boat depends upon 
The men for traversing the sea. 
So does the matter-body need 
The mental body for occurrence. 

Depending each upon the other 
The boat and men go on the sea. 
And so do mind and matter both 
Depend the one upon the other. 

37. The correct vision of mentality and materiality, which, after defining 
mentality-materiality by these various methods, has been established on the 
plane of non-confusion by overcoming the perception of a being, is what should 
be understood as purification of view: Other terms for it are "defining of mentality- 
materiality" and "delimitation of formations." 

The eighteenth chapter called "The Description of 
Purification of View" in the Treatise on the Development 
of Understanding in the Path of Purification composed for 
the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Purification by Overcoming Doubt 
(Kankhavitarana-visuddhi-niddesa) 

1. [598] Knowledge established by overcoming doubt about the three divisions 
of time by means of discerning the conditions of that same mentality-materiality 
is called "purification by overcoming doubt." 

[Ways of Discerning Cause and Condition] 

2. The bhikkhu who wants to accomplish this sets about seeking the cause 
and condition for that mentality-materiality; just as when a skilled physician 
encounters a disease he seeks its origin, or just as when a compassionate man 
sees a tender little child lying on its back in the road he wonders who its parents 
are. 

[Neither Created by a Creator nor Causeless] 

3. To begin with, he considers thus: "Firstly this mentality-materiality is not 
causeless, because if that were so, it would follow that [having no causes to 
differentiate it,] it would be identical everywhere always and for all. It has no 
Overlord, etc., because of the non-existence of any Overlord, etc. (XVI. 85), over 
and above mentality-materiality And because, if people then argue that mentality- 
materiality itself is its Overlord, etc., then it follows that their mentality-materiality 
which they call the Overlord, etc., would itself be causeless. Consequently there 
must be a cause and a condition for it. What are they?" 

4. Having thus directed his attention to mentality-materiality's cause and 
condition, he first discerns the cause and condition for the material body in this 
way: "When this body is born it is not born inside a blue, red or white lotus or 
water-lily, etc., or inside a store of jewels or pearls, etc.; on the contrary, like a 
worm in rotting flesh, in a rotting corpse, in rotting dough, in a drain, in a 
cesspool, etc., it is born in between the receptacle for undigested food and the 
receptacle for digested food, behind the belly lining, in front of the backbone, 
surrounded by the bowel and the entrails, in a place that is stinking, disgusting, 
repulsive, and extremely cramped, being itself stinking, disgusting, and 
repulsive. When it is born thus, its causes (root-causes) are the four things, 
namely, ignorance, craving, clinging, and kamma, [599] since it is they that 
bring about its birth; and nutriment is its condition, since it is that that 
consolidates it. So five things constitute its cause and condition. And of these, 
the three beginning with ignorance are the decisive-support for this body, as the 

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mother is for her infant, and kamma begets it, as the father does the child; and 
nutriment sustains it, as the wet-nurse does the infant." 

[Its Occurance is Always Due to Conditions] 

5. After discerning the material body's conditions in this way, he again discerns 
the mental body in the way beginning: "Due to eye and to visible object eye- 
consciousness arises" (S II 72; M I 111). When he has thus seen that the occurrence 
of mentality-materiality is due to conditions, then he sees that, as now, so in the 
past too its occurrence was due to conditions, and in the future too its occurrence 
will be due to conditions. 

6. When he sees it in this way, all his uncertainty is abandoned, that is to say, 
the five kinds of uncertainty about the past stated thus: "Was I in the past? Was 
I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been 
what, what was I in the past?" (M I 8), and also the five kinds of uncertainty 
about the future stated thus: "Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? 
What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, 
what shall I be in the future?" (M I 8); and also the six kinds of uncertainty about 
the present stated thus: "Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Whence will 
this being have come? Whither will it be bound?" (M I 8). 

[General and Particular Conditions] 

7. Another sees the conditions for mentality as two-fold, according to what is 
common to all and to what is not common to all, and that for materiality as 
fourfold, according to kamma, and so on. 

8. The condition for mentality is twofold, as that which is common to all and 
that which is not common to all. Herein, the six doors beginning with the eye 
and the six objects beginning with visible data are a condition-common-to-all 
for mentality because the occurrence of all kinds [of mentality] classified as 
profitable, etc., is due to that [condition]. But attention, etc., are not common to 
all; for wise attention, hearing the Good Dhamma, etc., are a condition only for 
the profitable, [600] while the opposite kinds are a condition for the unprofitable. 
Kamma, etc., are a condition for the resultant mentality; and the life-continuum, 
etc., are a condition for the functional. 

9. Kamma, consciousness, temperature, and nutriment constitute this fourfold 
condition for materiality beginning with kamma. Herein it is only when it is 
past that kamma is a condition for kamma-originated materiality; consciousness 
is a condition, when it is arising, for consciousness-originated materiality. 
Temperature and nutriment are conditions at the instant (moment) of their 
presence for temperature-originated and nutriment-originated materiality 1 



1. "If the fruit were to arise from present kamma, the fruit would have arisen in the 
same moment in which the kamma was being accumulated; and that is not seen, nor 
is it desirable. For in the world (i.e. among non-Buddhists) kamma has never been 
shown to give fruit while it is actually being effected; nor is there any text to that 
effect — But is it not also the fact that no fruit has ever been shown to come from a 



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This is how one man discerns the conditions for mentality-materiality. 

10. When he has seen that the occurrence of mentality-materiality is due to 
conditions in this way he sees also that, as now, so too in the past its occurrence 
was due to conditions, and in the future its occurrence will be due to conditions. 
When he sees it in this way, his uncertainty about the three periods of time is 
abandoned in the way already stated. 

[Dependent Origination in Reverse Order] 

11. Another, when he has seen that the formations called mentality- materiality 
arrive at aging and that those that have aged dissolve, discerns mentality-materiality's 
conditions by means of dependent origination in reverse order in this way: "This is 
called aging-and-death of formations; it comes to be when there is birth, and birth 
when there is becoming, and becoming when there is clinging, and clinging when 
there is craving, and craving when there is feeling, and feeling when there is contact, 
and contact when there is the sixfold base, and the sixfold base when there is 
mentality-materiality and mentality-materiality when there is consciousness, and 
consciousness when there are formations, and formations when there is ignorance." 
Then his uncertainty is abandoned in the way already stated. 

[Dependent Origination in Direct Order] 

12. Another discerns mentality-materiality's conditions by means of dependent 
origination in direct order as already shown (XVII. 29) in detail, doing so in this 
way: "So, with ignorance as condition there are formations" (M I 261). Then his 
uncertainty is abandoned in the way already stated. 

[Kamma and Kamma-Result] 

13. Another discerns mentality-materiality's conditions by means of the round 
of kamma and the round of kamma-result in this way: 

"In the previous kamma-process becoming there is delusion, which is ignorance; 
there is accumulation, which is formations; there is attachment, which is craving; 
there is embracing, which is clinging; there is volition, which is becoming; thus 

vanished cause either? Or even a cock to crow because of that? — Certainly it has not 
been shown where the connectedness of material things is broken off. But the simile 
does not apply because there is connectedness of immaterial things here. For when 
the fruit arises from kamma that is actually past it does so because of kamma having 
been performed and because of storage. For this is said: 'Because profitable sense- 
sphere kamma has been performed, stored up, there comes to be eye-consciousness' 
(Dhs §431). 

"Since consciousness has efficient power only at the instant of its arising, with 
the acquisition of a proximity condition, etc., it therefore only gives rise to materiality 
while it is arising. But since materiality has efficient power at the instant of its presence, 
with the acquisition of a postnascence condition, etc., it is therefore said that 
'temperature and nutriment are conditions at the instant of their presence for 
temperature-originated and nutriment-originated materiality.' Temperature and 
nutriment give rise to materiality at the instant of their own presence by acquiring outside 
temperature and nutriment as their condition, is the meaning" (Vism-mht 768). 

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these five things in the previous kamma-process becoming are conditions for 
rebirth-linking here [in the present becoming]. 

"Here [in the present becoming] there is rebirth-linking, which is 
consciousness; there is descent [into the womb], which is mentality-materiality; 
there is sensitivity, which is sense base; there is what is touched, which is contact; 
there is what is felt, which is feeling; thus these five things here in the [present] 
rebirth-process becoming have their conditions in kamma done in the past. 

"Here [in the present becoming] with the maturing of the bases there is 
delusion, which is ignorance; there is accumulation, which is formations; there 
is attachment, which is craving; there is embracing, which is clinging; there is 
volition, which is becoming; thus these five things here in the [present] kamma- 
process becoming are conditions for rebirth-linking in the future. 

"In the future there is rebirth-linking, which is consciousness; there is descent 
[into the womb], which is mentality-materiality; there is sensitivity, which is 
sense base; there is what is touched, which is contact; there is what is felt, which is 
feeling; thus these five things in the future rebirth-process becoming have their 
conditions in kamma done here [in the present becoming]" (Patis I 52). [601] 
14. Herein, kamma is fourfold: to be experienced here and now, to be experienced 
on rebirth, to be experienced in some subsequent becoming, and lapsed kamma. 2 

Of these, (i) the volition, either profitable or unprofitable, of the first of the 
seven impulsion consciousnesses in a single cognitive series of impulsions is 
called kamma to be experienced here and now: it gives its result in this same 

2. "To be experienced here and now" means kamma whose fruit is to be experienced 
in this present selfhood. "To be experienced on rebirth" means kamma whose fruit is 
to be experienced [in the becoming] next to the present becoming. "To be experienced 
in some subsequent existence" means kamma whose fruit is to be experienced in 
some successive selfhood other than either that here and now or next to that here and 
now. "Lapsed kamma" is kamma of which it has to be said, "There has been kamma, 
but there has not been, is not, and will not be kamma-result." 

"The volition of the first impulsion, which has efficient power by not being prevented 
by opposition and by having acquired the distinction of a condition, and which has 
definitely occurred as a prior kamma-formation of the appropriate kind, giving its 
fruit in this same selfhood, is called 'to be experienced here and now.' For while that first- 
impulsion volition, being effective in the way stated, is helpful to what is associated 
with its special qualities in the impulsion continuity, yet because it wields little power 
over aspects and because it has little result owing to lack of repetition, it is not, like the 
other two kinds, kamma that looks beyond the occurring continuity and looks to 
obtain an opportunity; it gives its fruit here only as mere result during the course of 
becoming, like a mere flower. 'But if it cannot do so': kamma's giving of result comes 
about only through the due concurrence of conditions consisting of (suitable) essentials 
of becoming, means, etc., failing which it is unable to give its result in that selfhood. 
'That accomplishes its purpose': that fulfils its purpose consisting in giving, etc., and in 
killing, etc. For the seventh impulsion to which this refers is the final impulsion in the 
series, and when it has acquired distinction in the way already stated and has acquired 
the service of repetition by the previous impulsions, it gives its result in the next 
selfhood and is called 'to be experienced on rebirth'" (Vism-mht 769). 

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selfhood. But if it cannot do so, it is called (iv) lapsed kamma (ahosi-kamma) , 
according to the triad described thus, "There has been (ahosi) kamma, there has 
been no kamma-result, there will be no kamma-result" (see Patis II 78). (ii) The 
volition of the seventh impulsion that accomplishes its purpose is called kamma to 
be experienced on rebirth: it gives its result in the next selfhood. If it cannot do so, it 
is called (iv) lapsed kamma in the way already described, (iii) The volition of the five 
impulsions between these two is called kamma to be experienced in some subsequent 
becoming: it gives its result in the future when it gets the opportunity, and however 
long the round of rebirths continues it never becomes lapsed kamma. 

15. Another fourfold classification of kamma is this: weighty, habitual, death- 
threshold, and kamma [stored up] by being performed. 3 

Herein, (v) when there is weighty and unweighty kamma, the weightier, 
whether profitable or unprofitable, whether kamma consisting in matricide or 
kamma of the exalted spheres, takes precedence in ripening, (vi) Likewise, when 
there is habitual and unhabitual kamma, the more habitual, whether consisting 
in good or bad conduct, takes precedence in ripening, (vii) Death-threshold 
kamma is that remembered at the time of death; for when a man near death can 
remember [kamma], he is born according to that, (viii) Kamma not included in 
the foregoing three kinds that has been often repeated is called kamma [stored up] 
by being performed. This brings about rebirth-linking if other kinds fail. 

16. Another fourfold classification of kamma is this: productive, consolidating, 
frustrating, and supplanting. 4 

3. "'Weighty' kamma is very reprehensible unprofitable kamma and very powerful 
profitable kamma. 'Habitual' kamma is what is habitually continually done and repeated. 
'Death-threshold' kamma is what is remembered with great vividness at the time next 
before death; what is meant is that there is no question about what is done at the time 
of death. 'That has been often repeated': he draws a distinction between this kind of 
kamma as stated and the 'habitual' kind and he likewise excludes kamma to be 
experienced here and now from it because the bringing on of rebirth- linking is admitted; 
for the tetrad beginning with the 'weighty' is stated as productive of rebirth-linking. 

"Herein, the weighty ripens first of all and that is why it is so called. When 
weighty kamma is lacking, what has been much done ripens. When that is lacking, 
death-threshold kamma ripens. When that too is lacking, then kamma done in previous 
births, which is called 'kamma [stored up] by being performed,' ripens. And the last 
three when produced can be strong or weak" (Vism-mht 769ff.). Vism-mht then cites 
various Birth Stories and MN 136 in order to show how, for various reasons, the result 
of one kind of kamma may be delayed or displaced by the result of another. Vism- 
mht concludes: "This is the province of the Tathagata's Knowledge of the Great 
Exposition of Kamma, in other words, the mastery of the order of ripening of such 
and such kamma for such and such reasons." 

4. "'Productive' kamma is what produces resultant continuity by providing rebirth- 
linking and so on. 'Consolidating' kamma prolongs the occurrence of the continuity of 
pleasure or pain, or the endurance of materiality 'Frustrating' kamma slowly diminishes 
the endurance of pleasure or pain when they occur. It cuts off the result of other kamma 
without giving any result of its own. 'Supplanting' kamma, however, cuts off weak kamma 
and makes its own result arise. This is their difference" (Vism-mht 771). 

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Herein, (ix) what is called productive is both profitable and unprofitable. It 
produces the material and immaterial aggregates both at rebirth-linking and 
during the course of an existence, (x) Consolidating kamma cannot produce 
result, but when result has already been produced in the provision of rebirth- 
linking by other kamma, it consolidates the pleasure or pain that arises and 
makes it last, (xi) And when result has already been produced in the provision of 
rebirth-linking by other kamma, frustrating kamma frustrates and obstructs the 
pleasure or pain that arises and does not allow it to last, (xii) Supplanting kamma is 
itself both profitable and unprofitable; [602] and it supplants other, weaker kamma, 
prevents its resulting and usurps that kamma 's opportunity in order to cause its 
own result. But when the opportunity has thus been furnished by the [other] kamma, 
it is that [supplanting kamma 's] result that is called arisen. 5 

17. The succession of kamma and its result in the twelve classes of kamma is 
clear in its true nature only to the Buddhas' "knowledge of kamma and its 
result," which knowledge is not shared by disciples. 6 But the succession of 
kamma and its result can be known in part by one practicing insight. That is 
why this explanation of difference in kamma shows only the mere headings. 

This is how one man discerns mentality-materiality by means of the round of 
kamma and the round of kamma-result, applying this twelve-fold kamma 
classification to the round of kamma. 

18. When he has thus seen by means of the round of kamma and the round of 
kamma-result how mentality-materiality's occurrence is due to a condition, he 
sees that as now, so in the past, its occurrence was due to a condition by means 
of the round of kamma and the round of kamma-result, and that in the future its 
occurrence will be due to a condition by means of the round of kamma and the 
round of kamma-result. This is kamma and kamma-result, the round of kamma 
and the round of kamma-result, the occurrence of kamma and the occurrence of 



5. See the various meanings of "arisen" given in XXII. 81f. 

"Another method is this: when some kamma has been done and there is, either in 
rebirth-linking or in the course of an existence, the arising of material instances due to 
the result of kamma performed, that kamma is 'productive.' When some kamma has 
been performed and the desirable or undesirable fruit generated by other kamma has 
its production facilitated and its endurance aided and lengthened by the suppression 
of conditions that would interfere with it and by the arousing of conditions that would 
strengthen it, that kamma is 'supporting.' When some kamma has been performed 
and profitable fruit or unprofitable fruit generated by productive kamma is obstructed 
by it respectively in the form of sickness or of disquieting of elements, that is 'frustrating' 
kamma. But when some kamma has been done by which the fruit of other kamma is 
ruined and cut off by being supplanted by what cuts it off although it was fit for longer 
endurance because of the efficacy of the kamma that was producing it, that kamma is 
'supplanting'" (Vism-mht 772). 

6. "Because it is a speciality of the Buddha and because it is the province of the 
knowledge that is not shared by disciples (see Patis 1 121f.), it is called 'not shared by 
disciples.' That is why only a part can be known; it cannot all be known because it is 
not the province of such knowledge" (Vism-mht 772). 



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kamma-result, the continuity of kamma and the continuity of kamma-result, 
action and the fruit of action: 

Kamma-result proceeds from kamma, 
Result has kamma for its source, 
Future becoming springs from kamma, 
And this is how the world goes round. 

19. When he sees thus, he abandons all his uncertainty, that is to say, the sixteen 
kinds described in the way beginning, "Was I in the past?" [see §6]. 

[No Doer Apart from Kamma and Result] 

In all kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station, and abode there appears 
only mentality-materiality which occurs by means of linking of cause with fruit. 
He sees no doer over and above the doing, no experiencer of the result over and 
above the occurrence of the result. But he sees clearly with right understanding 
that the wise say "doer" when there is doing and "experiencer" when there is 
experiencing simply as a mode of common usage. 

20. Hence the Ancients said: 

There is no doer of a deed 

Or one who reaps the deed's result; 

Phenomena alone flow on — 

No other view than this is right. 

And so, while kamma and result 
Thus causally maintain their round, 
As seed and tree succeed in turn, 
No first beginning can be shown. 

Nor in the future round of births 
Can they be shown not to occur: 
Sectarians, not knowing this, 
Have failed to gain self-mastery. [603] 

They assume a being, see it as 
Eternal or annihilated. 
Adopt the sixty-two wrong views, 
Each contradicting one another. 

The stream of craving bears them on 
Caught in the meshes of their views: 
And as the stream thus bears them on 
They are not freed from suffering. 

A monk, disciple of the Buddha, 
With direct knowledge of this fact 
Can penetrate this deep and subtle 
Void conditionality 



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There is no kamma in result, 
Nor does result exist in kamma; 
Though they are void of one another, 
There is no fruit without the kamma. 

As fire does not exist inside 
The sun, a gem, cow-dung, nor yet 
Outside them, but is brought to be 
By means of its component parts, 
So neither can result be found 
Within the kamma, nor without; 
Nor does the kamma still persist 
[In the result it has produced]. 

The kamma of its fruit is void; 
No fruit exists yet in the kamma; 
And still the fruit is born from it, 
Wholly depending on the kamma. 

For here there is no Brahma God, 
Creator of the round of births, 
Phenomena alone flow on — 
Cause and component their condition. 

[Full -Understanding of the Known] 

21. When he has discerned the conditions of mentality-materiality in this way 
by means of the round of kamma and the round of kamma-result, and has 
abandoned uncertainty about the three periods of time, then all past, future and 
present states are understood by him in accordance with death and rebirth- 
linking. This is his full- understanding of the known (see XX. 3). 

22. He understands thus: "Aggregates produced in the past with kamma as 
condition ceased there too. But other aggregates are produced in this becoming 
with past kamma as their condition, although there is no single thing that has 
come over from the past becoming to this becoming. And aggregates produced 
in this becoming with kamma as their condition will cease. And in the future 
becoming other aggregates will be produced, although no single thing will go 
over from this becoming to the future becoming. 

"Furthermore, just as, while the recitation from the teacher's mouth does not 
enter into the pupil's mouth, yet recitation does not because of that fail to take 
place in the pupil's mouth — and while the potion drunk by the proxy does not 
enter the sick man's stomach, yet the sickness does not because of that fail to be 
cured — and while the arrangement of the ornaments on the face does not pass 
over to the reflection of the face in the looking glass, yet the arrangement of the 
ornaments does not because of that fail to appear — and while the flame of a 
lamp does not move over from one wick to another, yet the flame does not because 
of that fail to be produced — so too, while nothing whatever moves over from the 
past becoming to this becoming, or from this to the future becoming, [604] yet 



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aggregates, bases, and elements do not fail to be produced here with aggregates, 
§bases, and elements in the past becoming as their condition, or in the future 
becoming with aggregates, bases, and elements here as their condition." 

23. Just as eye-consciousness comes next 
Following on mind element, 

Which, though it does not come from that, 
Yet fails not next to be produced, 

So too, in rebirth-linking, conscious 
Continuity takes place: 
The prior consciousness breaks up, 
The subsequent is born from that. 

They have no interval between, 
Nor gap [that separates the two]; 
While naught whatever passes over, 
Still rebirth-linking comes about. 

24. When all states are understood by him thus in accordance with death and 
rebirth-linking, his knowledge of discerning the conditions of mentality- 
materiality is sound in all its aspects and the sixteen kinds of doubt are more 
effectively abandoned. And not only that, but the eight kinds of doubt that occur 
in the way beginning thus, "He is doubtful about the Master" (A III 248; Dhs 
§1004) are abandoned too, and the sixty-two kinds of views are suppressed (See 
DN 1 and MN 102). 

25. The knowledge that has been established by the overcoming of doubt about 
the three periods of time by discerning the conditions of mentality-materiality 
according to the various methods should be understood as "purification by 
overcoming doubt." Other terms for it are "knowledge of the relations of states" 
and "correct knowledge" and "right vision." 

26. For this is said: "Understanding of discernment of conditions thus, 
'Ignorance is a condition, formations are conditionally arisen, and both these 
states are conditionally arisen,' is knowledge of the causal relationship of states" 
(Patis I 50). And: 

"When he brings to mind as impermanent, what states does he correctly 
know and see? How is there right seeing? How, by inference from that, are all 
formations clearly seen as impermanent? Wherein is doubt abandoned? When 
he brings to mind as painful ... When he brings to mind as not-self, what states 
does he correctly know and see? ... Wherein is doubt abandoned? 

"When he brings to mind as impermanent, he correctly knows and sees the 
sign. Hence 'right seeing' is said. Thus, by inference from that, all formations 
are clearly seen as impermanent. Herein doubt is abandoned. When he brings 
to mind as painful, he correctly knows and sees occurrence. Hence . . . When he 
brings to mind as not-self, he correctly knows and sees the sign and occurrence. 
Hence 'right seeing' is said. Thus, by inference from that, all states are clearly 
seen as not-self. Herein doubt is abandoned. 



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"Correct knowledge and right seeing and overcoming of doubt [605] — are 
these things different in meaning and different in the letter or are they one in 
meaning and only the letter is different? Correct knowledge and right seeing 
and overcoming of doubt — these things are one in meaning and only the letter 
is different" (Patis II 62f.). 

27. When a man practicing insight has become possessed of this knowledge, 
he has found comfort in the Buddhas' Dispensation, he has found a foothold, he 
is certain of his destiny, he is called a "lesser stream-en terer." 

So would a bhikkhu overcome 
His doubts, then ever mindfully 
Let him discern conditions both 
Of mind and matter thoroughly. 

The nineteenth chapter called "The Description of 
Purification by Overcoming Doubt" in the Treatise on the 
Development of Understanding in the Path of Purification 
composed for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter XX 

Purification by Knowledge 

and Vision of What is the Path 

and What is Not the Path 

(Maggamagga-nanadassana-visuddhi-niddesa) 

1. [606] The knowledge established by getting to know the path and the not- 
path thus, "This is the path, this is not the path," is called "purification by 
knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not the path." 

2. One who desires to accomplish this should first of all apply himself to the 
inductive insight called "comprehension by groups. 1 " Why? Because knowledge 
of what is the path and what is not the path appears in connection with the 
appearance of illumination, etc. (XX.105f.) in one who has begun insight. For it 
is after illumination, etc., have appeared in one who has already begun insight 
that there comes to be knowledge of what is the path and what is not the path. 
And comprehension by groups is the beginning of insight. That is why it is set 
forth next to the overcoming of doubt. Besides, knowledge of what is the path 
and what is not the path arises when "full-understanding as investigation" is 
occurring, and full-understanding as investigation comes next to full- 
understanding as the known (see XIX. 21). So this is also a reason why one who 
desires to accomplish this purification by knowledge and vision of what is the 
path and what is not the path should first of all apply himself to comprehension 
by groups. 

[The Three Kinds of Full -Understanding] 

3. Here is the exposition: there are three kinds of mundane full-understanding, 
that is, full-understanding as the known, full-understanding as investigation, 
and full-understanding as abandoning, with reference to which it was said: 
"Understanding that is direct-knowledge is knowledge in the sense of being 
known. Understanding that is full-understanding is knowledge in the sense of 



1 . "Comprehension by placing together in groups (totals) the states that are differentiated 
into past, future and present is 'comprehension by groups.' This, it seems, is the term used 
by the inhabitants of Jambudlpa (India). However, insight into states by means of the 
method beginning, 'Any materiality whatever' (M III 16) is 'inductive insight.' This, it seems, 
is the term used by the inhabitants of Tambapannidlpa (Sri Lanka). That is why he said "to 
inductive insight called comprehension by groups'" (Vism-mht 778). 

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investigating. Understanding that is abandoning is knowledge in the sense of 
giving up" (Patis I 87). 

Herein, the understanding that occurs by observing the specific characteristics 
of such and such states thus, "Materiality (rupa) has the characteristic of being 
molested (ruppana); feeling has the characteristic of being felt," is called full- 
understanding as the known. The understanding consisting in insight with the 
general characteristics as its object that occurs in attributing a general 
characteristic to those same states in the way beginning, "Materiality is 
impermanent, [607] feeling is impermanent" is called full-understanding as 
investigation. 1 The understanding consisting in insight with the characteristics 
as its object that occurs as the abandoning of the perception of permanence, etc., 
in those same states is called full-understanding as abandoning. 

4. Herein, the plane of full-understanding as the known extends from the delimitation 
of formations (Ch. XVIII) up to the discernment of conditions (Ch. XIX); for in this 
interval the penetration of the specific characteristics of states predominates. The 
plane of full-understanding as investigation extends from comprehension by groups 
up to contemplation of rise and fall (XXI.3f.); for in this interval the penetration of the 
general characteristics predominates. The plane of full-understanding as abandoning 
extends from contemplation of dissolution onwards (XXI. 10); for from there onwards 
the seven contemplations that effect the abandoning of the perception of permanence, 
etc., predominate thus: 

(1) Contemplating [formations] as impermanent, a man abandons 

the perception of permanence. 

(2) Contemplating [them] as painful, he abandons the perception 

of pleasure. 

(3) Contemplating [them] as not-self, he abandons the perception 

of self. 

(4) Becoming dispassionate, he abandons delighting. 

(5) Causing fading away, he abandons greed. 

(6) Causing cessation, he abandons originating. 

(7) Relinquishing, he abandons grasping (Patis I 58). 3 

2. Tirana could also be rendered by "judging." On specific and general characteristics 
Vism-mht says: "Hardness, touching, etc., as the respective characteristics of earth, 
contact, etc., which are observable at all three instants [of arising, presence and 
dissolution], are apprehended by their being established as the respective individual 
essences of definite materialness. But it is not so with the characteristics of 
impermanence, and so on. These are apprehended as though they were attributive 
material instances because they have to be apprehended under the respective headings 
of dissolution and rise and fall, of oppression, and of insusceptibility to the exercise of 
mastery" (Vism-mht 779). See Ch. XXI, note 3. 

The "planes" given here in §4 are not quite the same as described in XXII. 107. 

3. '"Contemplating as impermanent' is contemplating, comprehending, formations in 
the aspect of impermanence. 'The perception of permanence' is the wrong perception 
that they are permanent, eternal; the kinds of consciousness associated with wrong 

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5. So, of these three kinds of full-understanding, only full-understanding as 
the known has been attained by this meditator as yet, which is because the 
delimitation of formations and the discernment of conditions have already been 
accomplished; the other two still remain to be attained. Hence it was said above: 
"Besides, knowledge of what is the path and what is not the path arises when 
full-understanding as investigation is occurring, and full-understanding as 
investigation comes next to full-understanding as the known. So this is also a 
reason why one who desires to accomplish this purification by knowledge and 
vision of what is the path and what is not the path should first of all apply 
himself to comprehension by groups" (§2). 

[Insight: Comprehension by Groups] 

6. Here is the text: 

"How is it that understanding of defining past, future and present states by 
summarization is knowledge of comprehension? 

"Any materiality whatever, whether past, future or present, internal or external, 
gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near — he defines all materiality as 
impermanent: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as painful: this is 
one kind of comprehension. He defines it as not-self: this is one kind of 
comprehension. Any feeling whatever ... Any perception whatever ... Any 
formations whatever ... Any consciousness whatever ... He defines all 
consciousness as impermanent: ... He defines it as not-self: this is one kind of 
comprehension. The eye ... (etc.) ... ageing-and-death, whether past, future or 
present, he defines it as impermanent: this is one kind of comprehension. He 
defines it as painful: this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as not-self: 
this is one kind of comprehension. 

"Understanding of defining by summarization thus, 'Materiality whether 
past, future, or present, is impermanent in the sense of destruction, painful in 
the sense of terror, not-self in the sense of having no core,' is knowledge of 
comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization thus, 'Feeling ... 



view should be regarded as included under the heading of 'perception.' So too with 
what follows. 'Becoming dispassionate' is seeing formations with dispassion by means 
of the contemplation of dispassion induced by the contemplations of impermanence, 
and so on. 'Delighting' is craving accompanied by happiness. 'Causing fading away' is 
contemplating in such a way that greed (raga) for formations does not arise owing to 
the causing of greed to fade (virajjana) by the contemplation of fading away 
(viraganupassana); for one who acts thus is said to abandon greed. 'Causing cessation' 
is contemplating in such a way that, by the contemplation of cessation, formations 
cease only they do not arise in the future through a new becoming; since one who 
acts thus is said to abandon the arousing (originating) of formations because of 
producing the nature of non-arising. 'Relinquishing' is relinquishing in such a way that, 
by the contemplation of relinquishment, formations are not grasped anymore; hence 
he said, 'He abandons grasping'; or the meaning is that he relinquishes apprehending 
[them] as permanent, and so on" (Vism-mht 780). 



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[608] (etc.) ... Consciousness ... Eye ... (etc.) ... Ageing-and-death, whether past 
...' is knowledge of comprehension. 

"Understanding of defining by summarization thus, 'Materiality whether 
past, future, or present, is impermanent, formed, dependently arisen, subject to 
destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation,' is 
knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization 
thus, 'Feeling ... (etc.) ... Consciousness ... Eye ... (etc.) ... Ageing-and-death, 
whether past, future, or present, is impermanent, formed, dependently arisen, 
subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation' 
is knowledge of comprehension. 

"Understanding of defining by summarization thus, 'With birth as condition 
there is ageing-and-death; without birth as condition there is no ageing-and- 
death,' is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by 
generalization thus, 'In the past and in the future with birth as condition there 
is ageing-and-death; without birth as condition there is no ageing-and-death,' 
is knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization 
thus, 'With becoming as condition there is birth . . . With ignorance as condition 
there are formations; without ignorance as condition there are no formations,' is 
knowledge of comprehension. Understanding of defining by generalization 
thus, 'In the past and in the future with ignorance as condition there are 
formations; without ignorance as condition there are no formations' is knowledge 
of comprehension. 

"Knowledge is in the sense of that being known and understanding is in the 
sense of the act of understanding that. Hence it was said: 'Understanding of 
defining past, future, and present states by summarization is knowledge of 
comprehension'" (Patis I 53f.). 

9. Herein, the abbreviation, "The eye ... (etc.) ... Ageing-and-death," should be 
understood to represent the following sets of things elided: 

1. The states that occur in the doors [of consciousness] together 

with the doors and the objects. 

2. The five aggregates. 

3. The six doors. 

4. The six objects. 

5. The six kinds of consciousness. 

6. The six kinds of contact. 

7. The six kinds of feeling. 

8. The six kinds of perception. 

9. The six kinds of volition. 

10. The six kinds of craving. 

11. The six kinds of applied thought. 

12. The six kinds of sustained thought. 

13. The six elements. 

14. The ten kasinas. 

15. The thirty-two bodily aspects. 

16. The twelve bases. 



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17. The eighteen elements. 

18. The twenty-two faculties. 

19. The three elements. 

20. The nine kinds of becoming. 

21. The four jhanas. 

22. The four measureless states. 

23. The four [immaterial] attainments. 

24. The twelve members of the dependent origination. 

10. For this is said in the Patisambhida in the description of what is to be 
directly known: "Bhikkhus, all is to be directly known. And what is all that is to 
be directly known? [609] (1) Eye is to be directly known; visible objects are to be 
directly known; eye-consciousness . . . eye-contact . . . feeling, pleasant or painful 
or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, that arises due to eye-contact is also to be directly 
known. Ear ... Mind ... feeling, pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor- 
pleasant, that arises due to mind-contact is also to be directly known. 

1 1 . "(2) Materiality is to be directly known . . . consciousness is to be directly known. 
(3) Eye . . . mind ... (4) Visible objects . . . mental objects ... (5) Eye-consciousness . . . 
mind-consciousness ... (6) Eye-contact ... mind-contact ... (7) Eye-contact-born 
feeling . . . mind-contact-born feeling ... (8) Perception of visible objects . . . perception 
of mental objects ... (9) Volition regarding visible objects . . . volition regarding mental 
objects . . . (10) Craving for visible objects . . . craving for mental objects ... (11) Applied 
thought about visible objects ... applied thought about mental objects ... (12) 
Sustained thought about visible objects . . . sustained thought about mental objects 
. . . (13) The earth element . . . the consciousness element . . . (14) The earth kasina . . . 
the consciousness kasina ... (15) Head hairs ... brain ... (16) The eye base ... the 
mental object base ... (17) The eye element ... the mind-consciousness element ... 
(18) The eye faculty ... the final-knower faculty ... (19) The sense-desire element ... 
the fine-material element . . . the immaterial element . . . (20) Sense-desire becoming 
. . . fine-material becoming . . . immaterial becoming . . . percipient becoming . . . non- 
percipient becoming . . . neither percipient nor non-percipient becoming . . . one- 
constituent becoming . . . four-constituent becoming . . . five-constituent becoming 
. . . (21) The first jhana . . . the fourth jhana . . . (22) The mind-deliverance of loving- 
kindness . . . the mind-deliverance of equanimity . . . (23) The attainment of the base 
consisting of boundless space . . . the attainment of the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception . . . (24) Ignorance is to be directly known . . . ageing- 
and-death is to be directly known" (Patis I 5f.). 

12. Since all this detail is given there it has been abbreviated here. But what is 
thus abbreviated includes the supramundane states. These should not be dealt 
with at this stage because they are not amenable to comprehension. And as 
regards those that are amenable to comprehension a beginning should be made 
by comprehending those among them that are obvious to and easily discernible 
by the individual [meditator]. 

[Comprehension by Groups — Application of Text] 

13. Here is the application of the directions dealing with the aggregates: "Any 
materiality whatever, (i-iii) whether past, future, or present, (iv-v) internal or 



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external, (vi-vii) gross or subtle, (viii-ix) inferior or superior, (x-xi) far or near — 
he defines all materiality as impermanent: this is one kind of comprehension. 
He defines it as painful: [610] this is one kind of comprehension. He defines it as 
not-self: this is one kind of comprehension" (see §6). At this point this bhikkhu 
[takes] all materiality, which is described without specifying as "any materiality 
whatever," and having delimited it in the eleven instances, namely, with the past 
triad and with the four dyads beginning with the internal dyad, he "defines all 
materiality as impermanent," he comprehends that it is impermanent. How? In the 
way stated next. For this is said: "Materiality, whether past, future or present, is 
impermanent in the sense of destruction." 

14. Accordingly, he comprehends the materiality that is past as "impermanent 
in the sense of destruction" because it was destroyed in the past and did not reach 
this becoming; and he comprehends the materiality that is future as "impermanent 
in the sense of destruction" since it will be produced in the next becoming, will be 
destroyed there too, and will not pass on to a further becoming; and he 
comprehends the materiality that is present as "impermanent in the sense of 
destruction" since it is destroyed here and does not pass beyond. And he 
comprehends the materiality that is internal as "impermanent in the sense of 
destruction" since it is destroyed as internal and does not pass on to the external 
state. And he comprehends the materiality that is external . . . gross . . . subtle . . . 
inferior . . . superior . . . far . . . And he comprehends the materiality that is near as 
"impermanent in the sense of destruction" since it is destroyed there and does not pass 
on to the far state. And all this is impermanent in the sense of destruction. Accordingly, 
there is "one kind of comprehension" in this way; but it is effected in eleven ways. 

15. And all that [materiality] is "painful in the sense of terror." In the sense of 
terror because of its terrifyingness; for what is impermanent brings terror, as it 
does to the deities in the Sihopama Sutta (S III 84). So this is also painful in the 
sense of terror. Accordingly, there is one kind of comprehension in this way too; 
but it is effected in eleven ways. 

16. And just as it is painful, so too all that [materiality] is " not-self in the sense of 
having no core." In the sense of having no core because of the absence of any core 
of self conceived as a self, an abider, a doer, an experiencer, one who is his own 
master; for what is impermanent is painful (S III 82), and it is impossible to 
escape the impermanence, or the rise and fall and oppression, of self, so how 
could it have the state of a doer, and so on? Hence it is said, "Bhikkhus, were 
materiality self, it would not lead to affliction" (S III 66), and so on. So this is also 
not-self in the sense of having no core. Accordingly, there is one kind of 
comprehension in this way too, but it is effected in eleven ways. [611] The same 
method applies to feeling, and so on. 

17. But what is impermanent is necessarily classed as formed, etc., and so in 
order to show the synonyms for that [impermanence], or in order to show how 
the attention given to it occurs in different ways, it is restated in the text thus: 
"Materiality, whether past, future, or present, is impermanent, formed, 
dependently arisen, subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, 
subject to cessation" (§7). The same method applies to feeling, and so on. 



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[Strengthening of Comprehension in Forty Ways] 

18. Now, when the Blessed One was expounding conformity knowledge, he 
[asked the question]: "By means of what forty aspects does he acquire liking that 
is in conformity? By means of what forty aspects does he enter into the certainty 
of Tightness?" (P'8). 4 In the answer to it comprehension of impermanence, etc., is 
set forth by him analytically in the way beginning: "[Seeing] the five aggregates 
as impermanent, as painful, as a disease, a boil, a dart, a calamity, an affliction, 
as alien, as disintegrating, as a plague, a disaster, a terror, a menace, as fickle, 
perishable, unenduring, as no protection, no shelter, no refuge, as empty, vain, 
void, not-self, as a danger, as subject to change, as having no core, as the root of 
calamity, as murderous, as due to be annihilated, as subject to cankers, as formed, 
as Mara's bait, as subject to birth, subject to ageing, subject to illness, subject to 
death, subject to sorrow, subject to lamentation, subject to despair, subject to 
defilement. Seeing the five aggregates as impermanent, he acquires liking that 
is in conformity. And seeing that the cessation of the five aggregates is the 
permanent Nibbana, he enters into the certainty of Tightness" (Patis II 238). So 
in order to strengthen that same comprehension of impermanence, pain, and 
not-self in the five aggregates, this [meditator] also comprehends these five 
aggregates by means of that [kind of comprehension]. 

19. How does he do it? He does it by means of comprehension as impermanent, 
etc., stated specifically as follows: He comprehends each aggregate as impermanent 
because of non-endlessness, and because of possession of a beginning and an 
end; as painful because of oppression by rise and fall, and because of being the 
basis for pain; as a disease because of having to be maintained by conditions, and 
because of being the root of disease; as a boil because of being consequent upon 
impalement by suffering, because of oozing with the filth of defilements, and 
because of being swollen by arising, ripened by ageing, and burst by dissolution; 
as a dart because of producing oppression, because of penetrating inside, and 
because of being hard to extract; as a calamity because of having to be condemned, 
because of bringing loss, and [612] because of being the basis for calamity; as an 
affliction because of restricting freedom, and because of being the foundation for 
affliction; as alien because of inability to have mastery exercised over them, and 
because of intractability; as disintegrating because of crumbling through sickness, 
ageing and death; as a plague because of bringing various kinds of ruin; as a 
disaster because of bringing unforeseen and plentiful adversity, and because of 
being the basis for all kinds of terror, and because of being the opposite of the 
supreme comfort called the stilling of all suffering; as a menace because of being 
bound up with many kinds of adversity, because of being menaced 5 by ills, and 
because of unfitness, as a menace, to be entertained; as fickle because of fickle 

4. "'Liking that is in conformity' is a liking for knowledge that is in conformity with the 
attainment of the path. Actually the knowledge itself is the 'liking' (khanti) since it likes 
(khamati), it endures, defining by going into the individual essence of its objective field. 
The 'certainty of rightness' is the noble path; for that is called the Tightness beginning 
with right view and also the certainty of an irreversible trend" (Vism-mht 784). 

5. Upasatthata — "being menaced;" abstr. noun fr. pp. of upa + say, not as such in PED. 

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insecurity due to sickness, ageing and death, and to the worldly states of gain, 
etc.; 6 as perishable because of having the nature of perishing both by violence 
and naturally; as unenduring because of collapsing on every occasion 7 and because 
of lack of solidity; as no protection because of not protecting, and because of 
affording no safety; as no shelter because of unfitness to give shelter, 8 and because 
of not performing the function of a shelter for the unsheltered; 9 as no refuge 
because of failure to disperse fear 10 in those who depend on them; as empty 
because of their emptiness of the lastingness, beauty, pleasure and self that are 
conceived about them; as vain because of their emptiness, or because of their 
triviality; for what is trivial is called "vain" in the world; as void because devoid 
of the state of being an owner, abider, doer, experiencer, director; as not-seZ/because 
of itself having no owner, etc.; as danger because of the suffering in the process of 
becoming, and because of the danger in suffering or, alternatively, as danger 
(adinava) because of resemblance to misery (adina) 11 since "danger" (adlnava) 
means that it is towards misery (adina) that it moves (vati), goes, advances, this 
being a term for a wretched man, and the aggregates are wretched too; as subject 
to change because of having the nature of change in two ways, that is, through 
ageing and through death; as having no core because of feebleness, and because 
of decaying soon like sapwood; as the root of calamity because of being the cause 
of calamity; as murderous because of breaking faith like an enemy posing as a 
friend; as due to be annihilated because their becoming disappears, and because 
their non-becoming comes about; as subject to cankers because of being the 
proximate cause for cankers; as formed because of being formed by causes and 
conditions; as Mara's bait because of being the bait [laid] by the Mara of death 
and the Mara of defilement; as subject to birth, to ageing, to illness, and to death 
because of having birth, ageing, illness and death as their nature; as subject to 
sorrow, to lamentation and to despair because of being the cause of sorrow, 
lamentation and despair; as subject to defilement because of being the objective 
field of the defilements of craving, views and misconduct. 

20. Now, there are [613] fifty kinds of contemplation of impermanence here by 
taking the following ten in the case of each aggregate: as impermanent, as 
disintegrating, as fickle, as perishable, as unenduring, as subject to change, as 
having no core, as due to be annihilated, as formed, as subject to death. There are 
twenty-five kinds of contemplation of not-self by taking the following five in the 
case of each aggregate: as alien, as empty, as vain, as void, as not-self. There are 

6. The eight worldly states are: gain and non-gain, fame and non-fame, blame and 
praise, and pleasure and pain (D III 160). 

7. Avattha — "occasion": not in PED. 

8. Alltyitum — "to give shelter": not in PED, but see lena. 

9. Allmanam — "for the unsheltered": alllna = pp. of a + liyati (see note 8 above), the 
"un-sheltered." Not in PED. Not to be confused with alllna = adherent (pp. of a + liyati, 
to stick, to be contiguous); see e.g. XIV46. 

10. Vism-mht has "]ati-adi-bhayanam himsanam vidhamanam bhayasaranattam," which 
suggests the rendering "because of not being a refuge from fear." 

11. Adina — "misery" or "miserable": not in PED. Adina — "misery" or "miserable": 
not in PED. 

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one hundred and twenty-five kinds of contemplation of pain by taking the rest 
beginning with "as painful, as a disease" in the case of each aggregate. 

So when a man comprehends the five aggregates by means of this comprehending 
as impermanent, etc., in its two hundred aspects, his comprehending as 
impermanent, painful and not-self, which is called "inductive insight," is 
strengthened. These in the first place are the directions for undertaking 
comprehension here in accordance with the method given in the texts. 

[Nine Ways of Sharpening the Faculties, Etc. 

21. While thus engaged in inductive insight, however, if it does not succeed, 
he should sharpen his faculties [of faith, etc.,] in the nine ways stated thus: "The 
faculties become sharp in nine ways: (1) he sees only the destruction of arisen 
formations; (2) and in that [occupation] he makes sure of working carefully, (3) 
he makes sure of working perseveringly (4) he makes sure of working suitably, 
and (5) by apprehending the sign of concentration and (6) by balancing the 
enlightenment factors (7) he establishes disregard of body and life, (8) wherein 
he overcomes [pain] by renunciation and (9) by not stopping halfway 12 He should 
avoid the seven unsuitable things in the way stated in the Description of the 
Earth Kasina (IV34) and cultivate the seven suitable things, and he should 
comprehend the material at one time and the immaterial at another. 

[Comprehension of the Material] 

22. While comprehending materiality he should see how materiality is 
generated, 13 that is to say, how this materiality is generated by the four causes 
beginning with kamma. Herein, when materiality is being generated in any 
being, it is first generated from kamma. For at the actual moment of rebirth- 
linking of a child in the womb, first thirty instances of materiality are generated 
in the triple continuity, in other words, the decads of physical [heart- ]basis, body, 
and sex. And those are generated at the actual instant of the rebirth-linking 
consciousness's arising. And as at the instant of its arising, so too at the instant 
of its presence and at the instant of its dissolution. 14 

23. Herein, the cessation of materiality is slow and its transformation 
ponderous, while the cessation of consciousness is swift and its transformation 
quick (light); hence it is said, "Bhikkhus, I see no other one thing that is so 
quickly transformed as [614] the mind" (A I 10). 

24. For the life-continuum consciousness arises and ceases sixteen times while 
one material instant endures. With consciousness the instant of arising, instant 

12. Abyosana — "not stopping halfway" (another less good reading is accosana): not 
in PED; but it is a negative form of vosana (q.v.), which is used of Devadatta in the 
Vinaya Culavagga ( = It 85) and occurs in this sense at M I 193. Not in CPD. 

13. "First it has to be seen by inference according to the texts. Afterwards it gradually 
comes to be seen by personal experience when the knowledge of development gets 
stronger" (Vism-mht 790). 

14. "It is first generated from kamma because the temperature-born kinds, etc., are 
rooted in that" (Vism-mht 790). 

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of presence, and instant of dissolution are equal; but with materiality only the 
instants of arising and dissolution are quick like those [of consciousness], while 
the instant of its presence is long and lasts while sixteen consciousnesses arise 
and cease. 

25. The second life-continuum arises with the prenascent physical [heart- 
Jbasis as its support, which has already reached presence and arose at the 
rebirth-linking consciousness's instant of arising. The third life-continuum 
arises with the prenascent physical basis as its support, which has already 
reached presence and arose together with that [second life-continuum 
consciousness]. The occurrence of consciousness can be understood to happen 
in this way throughout life. But in one who is facing death sixteen 
consciousnesses arise with a single prenascent physical [heart-]basis as their 
support, which has already reached presence. 

26. The materiality that arose at the instant of arising of the rebirth-linking 
consciousness ceases along with the sixteenth consciousness after the rebirth- 
linking consciousness. That arisen at the instant of presence of the rebirth-linking 
consciousness ceases together with the instant of arising of the seventeenth. 
That arisen at the instant of its dissolution ceases on arriving at the instant of 
presence of the seventeenth. 15 It goes on occurring thus for as long as the 
recurrence [of births] continues. 

Also seventy instances of materiality occur in the same way with the sevenfold 
continuity [beginning with the eye decad] of those apparitionally born. 

[(a) Kamma-Born Materiality] 

27. Herein, [as regards kamma-born materiality] the analysis should be 
understood thus: (1) kamma, (2) what is originated by kamma, (3) what has 
kamma as its condition, (4) what is originated by consciousness that has kamma 
as its condition, (5) what is originated by nutriment that has kamma as its 
condition, (6) what is originated by temperature that has kamma as its condition 
(XI.111-14). 

28. Herein, (1) kamma is profitable and unprofitable volition. (2) What is originated 
by kamma is the kamma-resultant aggregates and the seventy instances of 
materiality beginning with the eye decad. (3) What has kamma as its condition is 
the same [as the last] since kamma is the condition that upholds what is 
originated by kamma. 

29. (4) What is originated by consciousness that has kamma as its condition is 
materiality originated by kamma-resultant consciousness. (5) What is originated 
by nutriment that has kamma as its condition is so called since the nutritive essence 
that has reached presence in the instances of materiality originated by kamma 
originates a further octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, and the nutritive 
essence there that has reached presence also originates a further one, and so it 

15. The relationship of the duration of moments of matter and moments of 
consciousness is dealt with in greater detail in the Sammohavinodani (Vibh-a 25f.). See 
also Introduction, note 18. 

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links up four or five occurrences of octads. (6) What is originated by temperature that 
has kamma as its condition is so called since the kamma-born fire element that has 
reached presence originates an octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, which is 
temperature-originated, and the temperature in that originates a further octad-with- 
nutritive-essence-as eighth, and so it links up four or five occurrences of octads. 

This is how the generation of kamma-born materiality in the first place should 
be seen. [615] 

[(b) Consciousness-Born Materiality] 

30. Also as regards the consciousness-born kinds, the analysis should be 
understood thus: (1) consciousness, (2) what is originated by consciousness, (3) 
what has consciousness as its condition, (4) what is originated by nutriment 
that has consciousness as its condition, (5) what is originated by temperature 
that has consciousness as its condition. 

31. Herein, (1) consciousness is the eighty-nine kinds of consciousness. Among 
these: 

Consciousnesses thirty-two, 
And twenty-six, and nineteen too, 
Are reckoned to give birth to matter, 
Postures, also intimation; 
Sixteen kinds of consciousness 
Are reckoned to give birth to none. 

As regards the sense sphere, thirty-two consciousnesses, namely, the eight 
profitable consciousnesses ((l)-(8)), the twelve unprofitable ((22)-(33)), the ten 
functional excluding the mind element ((71)-(80)), and the two direct-knowledge 
consciousnesses as profitable and functional, give rise to materiality to postures, 
and to intimation. The twenty-six consciousnesses, namely, the ten of the fine-material 
sphere ((9)-(13), (81)-(85)) and the eight of the immaterial sphere ((14)-(17), (86)- 
(89)) excluding the resultant [in both cases], and the eight supramundane ((18)- 
(21), (66)-(69)), give rise to materiality to postures but not to intimation. The nineteen 
consciousnesses, namely, the ten life-continuum consciousnesses in the sense sphere 
((41)-(49), (56)), the five in the fine-material sphere ((57)-(61)), the three mind elements 
((39), (55), (70)), and the one resultant mind-consciousness element without root- 
cause and accompanied by joy (40), give rise to materiality only not to postures or to 
intimation. The sixteen consciousnesses, namely, the two sets of five consciousnesses 
((34)-(38), (50)-(54)), the rebirth-linking consciousness of all beings, the death 
consciousness of those whose cankers are destroyed, and the four immaterial 
resultant consciousnesses ((62)-(65)) do not give rise to materiality or to postures or 
to intimation. And those herein that do give rise to materiality do not do so at the 
instant of their presence or at the instant of their dissolution, for consciousness is 
weak then. But it is strong at the instant of arising. Consequently it originates 
materiality then with the prenascent physical basis as its support. 

32. (2) What is originated by consciousness is the three other immaterial aggregates 
and the seventeenfold materiality, namely, the sound ennead, bodily intimation, 



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verbal intimation, the space element, lightness, malleability, wieldiness, growth, 
and continuity. 

(3) What has consciousness as its condition is the materiality of fourfold origination 
stated thus: "Postnascent states of consciousness and consciousness- 
concomitants are a condition, as postnascence condition, for this prenascent 
body" (Patth I 5). 

33. (4) What is originated by nutriment that has consciousness as its condition: the 
nutritive essence that has reached presence in consciousness-originated material 
instances originates a further octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, and thus 
links up two or three occurrences of octads. 

34. (5) What is originated by temperature that has consciousness as its condition: the 
consciousness-originated temperature that has [616] reached presence originates 
a further octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, and thus links up two or three 
occurrences. 

This is how the generation of consciousness-born materiality should be seen. 

[(c) Nutriment-Born Materiality] 

35. Also as regards the nutriment-born kinds, the analysis should be 
understood thus: (1) nutriment, (2) what is originated by nutriment, (3) what has 
nutriment as its condition, (4) what is originated by nutriment that has nutriment 
as its condition, (5) what is originated by temperature that has nutriment as its 
condition. 

36. Herein, (1) nutriment is physical nutriment. (2) What is originated by nutriment 
is the fourteenfold materiality, namely, (i-viii) that of the octad-with-nutritive- 
essence-as-eighth originated by nutritive essence that has reached presence by 
obtaining as its condition kamma-born materiality that is clung to (kammically 
acquired) and basing itself on that, 16 and (ix) space element, (x-xiv) lightness, 
malleability, wieldiness, growth, and continuity. 

(3) What has nutriment as its condition is the materiality of fourfold origination 
stated thus: "Physical nutriment is a condition, as nutriment condition, for this 
body" (Patth I 5). 

37. (4) What is originated by nutriment that has nutriment as its condition: the 
nutritive essence that has reached presence in nutriment-originated material 
instances originates a further octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth and the 
nutritive essence in that octad originates a further octad, and thus links up the 
occurrence of octads ten or twelve times. Nutriment taken on one day sustains 

16. "'By obtaining as its condition kamma-born materiality that is clung-to': by this he 
points out that external un-clung-to nutritive essence does not perform the function 
of nourishing materiality. He said 'and basing itself on that' meaning that its obtaining of 
a condition is owing to its being supported by what is kamma-born. And 'clung-to' is 
specifically mentioned in order to rule out any question of there being a 'kamma- 
born' method for 'materiality originated by consciousness that has kamma as its 
condition' just because it happens to be rooted in kamma [There is no such method]" 
(Vism-mht 793f.). 

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for as long as seven days; but divine nutritive essence sustains for as long as one 
or two months. The nutriment taken by a mother originates materiality by 
pervading the body of the child [in gestation]. Also nutriment smeared on the body 
originates materiality. Kamma-born nutriment is a name for nutriment that is clung 
to. That also originates materiality when it has reached presence. And the nutritive 
essence in it originates a further octad. Thus it links up four or five occurrences. 

38. (5) What is originated by temperature that has nutriment as its condition: 
nutriment-originated fire element that has reached presence originates an octad- 
with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth that is thus temperature-originated. Here this 
nutriment is a condition for nutriment-originated material instances as their 
progenitor. It is a condition for the rest as support, nutriment, presence, and 
non-disappearance. 

This is how the generation of nutriment-born materiality should be seen. 

[(d) Temperature-Born Materiality] 

39. Also as regards the temperature-born kinds, the analysis should be 
understood thus: (1) temperature, (2) what is originated by temperature, (3) what 
has temperature as its condition, (4) what is originated by temperature that has 
temperature as its condition, (5) what is originated by nutriment that has 
temperature as its condition. 

40. Herein, (1) temperature is the fire element of fourfold origination; but it is 
twofold as hot temperature and cold temperature. (2) What is originated by 
temperature: the temperature of fourfold origination that has reached presence by 
obtaining a clung-to condition originates materiality in the body. [617] That 
materiality is fifteenfold, namely, sound ennead, space element, lightness, 
malleability, wieldiness, growth, continuity. (3) What has temperature as its condition 
is so called since temperature is a condition for the occurrence and for the 
destruction of materiality of fourfold origination. 

41. (4) What is originated by temperature that has temperature as its condition: the 
temperature-originated fire element that has reached presence originates a further 
octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, and the temperature in that octad 
originates a further octad. Thus temperature-originated materiality both goes 
on occurring for a long period and also maintains itself as well in what is not 
clung to. 17 

42. (5) What is originated by nutriment that has temperature as its condition: the 
temperature-originated nutritive essence that has reached presence originates a 
further octad-with-nutritive-essence-as-eighth, and the nutritive essence in that 
originates a further one, thus it links up ten or twelve occurrences of octads. 

Herein, this temperature is a condition for temperature-originated material 
instances as their progenitor. It is a condition for the rest as support, presence, 
and non-disappearance. 

17. "What is intended is head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, callosities, warts, etc., 
which are separate from the flesh in a living body; otherwise a corpse, and so on" 
(Vism-mht 795). 

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This is how the generation of temperature-born materiality should be seen. 

One who sees the generation of materiality thus is said to "comprehend the 
material at one time" (§21). 18 

[Comprehension of the Immaterial] 

43. And just as one who is comprehending the material should see the generation 
of the material, so too one who is comprehending the immaterial should see the 
generation of the immaterial. And that is through the eighty-one mundane arisings 
of consciousness, that is to say, it is by kamma accumulated in a previous becoming 
that this immaterial [mentality] is generated. And in the first place it is generated as 
[one of] the nineteen kinds of arisings of consciousness as rebirth-linking (XVII. 130). 
But the modes in which it is generated should be understood according to the 
method given in the Description of the Dependent Origination (XVII. 134f.). That 
same [nineteenfold arising of consciousness is generated] as life-continuum as 
well, starting from the consciousness next to rebirth-linking consciousness, and as 
death consciousness at the termination of the life span. And when it is of the sense 
sphere, and the object in the six doors is a vivid one, it is also generated as registration. 

44. In the course of an existence, eye-consciousness, together with its associated 
states, supported by light and caused by attention is generated because the eye is 
intact and because visible data have come into focus. For it is actually when a visible 
datum has reached presence that it impinges on the eye at the instant of the eye- 
sensitivity's presence. When it has done so, the life-continuum arises and ceases 
twice. Next to arise is the functional mind element with that same object, 
accomplishing the function of adverting. Next to that, eye-consciousness, which is 
the result of profitable or of unprofitable [kamma] and sees that same visible datum. 
[618] Next, the resultant mind element, which receives that same visible datum. 
Next, the resultant root-causeless mind-consciousness element, which investigates 
that same visible datum. Next, the functional mind-consciousness element without 
root-cause and accompanied by equanimity, which determines that same visible 
datum. Next, [it is generated either] as one from among the profitable ((l)-(8)), 
unprofitable ((22)-(33)), or functional ((71) and (73)-(80)) kinds of consciousness 
belonging to the sense sphere, either as consciousness accompanied by equanimity 
and without root-cause (71 ), 19 or as five or seven impulsions. Next, in the case of 
sense-sphere beings, [it is generated] as any of the eleven kinds of registration 
consciousness conforming [as to object] with the impulsions. The same applies to 
the remaining doors. But in the case of the mind door-exalted consciousnesses also 
arise. 

This is how the generation of the immaterial should be seen in the case of the 
six doors. 

18. "When the generation of materiality is seen its dissolution also is seen, and so he 
said, 'One who sees the generation of materiality thus is said to comprehend the material at one 
time' because of the brevity of states' occurrence; for it is not the seeing of mere 
generation that is called comprehension but there must be seeing of rise and fall besides. 
So too the apprehending of generation in the other instances" (Vism-mht 795). 

19. "This refers to determining" (Vism-mht 795). 

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One who sees the generation of the immaterial thus is said to "comprehend 
the immaterial at another time" (§21). 

45. This is how one [meditator] accomplishes the development of understand- 
ing, progressing gradually by comprehending at one time the material and at 
another time the immaterial, by attributing the three characteristics to them. 

[The Material Septad] 

Another comprehends formations by attributing the three characteristics to 
them through the medium of the material septad and the immaterial septad. 

46. Herein, one who comprehends [them] by attributing [the characteristics] 
in the following seven ways is said to comprehend by attributing through the 
medium of the material septad, that is to say, (1) as taking up and putting down, 
(2) as disappearance of what grows old in each stage, (3) as arising from nutriment, 
(4) as arising from temperature, (5) as kamma-born, (6) as consciousness-originated, 
and (7) as natural materiality. Hence the Ancients said: 

"(1) As taking up and putting down, 

(2) As growth and decline in every stage, 

(3) As nutriment, (4) as temperature, 

(5) As kamma, and (6) as consciousness, 

(7) As natural materiality — 

He sees with seven detailed insights." 

47. 1. Herein, taking up is rebirth-linking. Putting down is death. So the meditator 
allots one hundred years for this "taking up" and "putting down" and he 
attributes the three characteristics to formations. How? All formations between 
these limits are impermanent. Why? Because of the occurrence of rise and fall, 
because of change, because of temporariness, and because of preclusion of 
permanence. But since arisen formations have arrived at presence, and when 
present are afflicted by ageing, and on arriving at ageing are bound to dissolve, 
they are therefore painful because of continual oppression, because of being 
hard to bear, because of being the basis of suffering, and because of precluding 
pleasure. And since no one has any power over arisen formations in the three 
instances, "Let them not reach presence", "Let those that have reached presence 
not age," and "Let those that have reached ageing not dissolve," and they are 
void of the possibility of any power being exercised over them, they are therefore 
not-self because void, because ownerless, because unsusceptible to the wielding 
of power, and because of precluding a self. 20 [619] 



20. "No one, not even the Blessed One, has such mastery; for it is impossible for 
anyone to alter the three characteristics. The province of supernormal power is simply 
the alteration of a state" (Vism-mht 797). 

'"Because of precluding a self means because of precluding the self conceived by 
those outside the Dispensation; for the non-existence in dhammas of any self as 
conceived by outsiders is stated by the words, 'because void'; but by this expression [it is 
stated] that there is no self because there is no such individual essence" (Vism-mht 797). 



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48. 2. (a) Having attributed the three characteristics to materiality allotted one 
hundred years for the "taking up" and "putting down" thus, he next attributes 
them according to disappearance of what grows old in each stage. Herein, 
"disappearance of what grows old in each stage" is a name for the disappearance 
of the materiality that has grown old during a stage [of life]. The meaning is that 
he attributes the three characteristics by means of that. 

49. How? He divides that same hundred years up into three stages, that is, the 
first stage, the middle stage, and the last stage. Herein, the first thirty-three years 
are called the first stage, the next thirty-four years are called the middle stage, 
and the next thirty-three years are called the last stage. So after dividing it up 
into these three stages, [he attributes the three characteristics thus:] The 
materiality occurring in the first stage ceased there without reaching the middle 
stage: therefore it is impermanent; what is impermanent is painful; what is 
painful is not-self. Also the materiality occurring in the middle stage ceased 
there without reaching the last stage: therefore it is impermanent too and painful 
and not-self. Also there is no materiality occurring in the thirty-three years of the 
last stage that is capable of out-lasting death: therefore that is impermanent too 
and painful and not-self. This is how he attributes the three characteristics. 

50. 2. (b) Having attributed the three characteristics according to 
"disappearance of what grows old in each stage" thus by means of the first 
stage, etc., he again attributes the three characteristics according to 
"disappearance of what grows old in each stage" by means of the following ten 
decades: the tender decade, the sport decade, the beauty decade, the strength 
decade, the understanding decade, the decline decade, the stooping decade, the 
bent decade, the dotage decade, and the prone decade. 

51. Herein, as to these decades: in the first place, the first ten years of a person 
with a hundred years' life are called the tender decade; for then he is a tender 
unsteady child. The next ten years are called the sport decade; for he is very fond 
of sport then. The next ten years are called the beauty decade; for his beauty 
reaches its full extent then. The next ten years are called the strength decade; for 
his strength and power reach their full extent then. The next ten years are called 
the understanding decade; for his understanding is well established by then. Even 
in one naturally weak in understanding some understanding, it seems, arises at 
that time. The next ten years are called the decline decade; for his fondness for 
sport and his beauty, strength, and understanding decline then. The next ten 
years are called the stooping decade; for his figure [620] stoops forward then. The 
next ten years are called the bent decade; for his figure becomes bent like the end 
of a plough then. The next ten years are called the dotage decade; for he is doting 
then and forgets what he does. The next ten years are called the prone decade; for 
a centenarian mostly lies prone. 

52. Herein, in order to attribute the three characteristics according to 
"disappearance of what grows old in each stage" by means of these decades, 
the meditator considers thus: The materiality occurring in the first decade ceases 
there without reaching the second decade: therefore it is impermanent, painful, 
not-self. The materiality occurring in the second decade ... the materiality 



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occurring in the ninth decade ceases there without reaching the tenth decade; 
the materiality occurring in the tenth decade ceases there without reaching the 
next becoming: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. That is how he 
attributes the three characteristics. 

53. 2. (c) Having attributed the three characteristics according to "disappear- 
ance of what grows old in each stage" thus by means of the decades, he again 
attributes the three characteristics according to "disappearance of what grows 
old in each stage" by taking that same hundred years in twenty parts of five 
years each. 

54. How? He considers thus: The materiality occurring in the first five years 
ceases there without reaching the second five years: therefore it is impermanent, 
painful, not-self. The materiality occurring in the second five years ... in the 
third ... in the nineteenth five years ceases there without reaching the twentieth 
five years. There is no materiality occurring in the twentieth five years that is 
capable of outlasting death; therefore that is impermanent too, painful, not-self. 

55. 2. (d) Having attributed the three characteristics according to "disappear- 
ance of what grows old in each stage" thus by means of the twenty parts, he 
again attributes the three characteristics according to "disappearance of what 
grows old in each stage" by taking twenty-five parts of four years each, (e) Next, 
by taking thirty-three parts of three years each, (f) by taking fifty parts of two 
years each, (g) by taking a hundred parts of one year each. 

2. (h) Next he attributes the three characteristics according to "disappearance 
of what grows old in each stage" by means of each of the three seasons, taking 
each year in three parts. 

56. How? The materiality occurring in the four months of the rains (vassana) 
ceases there without reaching the winter (hemanta). The materiality occurring in 
the winter ceases there without reaching the summer (gimha). The materiality 
occurring in the summer ceases there without reaching the rains again: therefore 
it is impermanent, [621] painful, not-self. 

57. 2. (i) Having attributed them thus, he again takes one year in six parts and 
attributes the three characteristics to this materiality according to "disappearance 
of what grows old in each stage" thus: The materiality occurring in the two 
months of the rains (vassana) ceases there without reaching the autumn (sarada). 
The materiality occurring in the autumn ... in the winter (hemanta) ... in the cool 
(sisira) ... in the spring (vasanta) ... the materiality occurring in the summer 
(gimha) ceases there without reaching the rains again: therefore it is impermanent 
too, painful, not-self. 

58. 2. (j) Having attributed them thus, he next attributes the characteristics by 
means of the dark and bright halves of the moon thus: The materiality occurring 
in the dark half of the moon ceases there without reaching the bright half; the 
materiality occurring in the bright half ceases there without reaching the dark 
half: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

59. 2. (k) Next he attributes the three characteristics by means of night and day 
thus: The materiality occurring in the night ceases there without reaching the 



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day; the materiality occurring in the day ceases there without reaching the 
night: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

60. 2. (I) Next he attributes the three characteristics by taking that same day in 
six parts beginning with the morning thus: The materiality occurring in the 
morning ceased there without reaching the noon; the materiality occurring in 
the noon ... without reaching the evening; the materiality occurring in the 
evening ... the first watch; the materiality occurring in the first watch ... the 
middle watch; the materiality occurring in the middle watch ceased there without 
reaching the last watch; the materiality occurring in the last watch ceased there 
without reaching the morning again: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not- 
self. 

61. 2. (m) Having attributed them thus, he again attributes the three 
characteristics to that same materiality by means of moving forward and moving 
backward, looking toward and looking away, bending and stretching, thus: The 
materiality occurring in the moving forward ceases there without reaching the 
moving backward; the materiality occurring in the moving backward ... the 
looking toward; the materiality occurring in the looking toward ... the looking 
away; the materiality occurring in the looking away . . . the bending; the materiality 
occurring in the bending ceases there without reaching the stretching: therefore 
it is impermanent, painful, not-self (cf. M-a I 260). 

62. 2. (n) Next he divides a single footstep into six parts as "lifting up," 
"shifting forward," "shifting sideways," "lowering down," "placing down," 
and "fixing down 21 ." 

63. Herein, lifting up is raising the foot from the ground. Shifting forward is 
shifting it to the front. Shifting sideways is moving the foot to one side or the other 
in seeing a thorn, stump, snake, and so on. Lowering down is letting the foot 
down. [622] Placing down is putting the foot on the ground. Fixing down is pressing 
the foot on the ground while the other foot is being lifted up. 

64. Herein, in the lifting up two elements, the earth element and the water element, 
are subordinate 22 and sluggish while the other two are predominant and strong. 
Likewise in the shifting forward and shifting sideways. In the lowering down two 
elements, the fire element and the air element, are subordinate and sluggish 
while the other two are predominant and strong. Likewise in the placing down 
and fixing down. 

He attributes the three characteristics to materiality according to 
"disappearance of what grows old in each stage" by means of these six parts 
into which he has thus divided it. 

65. How? He considers thus: The elements and the kinds of derived materiality 
occurring in the lifting up all ceased there without reaching the shifting forward: 
therefore they are impermanent, painful, not-self. Likewise those occurring in 



21. Vitiharana — "shifting sideways," sannikkhepana — "placing down," and 
sannirujjhana — "fixing down," are not in PED; cf. M-a 1 260. 

22. Omatta — "subordinate": not in PED. 



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the shifting forward ... the shifting sideways; those occurring in the shifting 
sideways ... the lowering down; those occurring in the lowering down ... the 
placing down; those occurring in the placing down cease there without reaching 
the fixing down; thus formations keep breaking up, like crackling sesame seeds 
put into a hot pan; wherever they arise, there they cease stage by stage, section 
by section, term by term, each without reaching the next part: therefore they are 
impermanent, painful, not-self. 

66. When he sees formations stage by stage with insight thus, his 
comprehension of materiality has become subtle. Here is a simile for its subtlety. 
A border dweller, it seems, who was familiar with torches of wood and grass, 
etc., but had never seen a lamp before, came to a city. Seeing a lamp burning in 
the market, he asked a man, "I say, what is that lovely thing called?" — "What is 
lovely about that? It is called a lamp. Where it goes to when its oil and wick are 
used up no one knows." Another told him, "That is crudely put; for the flame in 
each third portion of the wick as it gradually burns up ceases there without 
reaching the other parts." Other told him, "That is crudely put too; for the flame 
in each inch, in each half-inch, in each thread, in each strand, will cease without 
reaching the other strands; but the flame cannot appear without a strand." 

67. [623] Herein, the meditator's attribution of the three characteristics to 
materiality delimited by the hundred years as "taking up" and "putting down" 
is like the man's knowledge stated thus, "Where it goes when its oil and wick 
are used up no one knows." The meditator's attribution of the three characteristics 
according to "disappearance of what grows old in each stage" to the materiality 
delimited by the third part of the hundred years is like the man's knowledge 
stated thus, "The flame in each third portion of the wick ceases without reaching 
the other parts." The meditator's attribution of the three characteristics to 
materiality delimited by the periods of ten, five, four, three, two years, one year, is 
like the man's knowledge stated thus, "The flame in each inch will cease without 
reaching the others." The meditator's attribution of the three characteristics to 
materiality delimited by the four-month and two-month periods by classing the 
year as threefold and sixfold respectively according to the seasons is like the 
man's knowledge stated thus, "The flame in each half-inch will cease without 
reaching the others." The meditator's attribution of the three characteristics to 
materiality delimited by means of the dark and bright halves of the moon, by 
means of night and day, and by means of morning, etc., taking one night and 
day in six parts, is like the man's knowledge stated thus, "The flame in each 
thread will cease without reaching the others." The meditator's attribution of 
the three characteristics to materiality delimited by means of each part, namely, 
"moving forward," etc., and "lifting up," etc., is like the man's knowledge stated 
thus, "The flame in each strand will cease without reaching the others." 

68. 3-6. Having in various ways thus attributed the three characteristics to 
materiality according to "disappearance of what grows old in each stage," he 
analyzes that same materiality and divides it into four portions as "arising from 
nutriment," etc., and he again attributes the three characteristics to each portion. 



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3. Herein, materiality arising from nutriment becomes evident to him through 
hunger and its satisfaction. For materiality that is originated when one is hungry 
is parched and stale, and it is as ugly and disfigured as a parched stump, as a 
crow perching in a charcoal pit. That originated when hunger is satisfied is 
plump, fresh, tender, smooth and soft to touch. Discerning that, he attributes the 
three characteristics to it thus: The materiality occurring when hunger is satisfied 
ceases there without reaching the time when one is hungry; therefore it is 
impermanent, painful, not-self. 

69. 4. That arising from temperature becomes evident through cool and heat. For 
materiality that is originated when it is hot is parched, stale and ugly. [624] 
Materiality originated by cool temperature is plump, fresh, tender, smooth, and 
soft to touch. Discerning that, he attributes the three characteristics to it thus: 
The materiality occurring when it is hot ceases there without reaching the time 
when it is cool. The materiality occurring when it is cool ceases there without 
reaching the time when it is hot: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

70. 5. The kamma-born becomes evident through the sense doors, that is, the base [of 
consciousness]. For in the case of the eye door there are thirty material instances 
with decads of the eye, the body, and sex; but with the twenty-four instances originated 
by temperature, consciousness, and nutriment, [that is to say, three bare octads,] 
which are their support, there are fifty-four. Likewise in the case of the doors of the 
ear, nose, and tongue. In the case of the body door there are forty-four with the 
decads of body and sex and the instances originated by temperature, and so on. In 
the case of the mind door there are fifty-four, too, with the decads of the heart-basis, 
the body, and sex, and those instances originated by the temperature, and so on. 
Discerning all that materiality he attributes the three characteristics to it thus: The 
materiality occurring in the eye door ceases there without reaching the ear door; the 
materiality occurring in the ear door . . . the nose door; the materiality occurring in 
the nose door . . . the tongue door; the materiality occurring in the tongue door . . . the 
body door; the materiality occurring in the body door ceases there without reaching 
the mind door: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

71. 6. The consciousness-originated becomes evident through [the behaviour 
of] one who is joyful or grieved. For the materiality arisen at the time when he is 
joyful is smooth, tender, fresh and soft to touch. That arisen at the time when he 
is grieved is parched, stale and ugly. Discerning that, he attributes the three 
characteristics to it thus: The materiality occurring at the time when one is joyful 
ceases there without reaching the time when one is grieved; the materiality 
occurring at the time when one is grieved ceases there without reaching the time 
when one is joyful: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

72. When he discerns consciousness-originated materiality and attributes the 
three characteristics to it in this way, this meaning becomes evident to him: 

Life, person, pleasure, pain just these alone 

Join in one conscious moment that flicks by. 

Gods, though they live for four-and-eighty thousand 

Eons, are not the same for two such moments. [625] 



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Ceased aggregates of those dead or alive 

Are all alike, gone never to return; 

And those that break up meanwhile, and in future, 

Have traits no different from those ceased before. 

No [world is] born if [consciousness is] not 
Produced; when that is present, then it lives; 
When consciousness dissolves, the world is dead: 
The highest sense this concept will allow. 

No store of broken states, no future stock; 

Those born balance like seeds on needle points. 

Breakup of states is foredoomed at their birth; 

Those present decay, unmingled with those past. 

They come from nowhere, break up, nowhere go; 

Flash in and out, as lightning in the sky 23 (Nidd I 42). 

73. 7. Having attributed the three characteristics to that arising from nutriment, 
etc., he again attributes the three characteristics to natural materiality. Natural 
materiality is a name for external materiality that is not bound up with faculties 
and arises along with the eon of world expansion, for example, iron, copper, tin, 
lead, gold, silver, pearl, gem, beryl, conch shell, marble, coral, ruby, opal, soil, 
stone, rock, grass, tree, creeper, and so on (see Vibh 83). That becomes evident to 
him by means of an asoka-tree shoot. 

74. For that to begin with is pale pink; then in two or three days it becomes 
dense red, again in two or three days it becomes dull red, next [brown,] the 
colour of a tender [mango] shoot; next, the colour of a growing shoot; next, the 
colour of pale leaves; next, the colour of dark green leaves. After it has become the 
colour of dark green leaves, as it follows out the successive stages of such material 
continuity, it eventually becomes withered foliage, and at the end of the year it 
breaks loose from its stem and falls off. 

75. Discerning that, he attributes the three characteristics to it thus: The 
materiality occurring when it is pale pink ceases there without reaching the 
time when it is dense red; the materiality occurring when it is dense red . . . dull 
red; the materiality occurring when it is dull red . . . the colour of a tender [mango] 
shoot; the materiality occurring when it is the colour of a tender [mango] shoot 
. . . the colour of a growing shoot; the materiality occurring when it is the colour 
of a growing shoot . . . the colour of pale green leaves; the materiality occurring 

23. This verse is quoted twice in the Mahaniddesa (Nidd 1 42 & 118). For Vism-mht's 
comment see Ch. VIII, note 11. Vism-mht and the Sinhalese translation have been 
taken as guides in rendering this rather difficult verse. There is another stanza in the 
Niddesa not quoted here: 

"... this concept will allow. 

States happen as their tendencies dictate; 

And they are modelled by desire; their stream 

Uninterruptedly flows ever on 

Conditioned by the sixfold base of contact. 

No store of broken states ..." 

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when it is the colour of pale green leaves . . . the colour of dark green leaves; the 
materiality occurring when it is the colour of dark green leaves . . . the time when 
it is withered foliage; the materiality occurring when it is withered foliage ceases 
there without [626] reaching the time when it breaks loose from its stem and 
falls off: therefore it is impermanent, painful, not-self. 

He comprehends all natural materiality in this way. 

This is how, firstly, he comprehends formations by attributing the three 
characteristics to them by means of the material septad. 

[The Immaterial Septad] 

76. The headings of what was called above "the immaterial septad" are these: 
(1) by groups, (2) by pairs, (3) by moments, (4) by series, (5) by removal of [false] 
view, (6) by abolition of conceit, (7) by ending of attachment. 

77. 1. Herein, by groups means the states belonging to the contact pentad. 24 How? 
Here, "he comprehends by groups" [means that] a bhikkhu considers thus: The 
states belonging to the contact pentad arising in the comprehending of head hairs 
as "impermanent, painful, not-self"; the states belonging to the contact pentad 
arising in the comprehending of body hairs as ... in the contemplation of brain as 
"impermanent, painful, not-self" — all these states disintegrate section by section, 
term by term, like crackling sesame seeds put into a hot pan, each without reaching 
the next: therefore they are impermanent, painful, not-self. This, firstly, is the method 
according to the Discourse on Purification. 25 

78. According to the Discourse on the Noble Ones' Heritages, however, he is 
said to "comprehend by groups" when by means of a subsequent consciousness 
he comprehends as "impermanent, painful, not-self" that consciousness which 
occurred [comprehending] materiality as "impermanent, painful, not-self" in 
the seven instances of the material septad given above. As this method is more 
suitable we shall therefore confine ourselves to it in explaining the rest. 

79. 2. By pairs: after the bhikkhu has comprehended as "impermanent, painful, 
not-self" the materiality of the "taking up and putting down" (§46f.), he 
comprehends that consciousness [with which he was comprehending the 
materiality] too as "impermanent, painful, not-self" by means of a subsequent 
consciousness. After he has comprehended as "impermanent, painful, not-self" 
the materiality of the "disappearance of what grows old in each stage" and that 
"arising from nutriment," "arising from temperature," "kamma-born," 
"consciousness-originated" and "natural," he comprehends that consciousness 
too as "impermanent, painful, not-self" by means of a subsequent consciousness. 
In this way he is said to comprehend by pairs. 

24. The "contact pentad" (phassa-pancamaka) is a term used for the first five things 
listed in Dhs §1, that is, contact, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness, which 
are invariably present whenever there is consciousness. 

25. The "Discourse on Purification" (visuddhi-katha) and the "Discourse on the Noble 
Ones' Heritages" (ariyavamsa-katha) are presumably names of chapters in the old 
Sinhalese commentaries no longer extant. 

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80. 3. By moments: after the bhikkhu has comprehended as "impermanent, pain- 
ful, not-self" the materiality of the "taking up and putting down," he comprehends 
that first consciousness [with which he was comprehending the materiality] as 
"impermanent, painful, not-self" by means of a second consciousness, and that 
second consciousness by means of a third, and the third by means of a fourth, and 
the fourth by means of a fifth, and that too he comprehends as "impermanent, 
painful, not-self." After he has comprehended as "impermanent, painful, not-self" 
the materiality of "disappearance of what grows old in each stage" and that "aris- 
ing from nutriment," "arising from temperature," [627] "kamma-born," "conscious- 
ness-originated" and "natural," he comprehends that first consciousness as "im- 
permanent, painful, not-self" by means of a second consciousness, and that second 
consciousness by means of a third, and the third by means of a fourth, and the 
fourth by means of a fifth, and that too he comprehends as "impermanent, painful, 
not-self." Comprehending thus four [consciousnesses] from each discerning of 
materiality he is said to comprehend by moments. 

81. 4. By series: after he has comprehended as "impermanent, painful, not- 
self" the materiality of the "taking up and putting down," he comprehends that 
first consciousness as "impermanent, painful, not-self" by means of a second 
consciousness, and the second by means of a third, and the third by means of a 
fourth . . . and the tenth by means of an eleventh, and that too he comprehends as 
"impermanent, painful, not-self." After he has comprehended as "impermanent, 
painful, not-self" the materiality of the "disappearance of what grows old in 
each stage" and that "arising from nutriment," "arising from temperature," 
"kamma-born," "consciousness-originated" and "natural," he comprehends 
that consciousness as "impermanent, painful, not-self" by means of a second 
consciousness, and the second by means of a third, . . . and the tenth by means of 
an eleventh, and that too he comprehends as "impermanent, painful, not-self." 
It would be possible to go on comprehending it in this way with serial insight 
even for a whole day. But both the material meditation subject and the immaterial 
meditation subject become familiar when the comprehending is taken as far as 
the tenth consciousness. That is why it is said 26 that it can be stopped at the 
tenth. It is when he comprehends in this way that he is said to comprehend by 
series. 

82. 5. By removal of [false] view, 6. by abolition of conceit, 7. by ending of attachment: 
there is no individual method for any of these three. But when he has discerned 
this materiality as described above and this immateriality as described here, 
then he sees that there is no living being over and above the material and the 
immaterial. As soon as he no longer sees a being, the perception of a being is 
removed. When he discerns formations with consciousness from which 
perception of a being has been removed, then [false] view does not arise in him. 
When [false] view does not arise in him, then [false] view is said to be removed. 

When he discerns formations with consciousness from which [false] view 
has been removed, then conceit does not arise in him. When conceit does not 

26. "Said in the Discourse on the Noble Ones' Heritages" (Vism-mht 804). 



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arise, conceit is said to be abolished. When he discerns formations with 
consciousness from which conceit has been abolished, then craving does not 
arise in him. When craving does not arise in him, attachment is said to be ended. 
This firstly is what is said in the Discourse on Purification. 

83. But in the Discourse on the Noble Ones' Heritages, after setting forth the 
headings thus: "As removal of [false] view, as abolition of conceit, as ending of 
attachment," the following method is set forth: "There is no removal of [false] 
view in one who takes it thus, T see with insight, my insight'; [628] there is 
removal of [false] view in one who takes it thus, 'Only formations see formations 
with insight, comprehend, define, discern, and delimit them.' There is no abolition 
of conceit in one who takes it thus, 'I see thoroughly with insight, I see well with 
insight'; there is abolition of conceit in one who takes it thus, 'Only formations see 
formations with insight, comprehend, define, discern, and delimit them.' There is 
no ending of attachment in one who is pleased with insight thus, T am able to see 
with insight'; there is ending of attachment in one who takes it thus, 'Only formations 
see formations with insight, comprehend, define, discern, and delimit them.' 

84. "There is removal of [false] view in one who sees thus: 'If formations were 
self, it would be right to take them as self; but being not-self they are taken as self. 
Therefore they are not-self in the sense of no power being exercisable over them; 
they are impermanent in the sense of non-existence after having come to be; they 
are painful in the sense of oppression by rise and fall.' 

85. "There is abolition of conceit in one who sees thus: 'If formations were 
permanent, it would be right to take them as permanent; but being impermanent 
they are taken as permanent. Therefore they are impermanent in the sense of 
non-existence after having come to be; they are painful in the sense of 
oppression by rise and fall; they are not-self in the sense of no power being 
exercisable over them.' 

86. "There is ending of attachment in one who sees thus: 'If formations were 
pleasant, it would be right to take them as pleasant; but being painful they are 
taken as pleasant. Therefore they are painful in the sense of oppression by rise 
and fall; they are impermanent in the sense of non-existence after having come 
to be; they are not-self in the sense of no power being exercisable over them.' 

"Thus there comes to be the removal of [false] view in one who sees formations 
as not-self; there comes to be the abolishing of conceit in one who sees them as 
impermanent; there comes to be the ending of attachment in one who sees them 
as painful. So this insight is valid in each instance." 

88. This is how he comprehends formations by attributing the three 
characteristics to them by means of the immaterial septad. 

At this stage both the material meditation subject and the immaterial meditation 
subject have become familiar to him. 

[The Eighteen Principal Insights] 

89. Having thus become familiar with the material and immaterial meditation 
subjects, and so having penetrated here already a part of those eighteen principal 



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insights 27 which are later on to be attained in all their aspects by means of full- 
understanding as abandoning starting with contemplation of dissolution, he 
consequently abandons things opposed [to what he has already penetrated]. 

90. Eighteen principal insights is a term for understanding that consists in the 
kinds of insight beginning with contemplation of impermanence. Now, as 
regards these: (1) One who develops the contemplation of impermanence 
abandons the perception of permanence, (2) one who develops the contemplation 
of pain [629] abandons the perception of pleasure, (3) one who develops the 
contemplation of not-self abandons the perception of self, (4) one who develops 
the contemplation of dispassion abandons delighting, (5) one who develops the 
contemplation of fading away abandons greed, (6) one who develops the 
contemplation of cessation abandons origination, (7) one who develops the 
contemplation of relinquishment abandons grasping, (8) one who develops the 
contemplation of destruction abandons the perception of compactness, (9) one 
who develops the contemplation of fall [of formations] abandons accumulation 
[of kamma], (10) one who develops the contemplation of change abandons the 
perception of lastingness, (11) one who develops the contemplation of the signless 
abandons the sign, (12) one who develops the contemplation of the desireless 
abandons desire, (13) one who develops the contemplation of voidness abandons 
misinterpreting (insistence), (14) one who develops the insight into states that is 
higher understanding abandons misinterpreting (insistence) due to grasping 
at a core, (15) one who develops correct knowledge and vision abandons 
misinterpreting (insistence) due to confusion, (16) one who develops the 
contemplation of danger abandons misinterpreting (insistence) due to reliance, 

(17) one who develops the contemplation of reflection abandons non-reflection, 

(18) one who develops the contemplation of turning away abandons 
misinterpreting (insistence) due to bondage (see Patis I 32f.). 28 

27. The first seven of the eighteen principal insights are known as the "seven 
contemplations"; see 20.4. Further descriptions are given in XXII. 113f. 

28. For Vism-mht's comments on the first seven see note 3 to this chapter. 
'Contemplation of destruction' is the contemplation of the momentary dissolution of 

formations. 'Perception of compactness' is the assumption of unity in a continuity or 
mass or function or object. 'Contemplation of destruction' is contemplation of non- 
existence after having been, they say. Contemplation of destruction is the 
understanding by means of which he resolves the compact into its elements and sees 
that it is impermanent in the sense of destruction. Its completion starts with 
contemplation of dissolution, and so there is abandoning of perception of compactness 
then, but before that there is not, because it has not been completed. (9) The seeing of 
the dissolution of formations both by actual experience and by inference and the 
directing of attention to their cessation, in other words, their dissolution, is contemplation 
of fall; through it accumulation [of kamma] is abandoned; his consciousness does not 
incline with craving to the occurrence of that [aggregate-process of existence] for the 
purpose of which one accumulates [kamma]. (10) Seeing change in the two ways 
through aging and through death in what is born, or seeing another essence subsequent 
to the delimitation of such and such [an essence supervening] in what was discerned 
by means of the material septad, and so on, is 'contemplation of change'; by its means he 

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91. Now the meditator has seen formations by means of the three characteristics 
beginning with impermanence, and so he has therefore already penetrated 
among these eighteen insights the contemplations of impermanence, pain, and 
not-self. And then (1) the contemplation of impermanence and (11) the 
contemplation of the signless are one in meaning and different only in the letter, 
and so are (2) the contemplation of pain and (12) the contemplation of the 
desireless, and so are (3) the contemplation of not-self and (13) the contemplation 
of voidness (see Patis II 63). Consequently these have been penetrated by him as 
well. But (14) insight into states that is higher understanding is all kinds of 
insight, and (15) correct knowledge and vision is included in purification by 
overcoming doubt (Ch. XIX). Consequently, these two have been penetrated by 
him as well. As to the remaining kinds of insight, some have been penetrated 
and some not. We shall deal with them below. 29 



abandons the 'perception oflastingness,' the assumption of stability. (11)-(13) The three 
beginning with 'contemplation of the signless' are the same as the three beginning with 
contemplation of impermanence. (11) 'The sign' is the mere appearance of formations 
as if graspable entities, which is due to the individualization of particular functions 
and which, owing to perception of unity in continuity and in mass, is assumed to be 
temporarily enduring or permanent. (12) 'Desire' is longing for pleasure, or it is desire 
consisting in greed, and so on; it means inclinationto formations owing to craving. 
(13) 'Misinterpreting' is misinterpreting as self. It is owing to their opposing the 'sign,' 
etc., that the contemplations of impermanence, etc., are called by the names of 'signless,' 
etc.; so they should be regarded as opposed to the apprehension of a sign, etc., just as 
they are to the perception of permanence, and so on. (14) Insight that occurs by 
knowing an object consisting of a visible datum, etc., and by seeing the dissolution of 
the consciousness that had that visible datum, etc., as its object, and by apprehending 
voidness through the dissolution thus, 'Only formations dissolve, there is nothing 
beyond the death of formations/ is the higher understanding, and that is insight into 
states, thus it is 'insight into states that is higher understanding' ; by its means he abandons 
the view accompanied by craving that is the misinterpretation occurring as grasping 
at a permanent core, and so on. (15) 'Correct knowledge and vision' is a term for the 
seeing of mentality-materiality with its conditions; by its means he abandons the 
'misinterpreting due to confusion' that begins thus, 'Was I in the past?' (M I 8) and that 
begins thus, 'Thus the world is created by an Overlord' (?). (16) The knowledge 
consisting in the seeing of danger in all kinds of becomings, etc., which has arisen 
owing to the appearance of terror is 'contemplation of danger'; by its means he abandons 
the craving occurring as 'misinterpreting due to reliance' because he does not see any 
reliance or support. (17) The knowledge of reflection that is the means to deliverance 
from formations is 'contemplation of reflection' ; by its means he abandons the ignorance 
that is 'non-reflection' on impermanence, etc., and is opposed to reflection on them. 
(18) Equanimity about formations and conformity knowledge are 'contemplation of 
turning away'; for owing to it the mind retreats and recoils from all formations, like a 
water drop on a lotus leaf, so by its means he abandons the 'misinterpretation due to 
bondage,' which is the occurrence of the defilements consisting of the fetters of sense 
desire, and so on. (Vism-mh 806f.) 

29. See XXII. 113f. "When (1) the contemplation of impermanence is established, 
then the contemplations of (6) cessation, (8) destruction, (9) fall, and (10) change are 

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92. For it was with reference only to what has already been penetrated that 
it was said above: "having thus become familiar with the material and 
immaterial meditation subjects, and so having penetrated here already a part 
of those eighteen principal insights, which are later on to be attained in all 
their aspects by means of full understanding as abandoning starting with 
contemplation of dissolution, he consequently abandons things opposed [to 
what he has already penetrated]" (§89). 

[Knowledge of Rise and Fall — I] 

93. Having purified his knowledge in this way by abandoning the perceptions 
of permanence, etc., which oppose the contemplations of impermanence, etc., he 
passes on from comprehension knowledge and begins the task of attaining that 
of contemplation of rise and fall, which is expressed thus: "Understanding 
[630] of contemplating present states' change is knowledge of contemplation of 
rise and fall" (Patis II), and which comes next after comprehension knowledge. 

94. When he does so, he does it first in brief. Here is the text: "How is it that 
understanding of contemplating present states' change is knowledge of 
contemplation of rise and fall? Present materiality is born [materiality]; the 
characteristic of its generation is rise, the characteristic of its change is fall, the 
contemplation is knowledge. Present feeling ... perception ... formations ... 
consciousness ... eye ... (etc.) ... Present becoming is born [becoming]; the 
characteristic of its generation is rise, the characteristic of its change is fall, the 
contemplation is knowledge" (Patis I 54). 30 

95. In accordance with the method of this text he sees the characteristic of 
generation, the birth, the arising, the aspect of renewal, of born materiality as "rise," 
and he sees its characteristic of change, its destruction, its dissolution, as "fall." 



partly established. When (2) the contemplation of pain is established, then the 
contemplations of (4) dispassion and (16) danger are partly established. And when (3) 
the contemplation of not-self is established, then the rest are partly established" 
(Vism-mht 807). 

30. "The interpreting of rise and fall must be done on a state that is present according 
to continuity or present according to instant but not on one that is past or future, 
which is why 'of present states' is said" (Vism-mht 808). "Present materiality is called 
born materiality; it is included in the trio of instants [of arising, presence and 
dissolution], is what is meant. But that is hard to discern at the start, so the interpreting 
by insight should be done by means of presence according to continuity" (Vism-mht 
808). For the elision represented by "... (etc.) ..." see XX. 9. In this case, however, the 
last two members of the dependent origination are left out. "Although states 
possessed of aging-and-death are mentioned under the heading of birth and of aging- 
and-death in comprehension by groups, etc., nevertheless here in the description of 
knowledge of rise and fall, if it were said 'present birth is born; the characteristic of its 
generation is rise, the characteristic of its change is fall,' etc., it would be tantamount to 
an affirmation and approval of the proposition that birth and aging-and-death were 
possessed of birth and of aging-and-death. So the text ends with 'becoming' in order 
to avoid that" (Vism-mht I 



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96. He understands thus: "There is no heap or store of unarisen mentality- 
materiality [existing] prior to its arising. When it arises, it does not come from 
any heap or store; and when it ceases, it does not go in any direction. There is 
nowhere any depository in the way of a heap or store or hoard of what has 
ceased. But just as there is no store, prior to its arising, of the sound that arises 
when a lute is played, nor does it come from any store when it arises, nor does it 
go in any direction when it ceases, nor does it persist as a store when it has 
ceased (cf. S IV 197), but on the contrary, not having been, it is brought into being 
owing to the lute, the lute's neck, and the man's appropriate effort, and having 
been, it vanishes — so too all material and immaterial states, not having been, are 
brought into being, and having been, they vanish." 

97. Having given attention to rise and fall in brief thus, he again [does so in 
detail according to condition and instant by seeing those characteristics] as 
given in the exposition of that same knowledge of rise and fall thus: "(1) He sees 
the rise of the materiality aggregate in the sense of conditioned arising thus: 
With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of materiality; (2) ... with the 
arising of craving ... (3) ... with the arising of kamma ... (4) he sees the rise of the 
materiality aggregate in the sense of conditioned arising thus: With the arising 
of nutriment there is the arising of materiality; (5) one who sees the characteristic 
of generation sees the rise of the materiality aggregate. One who sees the rise of 
the materiality aggregate sees these five characteristics. 

"(1) He sees the fall of the materiality aggregate in the sense of conditioned 
cessation thus: With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of materiality; 
(2) ... with the cessation of craving ... (3) ... with the cessation of kamma ... (4) he 
sees the fall of the materiality aggregate in the sense of conditioned cessation 
thus: With the cessation of nutriment there is the cessation of materiality; [631] 
(5) one who sees the characteristic of change sees the fall of the materiality 
aggregate. One who sees the fall of the materiality aggregate sees these five 
characteristics" (Patis I 55f.). 

Likewise: "(1) He sees the rise of the feeling aggregate in the sense of 
conditioned arising thus: With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of 
feeling; (2) ... with the arising of craving ... (3) ... with the arising of kamma . . . 
(4) he sees the rise of the feeling aggregate in the sense of conditioned arising 
thus: With the arising of contact there is the arising of feeling; (5) one who sees 
the characteristic of generation sees the rise of the feeling aggregate. One who 
sees the rise of the feeling aggregate sees those five characteristics. 

"(1) He sees the fall of the feeling aggregate in the sense of conditioned 
cessation thus: With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of feeling; 
(2) ... with the cessation of craving ... (3) ... with the cessation of kamma ... (4) he 
sees the fall of the feeling aggregate in the sense of conditioned cessation thus: 
With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of feeling; (5) one who sees 
the characteristic of change sees the fall of the feeling aggregate. One who sees 
the fall of the feeling aggregate sees these five characteristics" (Patis I 55f.). 

And as in the case of the feeling aggregate, [that is, substituting "contact" for 
the "nutriment" in the case of materiality] so for the perception and formations 

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aggregates. So also for the consciousness aggregate with this difference, that for 
the phrases containing "contact" there are substituted "with the arising of 
mentality-materiality" and "with the cessation of mentality-materiality" 

So there are fifty characteristics stated with the ten in the case of each aggregate 
by seeing rise and fall, by means of which he gives attention in detail according 
to condition and according to instant (moment) in this way: "The rise of materiality 
is thus; its fall is thus; so it rises, so it falls." 

98. As he does so his knowledge becomes clearer thus: "So, it seems, these 
states, not having been, are brought into being; having been, they vanish." 

When he thus sees rise and fall in the two ways, according to condition and 
according to instant, the several truths, aspects of the dependent origination, 
methods, and characteristics become evident to him. 

99. When he sees the arising of aggregates with the arising of ignorance and 
the cessation of aggregates with the cessation of ignorance, this is his seeing of 
rise and fall according to condition. When he sees the rise and fall of aggregates 
by seeing the characteristic of generation and the characteristic of change, this 
is his seeing of rise and fall according to instant. For it is only at the instant of 
arising that there is the characteristic of generation, and only at the instant of 
dissolution that there is the characteristic of change. 

100. So when he sees rise and fall in the two ways, according to condition and 
according to instant thus, the truth of origination becomes evident to him through 
seeing rise according to condition owing to his discovery of the progenitor. [632] 
The truth of suffering becomes evident to him through seeing rise according to 
instant owing to his discovery of the suffering due to birth. The truth of cessation 
becomes evident to him through seeing fall according to condition owing to his 
discovery of the non-arising of things produced by conditions when their conditions 
do not arise. The truth of suffering becomes evident to him too through seeing fall 
according to instant owing to his discovery of the suffering due to death. And his 
seeing of rise and fall becomes evident to him as the truth of the path thus: "This is 
the mundane path" owing to abolition of confusion about it. 

101. The dependent origination in forward order becomes evident to him through 
seeing rise according to condition owing to his discovery that "When this exists, 
that comes to be" (M I 262). The dependent origination in reverse order becomes 
evident to him through seeing fall according to condition owing to his discovery 
that "When this does not exist, that does not come to be" (M I 264). Dependently- 
arisen states become evident to him through seeing rise and fall according to 
instant owing to his discovery of the characteristic of the formed; for the things 
possessed of rise and fall are formed and conditionally arisen. 

102. The method of identity becomes evident to him through seeing rise according 
to condition owing to his discovery of unbroken continuity in the connection of 
cause with fruit. Then he more thoroughly abandons the annihilation view. The 
method of diversity becomes evident to him through seeing rise according to instant 
owing to his discovery that each [state] is new [as it arises]. Then he more thoroughly 
abandons the eternity view. The method of uninterestedness becomes evident to 



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him through seeing rise and fall according to condition owing to his discovery of 
the inability of states to have mastery exercised over them. Then he more thoroughly 
abandons the self view. The method of ineluctable regularity becomes evident to 
him through seeing rise according to condition owing to his discovery of the arising 
of the fruit when the suitable conditions are there. Then he more thoroughly abandons 
the moral-inefficacy-of-action view. 

103. The characteristic of not-self becomes evident to him through seeing rise 
according to condition owing to his discovery that states have no curiosity and 
that their existence depends upon conditions. The characteristic of impermanence 
becomes evident to him through seeing rise and fall according to instant owing 
to his discovery of non-existence after having been and owing to his discovery 
that they are secluded from past and future. The characteristic of pain becomes 
evident to him [through that] too owing to his discovery of oppression by rise 
and fall. And the characteristic of individual essence becomes evident to him 
[through that] too owing to his discovery of delimitation [of states] by rise and 
fall. 31 And in the characteristic of individual essence the temporariness of the 
characteristic of what is formed becomes evident to him [through that] too owing 
to his discovery of the non-existence of fall at the instant of rise and the non- 
existence of rise at the instant of fall. 32 

104. When the several truths, aspects of the dependent origination, methods, and 
characteristics have become evident to him thus, then formations appear to him as 
perpetually renewed: "So these states, it seems, being previously unarisen, critic, 
and being arisen, they cease." [633] And they are not only perpetually renewed, but 
they are also short-lived like dew-drops at sunrise (A IV 137), like a bubble on water 
(S III 14 I), like a line drawn on water (A IV 137), like a mustard seed on an awl's point 
(Nidd I 42), like a lightning flash (Nidd I 43). And they appear without core, like a 
conjuring trick (S III 141), like a mirage (Dhp 46), like a dream (Sn 807), like the circle 
of a whirling firebrand (source untraced), like a goblin city (source untraced), like 
froth (Dhp 46), like a plantain trunk (S III 142), and so on. 

At this point he has attained tender insight-knowledge called contemplation of 
rise and fall, which has become established by penetrating the fifty characteristics 
in this manner: "Only what is subject to fall arises; and to be arisen necessitates 
fall." With the attainment of this he is known as a "beginner of insight." 

[The Ten Imperfections of Insight] 

105. Now, when he is a beginner of insight with this tender insight, ten 
imperfections of insight arise in him. For imperfections of insight do not arise 
either in a noble disciple who has reached penetration [of the truths] or in persons 

31. "With the seeing of rise and fall not only the characteristics of impermanence 
and pain become evident, but also the characteristics, in other words, the individual 
essences, of earth, contact, etc., termed hardness, touching, etc., respectively, become 
clearly evident and discrete (avacchinna) in their individual essences" (Vism-mht 814). 

32. "The inclusion of only rise and fall here is because this kind of knowledge occurs 
as seeing only rise and fall, not because of non-existence of the instant of presence" 
(Vism-mht 814). See Introduction, note 18. 

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erring in virtue, neglectful of their meditation subject and idlers. They arise only 
in a clansman who keeps to the right course, devotes himself continuously [to 
his meditation subject] and is a beginner of insight. But what are these ten 
imperfections? They are: (1) illumination, (2) knowledge, (3) rapturous happiness, 
(4) tranquillity, (5) bliss (pleasure), (6) resolution, (7) exertion, (8) assurance, (9) 
equanimity, and (10) attachment. 

106. For this is said: "How does the mind come to be seized by agitation about 
higher states? When a man is bringing [formations] to mind as impermanent, 
illumination arises in him. He adverts to the illumination thus, 'Illumination is 
a [Noble One's] state.' 33 The distraction due to that is agitation. When his mind 
is seized by that agitation, he does not understand correctly [their] appearance 
as impermanent, he does not understand correctly [their] appearance as painful, 
he does not understand correctly [their] appearance as not-self. 

"Likewise, when he is bringing [formations] to mind as impermanent, 
knowledge arises in him ... happiness ... tranquillity ... bliss ... resolution ... 
exertion . . . establishment . . . equanimity . . . attachment arises in him. He adverts 
to the attachment thus, 'Attachment is a [Noble One's] state.' The distraction due 
to that is agitation. When his mind is seized by that agitation, he does not 
correctly understand [their] appearance as impermanent, [634] he does not 
correctly understand [their] appearance as painful, he does not correctly 
understand [their] appearance as not-self" (Patis II 100). 

107. 1. Herein, illumination is illumination due to insight. 34 When it arises, the 
meditator thinks, "Such illumination never arose in me before. I have surely reached 
the path, reached fruition;" thus he takes what is not the path to be the path and 
what is not fruition to be fruition. When he takes what is not the path to be the path 



33. "He adverts to it as Nibbana or as the path or as fruition" (Vism-mht 816). "The 
agitation, the distraction, that occurs about whether or not the illumination, etc., are 
noble states is 'agitation about higher states'" (Vism-mht 815). In this connection Vism- 
mht quotes the following text: "Friends, any bhikkhu or bhikkhunl who declares the 
attainment of Arahantship in my presence has always arrived there by four paths or 
by one of them. What four? Here, friends, a bhikkhu develops insight preceded by 
serenity. While he is developing insight preceded by serenity the path is born in him. 
He cultivates, develops, repeats that path. As he does so his fetters are abandoned and 
his inherent tendencies are brought to an end. Again, friends, a bhikkhu develops 
serenity preceded by insight . . . He develops serenity and insight yoked equally. Again, 
friends, a bhikkhu's mind is seized by agitation about highest states. When that 
consciousness settles down internally, becomes steady, unified and concentrated, 
then the path is born in him . . . his inherent tendencies are brought to an end" (A II 
157). 

34. '"Illumination due to insight' is the luminous materiality originated by insight 
consciousness, and that originated by temperature belonging to his own continuity. Of 
these, that originated by insight consciousness is bright and is found only in the 
meditator's body. The other kind is independent of his body and spreads all round 
over what is capable of being experienced by knowledge. It becomes manifest to him 
too, and he sees anything material in the place touched by it" (Vism-mht 816). 

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and what is not fruition to be fruition, the course of his insight is interrupted. He 
drops his own basic meditation subject and sits just enjoying the illumination. 

108. But this illumination arises in one bhikkhu illuminating only as much as 
the seat he is sitting on; in another, the interior of his room; in another, the 
exterior of his room; in another the whole monastery ... a quarter league ... a 
half league ... a league ... two leagues ... three leagues; in another bhikkhu it 
arises making a single light from the earth's surface up to the Brahma-world. 
But in the Blessed One it arose illuminating the ten-thousandfold world-element. 

109. This story illustrates how it varies. Two elders, it seems, were sitting inside 
a room with a double wall at Cittalapabbata. It was the Uposatha of the dark of 
the moon that day. All directions were covered by a blanket of cloud, and at night 
the four-factored gloom 35 prevailed. Then one elder said, "Venerable sir, the 
flowers of the five colours on the lion table on the shrine terrace are visible to me 
now." The other said, "What you say is nothing wonderful, friend. Actually the 
fishes and turtles in the ocean a league away are visible to me now." 

110. This imperfection of insight usually arises in one who has acquired serenity 
and insight. Because the defilements suppressed by the attainments do not manifest 
themselves, he thinks, "I am an Arahant," like the Elder Maha-Naga who lived at 
Uccavalika, like the Elder Maha-Datta who lived at Hahkana, like the Elder Cula- 
Sumana who lived in the Nikapenna meditation house at Cittalapabbata. 

111. Here is one story as an illustration. The Elder Dhammadinna, it seems, who 
lived at Talahgara — one of the great ones with cankers destroyed who possessed 
the categories of discrimination — was the instructor of a large community of 
bhikkhus. One day, as he was sitting in his own daytime quarters, he wondered, 
"Has our teacher, the Elder Maha-Naga who lives at Uccavalika, [635] brought his 
work of asceticism to its conclusion, or not?" He saw that he was still an ordinary 
man, and he knew that if he did not go to him, he would die an ordinary man. He 
rose up into the air with supernormal power and alighted near the elder, who was 
sitting in his daytime quarters. He paid homage to him, doing his duty, and sat 
down at one side. To the question, "Why have you come unexpectedly, friend 
Dhammadinna?" he replied, "I have come to ask a question, venerable sir." He was 
told, "Ask, friend. If we know, we shall say." He asked a thousand questions. 

112. The elder replied without hesitation to each question. To the remark, "Your 
knowledge is very keen, venerable sir; when was this state attained by you?" he 
replied, "Sixty years ago, friend." "Do you practice concentration, venerable sir?" — 
"That is not difficult, friend." — "Then make an elephant, venerable sir." The elder 
made an elephant all white. "Now, venerable sir, make that elephant come straight 
at you with his ears outstretched, his tail extended, putting his trunk in his mouth 
and making a horrible trumpeting." The elder did so. Seeing the frightful aspect of 
the rapidly approaching elephant, he sprang up and made to run away. Then the 
elder with cankers destroyed put out his hand, and catching him by the hem of his 
robe, he said, "Venerable sir, is there any timidity in one whose cankers are destroyed?" 

35. Caturanga-samannagatam tamam — "four-factored gloom" is mentioned also at S-a 
1 170, M-a V 16 (c. andhakara), and Ud-a 66, 304. 

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113. Then he recognized that he was still an ordinary man. He knelt at 
Dhammadinna's feet and said, "Help me, friend Dhammadinna." — "Venerable 
sir, I will help you; that is why I came. Do not worry." Then he expounded a 
meditation subject to him. The elder took the meditation subject and went up on 
to the walk, and with the third footstep he reached Arahantship The elder was 
a bhikkhu of hating temperament, it seems. Such bhikkhus waver on account of 
illumination. 

114. 2. Knowledge is knowledge due to insight. As he is estimating and judging 
material and immaterial states perhaps knowledge that is unerring, keen, incisive, 
and very sharp arises in him, like a lightning flash. 

115. 3. Rapturous happiness is happiness due to insight. Perhaps at that time 
the five kinds of happiness, namely, minor happiness, momentary happiness, 
showering happiness, uplifting happiness, and pervading (rapturous) 
happiness arise in him filling his whole body. 

116. 4. Tranquillity is tranquillity due to insight. As he is sitting at that time in 
his night or day quarters perhaps [636] there is no fatigue or heaviness or rigidity 
or unwieldiness or sickness or crookedness in his body and his mind, but rather 
his body and mind are tranquillized, light, malleable, wieldy quite sharp, and 
straight. With his body and mind aided by this tranquillity, etc., he experiences 
at that time the superhuman delight with reference to which it is said: 

A bhikkhu when his mind is quiet 

Retires to an empty place, 

And his right insight in the Dhamma 

Gives him superhuman delight. 

It is because he comprehends 

The rise and fall of aggregates 

That he finds happiness and joy 

And knows it to be deathless (Dhp 373f.). 

This is how tranquillity, associated with lightness, etc., arises in him, bringing 
about this superhuman delight. 

117. 5. Bliss (pleasure) is bliss due to insight. At that time perhaps there arises 
in him exceedingly refined bliss (pleasure) flooding his whole body. 

118. 6. Resolution is faith. For strong faith arises in him in association with 
insight in the form of extreme confidence of consciousness and its concomitants. 

119. 7. Exertion is energy. For well-exerted energy, neither too lax nor too strained, 
arises in him in association with insight. 

120. 8. Assurance (lit. establishment) is mindfulness. For well-established (well- 
assured), well-founded mindfulness, which is dug in and as immovable as the 
king of mountains, arises in him in association with insight. Whatever subject 
he adverts to, consciously reacts to, gives attention to, reviews, appears to him 
(he is assured of) owing to mindfulness, which descends into it, 36 enters into it, 
just as the other world does to one who has the divine eye. 

36. Okkhandati—"to descend into": not in PED; see XXII.34 and M-a I 238. 

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121. 9. Equanimity is both equanimity about insight and equanimity in adverting. 37 
For equanimity about insight, which is neutrality about formations, arises strongly 
in him at that time. It is also equanimity in adverting in the mind door. For whatever 
the subject he adverts to, his adverting works as incisively and sharply as a lightning 
flash, like a red-hot spear plunged into a basket of leaves. 

122. 10. Attachment is attachment due to insight. For when his insight is adorned 
with illumination, etc., attachment arises in him, which is subtle and peaceful in 
aspect, and it relies on (clings to) that insight; and he is not able to discern that 
attachment as a defilement. [637] 

123. And as in the case of illumination, so too in the case of the other imperfections 
that may arise, the meditator thinks thus: "Such knowledge ... such rapturous 
happiness ... tranquillity ... bliss ... resolution ... exertion ... assurance ... 
equanimity . . . attachment never arose in me before. I have surely reached the path, 
reached fruition." Thus he takes what is not the path to be the path and what is not 
fruition to be fruition. When he takes what is not the path to be the path and what is 
not fruition to be fruition, the course of his insight is interrupted. He drops his basic 
meditation subject and sits just enjoying the attachment. 

124. And here illumination, etc., are called imperfections because they are the 
basis for imperfection, not because they are [kammically] unprofitable. But 
attachment is both an imperfection and the basis for imperfection. 

As basis only they amount to ten; but with the different ways of taking them 
they come to thirty. 

125. How? When a man takes it thus, "illumination has arisen in me," his way 
of taking is due to [false] view. When he takes it thus, "How agreeable this 
illumination that has arisen is," his way of taking is due to pride (conceit). When 
he relishes the illumination, his way of taking is due to craving. So there are 
three ways of taking it in the case of illumination, that is to say, due to [false] 
view, to pride (conceit), and to craving. Likewise with the rest. So they come to 
thirty with the three ways of taking them. Owing to their influence an unskilful, 
unwary meditator wavers and gets distracted about illumination, etc., and he 
sees each one of them-illumination and the rest-as "This is mine, this is I, this is 
my self" (M I 135). Hence the Ancients said: 

He wavers about illumination, 

And knowledge, rapturous happiness, 

About the tranquilness, the bliss, 

Whereby his mind becomes confused; 

He wavers about resolution, 

Exertion, and assurance, too, 

The adverting-equanimity 

And equanimity and attachment (Patis II 102). 

37. '"Equanimity about insight' is neutrality in the investigation of formations owing to the 
objective field having been already investigated. But in meaning, when it occurs thus, it is 
only neutrality. The volition associated with mind-door adverting is called 'equanimity 
(upekkha) in adverting' because it occurs in adverting as onlooking (ajjhupekkhana)" (Vism- 
mht 819). 

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126. But when illumination, etc., arise, a skilful, wary meditator who is endowed 
with discretion either defines and examines it with understanding thus: "This 
illumination has arisen. 38 But it is impermanent, formed, conditionally arisen, 
subject to destruction, subject to fall, subject to fading away, subject to cessation." 
Or he thinks: "If illumination were self, it would be right to take it as self; but 
being not-self, it is taken as self. Therefore it is not-self in the sense of no power 
being exercisable over it; it is impermanent in the sense of non-existence after 
having come to be; it is painful in the sense of oppression by rise and fall," all of 
which should be treated in detail according to the method given under the 
immaterial septad (§83). And as in the case of illumination, so too with the rest. 

127. Having investigated it thus, he sees the illumination as "This is not mine, this 
is not I, this is not my self." [638] He sees knowledge . . . (etc.) . . . attachment as "This 
is not mine, this is not I, this is not my self." Seeing thus, he does not waver or vacillate 
about the illumination, and so on. Hence the Ancients said: 

So when a man of understanding has 
Examined these ten things and is now skilled 
In agitation about higher states 
He no more falls a prey to wavering (Patis II 102). 

128. So he unravels this thirtyfold skein of imperfections without falling a 
prey to wavering. He defines what is the path and what is not the path thus: 
"The states consisting in illumination, etc., are not the path; but it is insight 
knowledge that is free from imperfections and keeps to its course that is the 
path." 

129. The knowledge that is established in him by his coming to know the path 
and the not-path thus, "This is the path, this is not the path," should he 
understood as the purification by knowledge and vision of what is the path and 
what is not the path. 

130. So at this point the defining of three truths has been effected by him. 
How? The defining of the truth of suffering has been effected with the defining 
of mentality-materiality in the purification of view. The defining of the truth of 
origination has been effected with the discerning of conditions in the purification 
by overcoming doubt. The defining of the truth of the path has been effected with 
the emphasizing of the right path in this purification by knowledge and vision 
of what is the path and what is not the path. So the defining of three truths has 
been effected firstly by means of mundane knowledge only. 

The twentieth chapter called "The Description of 
Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is the Path 
and What is Not the Path" in the Treatise on the 
Development of Understanding in the Path of Purification 
composed for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



38. Be Vism-mht reads "ayam kho so" instead of the "ayam kho me" in the Ee and Ae 
editions. 



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Purification by Knowledge and Vision 
of the Way 

(Patipada-nanadassana-visuddhi-niddesa) 

1. [639] Now, insight reaches its culmination with the eight knowledges, and 
knowledge in conformity with truth 1 is ninth; these are what is called purification 
by knowledge and vision of the way. 

The eight should be understood as follows: (1) knowledge of contemplation 
of rise and fall, which is insight free from imperfections and steady on its course, 
(2) knowledge of contemplation of dissolution, (3) knowledge of appearance as 
terror, (4) knowledge of contemplation of danger, (5) knowledge of contemplation 
of dispassion, (6) knowledge of desire for deliverance, (7) knowledge of 
contemplation of reflection, and (8) knowledge of equanimity about formations. 2 

"Knowledge in conformity with truth as ninth" is a term for conformity. 

So one who wants to perfect this should make these kinds of knowledge his 
task, starting with knowledge of rise and fall free from imperfections. 

2. But why does he again pursue knowledge of rise and fall? To observe the 
[three] characteristics. The knowledge of rise and fall already dealt with, being 

1. "He calls conformity knowledge 'knowledge in conformity with truth' because it 
is suitable for penetrating the truths owing to the disappearance of the grosser 
darkness of delusion that conceals the truths" (Vism-mht 822). The term 
saccanulomikanana — "knowledge in conformity with truth," occurs at Vibh 315. The 
term anulomanana — "conformity knowledge," occurs in the Patthana (Patth 1 159), but 
not elsewhere in the Pitakas apparently. 

2. "Knowledge of rise and fall that has become familiar should be understood as 
belonging to full-understanding as abandoning. The contemplation of only the 
dissolution of formations is contemplation of dissolution; that same contemplation as 
knowledge is knowledge of contemplation of dissolution. One who, owing to it, sees things 
as they are is terrified, thus it is terror. The knowledge that seizes the terrifying aspect 
of states of the three planes when they appear as terrifying is knowledge of appearance 
as terror. One desires to be delivered, thus it is one desiring deliverance: that is, either 
as a consciousness or as a person. His (its) state is desire for deliverance. That itself as 
knowledge is knowledge of desire for deliverance. Knowledge that occurs in the mode of 
reflecting again is knowledge of contemplation of reflection. Knowledge that occurs as 
looking on (upekkhana) at formations with indifference (nirapekkhata) is knowledge of 
equanimity (upekkha) about formations" (Vism-mht 822-23). 



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disabled by the ten imperfections, was not capable of observing the three 
characteristics in their true nature; but once freed from imperfections, it is able to 
do so. So he should pursue it again here in order to observe the characteristics. 
[640] 

[Insight: The Eight Knowledges] 

[1 . Knowledge of Rise and Fall — II] 

3. Now, the characteristics fail to become apparent when something is not 
given attention and so something conceals them. What is that? Firstly, the 
characteristic of impermanence does not become apparent because when rise 
and fall are not given attention, it is concealed by continuity. The characteristic 
of pain does not become apparent because, when continuous oppression is not 
given attention, it is concealed by the postures. The characteristic of not-self 
does not become apparent because when resolution into the various elements is 
not given attention, it is concealed by compactness. 

4. However, when continuity is disrupted by discerning rise and fall, the 
characteristic of impermanence becomes apparent in its true nature. 

When the postures are exposed by attention to continuous oppression, the 
characteristic of pain becomes apparent in its true nature. When the resolution 
of the compact is effected by resolution into elements, the characteristic of not- 
self becomes apparent in its true nature. 3 



3. Cf. Pet 128. In the commentary to the Ayatana-Vibhariga we find: "Impermanence 
is obvious, as when a saucer (say) falls and breaks; . . . pain is obvious, as when a boil 
(say) appears in the body; . . . the characteristic of not-self is not obvious; . . . Whether 
Perfect Ones arise or do not arise the characteristics of impermanence and pain are 
made known, but unless there is the arising of a Buddha the characteristic of not-self 
is not made known" (Vibh-a 49-50, abridged for clarity). 

Again, in the commentary to Majjhima Nikaya Sutta 22: "Having been, it is not, 
therefore it is impermanent; it is impermanent for four reasons, that is, in the sense of 
the state of rise and fall, of change, of temporariness, and of denying permanence. It 
is painful on account of the mode of oppression; it is painful for four reasons, that is, 
in the sense of burning, of being hard to bear, of being the basis for pain, and of 
opposing pleasure ... It is not-self on account of the mode of insusceptibility to the 
exercise of power; it is not-self for four reasons, that is, in the sense of voidness, of 
having no owner-master, of having no Overlord, and of opposing self (M-a II 113, 
abridged for clarity). 

Commenting on this Vism paragraph, Vism-mht says: '"When continuity is 
disrupted' means when continuity is exposed by observing the perpetual otherness 
of states as they go on occurring in succession. For it is not through the connectedness 
of states that the characteristic of impermanence becomes apparent to one who rightly 
observes rise and fall, but rather the characteristic becomes more thoroughly evident 
through their disconnectedness, as if they were iron darts. 'When the postures are 
exposed' means when the concealment of the pain that is actually inherent in the 
postures is exposed. For when pain arises in a posture, the next posture adopted 
removes the pain, as it were, concealing it. But once it is correctly known how the pain 

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5. And here the following differences should be understood: the impermanent, 
and the characteristic of impermanence; the painful, and the characteristic of 
pain; the not-self, and the characteristic of not-self. 

6. Herein, the five aggregates are impermanent. Why? Because they rise and 
fall and change, or because of their non-existence after having been. Rise and 
fall and change are the characteristic of impermanence; or mode alteration, in 
other words, non-existence after having been [is the characteristic of 
impermanence] . 4 

7. Those same five aggregates are painful because of the words, "What is 
impermanent is painful" (S III 22). Why? Because of continuous oppression. 
The mode of being continuously oppressed is the characteristic of pain. 

8. Those same five aggregates are not-self because of the words, "What is painful 
is not-self" (S III 22). Why? Because there is no exercising of power over them. 
The mode of insusceptibility to the exercise of power is the characteristic of not- 
self. 

9. The meditator observes all this in its true nature with the knowledge of the 
contemplation of rise and fall, in other words, with insight free from imperfections 
and steady on its course. 

[2. Knowledge of Dissolution] 

10. When he repeatedly observes in this way, and examines and investigates 
material and immaterial states, [to see] that they are impermanent, painful, and 

in any posture is shifted by substituting another posture for that one, then the 
concealment of the pain that is in them is exposed because it has become evident that 
formations are being incessantly overwhelmed by pain. 'Resolution of the compact' is 
effected by resolving [what appears compact] in this way, 'The earth element is one, 
the water element is another' etc., distinguishing each one; and in this way, 'Contact is 
one, feeling is another' etc., distinguishing each one. 'When the resolution of the compact 
is effected' means that what is compact as a mass and what is compact as a function or 
as an object has been analyzed. For when material and immaterial states have arisen 
mutually steadying each other, [mentality and materiality, for example,] then, owing to 
misinterpreting that as a unity, compactness of mass is assumed through failure to 
subject formations to pressure. And likewise compactness of function is assumed 
when, although definite differences exist in such and such states' functions, they are 
taken as one. And likewise compactness of object is assumed when, although 
differences exist in the ways in which states that take objects make them their objects, 
those objects are taken as one. But when they are seen after resolving them by means of 
knowledge into these elements, they disintegrate like froth subjected to compression by 
the hand. They are mere states (dhamma) occurring due to conditions and void. In this way 
the characteristic of not-self becomes more evident" (Vism-mht 824). 
4. "These modes, [that is, the three characteristics,] are not included in the aggregates 
because they are states without individual essence (asabhava-dhamma); and they are not 
separate from the aggregates because they are unapprehendable without the aggregates. 
But they should be understood as appropriate conceptual differences (pahnatti-visesa) that 
are reason for differentiation in the explaining of dangers in the five aggregates, and which 
are allowable by common usage in respect of the five aggregates" (Vism-mht 825). 

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not-self, then if his knowledge works keenly, formations quickly become apparent. 5 
Once his knowledge works keenly and formations quickly become apparent, he 
no longer extends his mindfulness to their arising or presence or occurrence or 
sign, but brings it to bear only on their cessation as destruction, fall and breakup. 6 
[641] 

11. When insight knowledge has arisen in him in this way so that he sees how 
the field of formations, having arisen thus, ceases thus, it is called contemplation 
of dissolution at that stage, 7 with reference to which it is said: 

"Understanding of contemplation of dissolution, after reflecting on an object — 
how is this knowledge of insight? 

"Consciousness with materiality as its object arises and dissolves. Having 
reflected on that object, he contemplates the dissolution of that consciousness. 

"'He contemplates': how does he contemplate? He contemplates as 
impermanent, not as permanent; he contemplates as painful, not as pleasant; he 
contemplates as not-self, not as self; he becomes dispassionate, he does not 
delight; he causes fading away of greed, he does not inflame it; he causes 
cessation, not origination; he relinquishes, he does not grasp. Contemplating as 
impermanent, he abandons the perception of permanence. Contemplating as 
painful, he abandons the perception of pleasure. Contemplating as not-self, he 
abandons the perception of self. Becoming dispassionate, he abandons delight. 
Causing fading away, he abandons greed. Causing cessation, he abandons 
originating. Relinquishing, he abandons grasping. 

"Consciousness with feeling as its object ... Consciousness with perception 
as its object ... with formations as its object ... with consciousness as its object ... 
with eye as its object ... (etc. — see XX. 9) ... with ageing-and-death as its object ... 
Relinquishing, he abandons grasping. 

"The substitution of the object, 
The transference of understanding, 
The power of adverting — these 
Are insight following reflection. 

"Defining both to be alike 

By inference from that same object, 

5. "The keenness of knowledge comes about owing to familiarity with development. 
And when it is familiar, development occurs as though it were absorbed in the object 
owing to the absence of distraction" (Vism-mht 825). 

6. "'Arising' is the alteration consisting in generation. 'Presence' is the arrival at 
presence: ageing is what is meant. 'Occurrence' is the occurrence of what is clung to. 
'The sign' is the sign of formations; the appearance of formations like graspable entities, 
which is due to compactness of mass, etc., and to individualization of function, is the 
sign of formations" (Vism-mht 826). See also n.12. 

"It is momentary cessation that is in other words 'cessation as destruction, fall and 
breakup'" (Vism-mht 826). 

7. Etasmim khane (or etasmim thane) seems a better reading here than ekasmim khane'; 
cf. parallel phrases at the end of §29, 30, 31. 

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Intentness on cessation — these 
Are insight in the mark of fall. 

"Having reflected on the object 
Dissolution he contemplates, 
Appearance then as empty — this 
Is insight of higher understanding. 

"Skilled in the three contemplations, 
And in the fourfold insight too, 
Skilled in the three appearances, 
The various views will shake him not. 

"Knowledge is in the sense of that being known and understanding in the sense 
of the act of understanding that. Hence it was said: 'Understanding of contemplating 
dissolution, after reflecting on an object, is knowledge of insight'" (Patis I 57f). 

12. Herein, after reflecting on an object is having reflected on, having known, 
any object; the meaning is, having seen it as liable to destruction and fall. 
Understanding of the contemplation of dissolution: any understanding of the 
contemplation of the dissolution of the knowledge arisen after reflecting on the 
object as liable to destruction and fall is called knowledge of insight. [642] Hozv 
has the meaning of a question showing desire to expound. 

13. Next, in order to show how that comes about, consciousness with materiality 
as its object, etc., is said. Herein, consciousness with materiality as its object arises 
and dissolves: ruparammanam cittam uppajjitva bhijjati [is the equivalent of] 
ruparammanam cittam uppajjitva bhijjati; or the meaning is ruparammanabhave cittam 
uppajjitva bhijjati [alternative grammatical substitution]. Having reflected on that object: 
having reflected on, having known, that object consisting of materiality; the meaning 
is, having seen it as liable to destruction and fall. He contemplates the dissolution of that 
consciousness: by means of a subsequent consciousness he contemplates the 
dissolution of that consciousness with which that object consisting of materiality 
was seen as liable to destruction and fall. Hence the Ancients said: "He sees with 
insight both the known and the knowledge." 

14. He contemplates (anupassati): he sees always accordingly (anu anu passati); 
the meaning is, he sees again and again in various modes. Hence it is said: "He 
contemplates": how does he contemplate? He contemplates as impermanent, and so on. 

15. Herein, dissolution is the culminating point of impermanence, and so the 
meditator contemplating dissolution contemplates the whole field of formations 
as impermanent, not as permanent} Then, because of the painfulness of what is 

8. "'He contemplates as impermanent' here not by inferential knowledge thus, 
"Impermanent in the sense of dissolution", like one who is comprehending formations 
by groups (XX. 13-14), nor by seeing fall preceded by apprehension of rise, like a 
beginner of insight (XX.93ff.); but rather it is after rise and fall have become apparent 
as actual experience through the influence of knowledge of rise and fall that he then 
leaves rise aside in the way stated and contemplates formations as impermanent by 
seeing only their dissolution. But when he sees them thus, there is no trace in him of 
any apprehension of them as permanent" (Vism-mht 827). 

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impermanent and because of the non-existence of self in what is painful, he 
contemplates that same whole field of formations as painful, not as pleasant, he 
contemplates it as not-self not as self. 

16. But what is impermanent, painful, not-self, is not something to delight in; 
and what is not something to delight in is not something to arouse greed for; 
consequently, when that field of formations is seen as impermanent, painful, 
not-self, in accordance with the contemplation of dissolution, then he becomes 
dispassionate, he does not delight; he causes fading away of greed, he does not inflame it. 
When he does not inflame greed thus, he causes cessation of greed, not its origination, 
which happens firstly by means of mundane knowledge; 9 the meaning is, he 
does not cause origination. 

17. Or alternatively, having thus caused the fading away of greed, and caused 
the cessation of the seen field of formations, he causes the cessation of the unseen 
too by means of inferential knowledge, he does not originate it. He gives attention 
only to its cessation, he sees only its cessation, not its origin, is the meaning. 

18. Progressing in this way, he relinquishes, he does not grasp. What is meant? 
[What is meant is that] this contemplation of impermanence, etc., is also called 
both "relinquishment as giving up" and "relinquishment as entering into" (see 
Patis I 194) because, by substitution of opposite qualities, it gives up defilements 
along with aggregate producing kamma-formations, and because, by seeing 
the unsatisfactoriness of what is formed, [643] it also enters into, by inclining 
towards, Nibbana, which is the opposite of the formed. Therefore the bhikkhu 
who possesses that [contemplation] gives up defilements and enters into 
Nibbana in the way stated, he does not grasp (cling to) defilements by causing 
rebirth, nor does he grasp (cling to) a formed object through failing to see its 
unsatisfactoriness. Hence it was said: he relinquishes, he does not grasp. 

19. Now, in order to show which states are abandoned by these three kinds of 
knowledge, contemplating as impermanent, he abandons the perception of permanence, 
etc., is said. Herein, delight is craving accompanied by happiness. The rest is as 
already stated. 

20. As to the stanzas: the substitution of the object [means that] after seeing the 
dissolution of materiality, there is the substitution of another object for that first 
object by seeing the dissolution of the consciousness by which the dissolution [of 
materiality] was seen. Transference of understanding is the abandoning of rise and the 
specializing in fall. The power of adverting is the ability, after seeing the dissolution of 
materiality, to advert immediately for the purpose of seeing the dissolution of the 
consciousness that had that dissolution as its object. Are insight following reflection: 
this is called contemplation of dissolution after reflecting on an object. 

21. Defining both to be alike by inference from that same object: the meaning is that 
by inference, by induction, from the object seen by actual experience he defines 

9. '"Causes cessation': he causes greed to reach the cessation of suppression; he 
suppresses it, is the meaning. That is why he said 'by means of mundane knowledge.' 
And since there is suppression, how can there be arousing? Therefore he said 'not its 
origination'" (Vism-mht 828). 

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both [the seen and the unseen] to have a single individual essence thus, "The 
field of formations dissolved in the past, and will break up in the future, just as 
it does [in the present]." And this is said by the Ancients: 

"With vision of those present purified 

He infers those past and future to be alike; 

He infers that all formations disappear, 

Like dew-drops when the morning sun comes up." 

22. Intentness on cessation: after thus giving to both a single definition based on 
their dissolution, he thus becomes intent on cessation, in other words, on that 
same dissolution. The meaning is that he attaches importance to it, inclines, 
tends, leans towards it. Are insight in the mark of fall: what is meant is that this is 
called insight into the characteristic of fall. 

23. Having reflected on the object: having first known the object consisting of 
materiality, and so on. Dissolution he contemplates: having seen the dissolution of 
that object, he contemplates the dissolution of the consciousness that had that as 
its object. [644] 

24. Appearance then as empty: while he is contemplating dissolution in this way, he 
succeeds in making [formations] appear as void thus, "Only formations breakup; 
their breakup is death; there is nothing else at all 10 ." Hence the Ancients said: 

"Aggregates cease and nothing else exists; 
Breakup of aggregates is known as death. 
He watches their destruction steadfastly, 
As one who with a diamond drills a gem." " 

25. Is insight of higher understanding: what is meant is that the reflection on the 
object, the contemplation of dissolution, and the appearance as void are called 
insight of higher understanding. 

26. Skilled in the three contemplations: a bhikkhu who is competent in the three 
beginning with contemplation of impermanence. And in the fourfold insight too: 
in the four kinds of insight beginning with dispassion. Skilled in the three 
appearances: and owing to skill in this threefold appearance, namely, as liable to 
destruction and fall, as terror, and as void. 12 The various views will shake him not: he 
does not vacillate on account of the various kinds of views such as the eternity view. 



10. "Here in this world there is no self that is something other than and apart from the 
aggregates" (Vism-mht 830). Cf. also: "When any ascetics or brahmans whatever see self 
in its various forms, they all of them see the five aggregates, or one of them" (S IV 46). 

11. "As a skilled man drilling a gem with a tool watches and keeps in mind only the hole 
he is drilling, not the gem's colour, etc., so too the meditator wisely keeps in mind only the 
ceaseless dissolution of formations, not the formations" (Vism-mht 830). 

12. The Harvard text reads "khayato vayato sunnato ti — as destruction, as fall, as void." 
But Vism-mht says: '"The three appearances': in the threefold appearance as 
impermanent and so on. For appearance as destruction and fall is appearance as 
impermanent, appearance as terror is appearance as pain, and appearance as void is 
appearance as not-self (Vism-mht 830). 



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27. When he no longer vacillates and so constantly bears in mind that the 
unceased will also cease, the undissolved will also dissolve, then he disregards 
the arising, presence, occurrence and sign of all formations, which keep on 
breaking up, like fragile pottery being smashed, like fine dust being dispersed, 
like sesame seeds being roasted, and he sees only their breakup. Just as a man 
with eyes standing on the bank of a pond or on the bank of a river during heavy 
rain would see large bubbles appearing on the surface of the water and breaking 
up as soon as they appeared, so too he sees how formations break up all the time. 
The Blessed One said of such a meditator: 

"And he who looks upon the world 

As one who looks upon a bubble, 

As one who looks upon a mirage, 

Is out of sight of Death the King" (Dhp 170). 

28. When he constantly sees that all formations thus break up all the time, then 
contemplation of dissolution grows strong in him, bringing eight advantages, 
which are these: abandoning of [false] view of becoming, giving up attachment 
to life, constant application, a purified livelihood, no more anxiety, absence of 
fear, acquisition of patience and gentleness, and conquest of aversion (boredom) 
and sensual delight. [645] Hence the Ancients said: 

"On seeing these eight perfect qualities 

He comprehends formations constantly, 

Seeing breakup in order to attain 

The Deathless, like the sage with burning turban." 

(see S V 440) 

Knowledge of contemplation of dissolution is ended. 

[3. Knowledge of Appearance as Terror] 

29. As he repeats, develops and cultivates in this way the contemplation of 
dissolution, the object of which is cessation consisting in the destruction, fall 
and breakup of all formations, then formations classed according to all kinds of 
becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode of beings, appear to him in the 
form of a great terror, as lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas, spirits, ogres, fierce 
bulls, savage dogs, rut-maddened wild elephants, hideous venomous serpents, 
thunderbolts, charnel grounds, battlefields, flaming coal pits, etc., appear to a 
timid man who wants to live in peace. When he sees how past formations have 
ceased, present ones are ceasing, and those to be generated in the future will 
cease in just the same way, then what is called knowledge of appearance as 
terror arises in him at that stage. 

30. Here is a simile: a woman's three sons had offended against the king, it 
seems. The king ordered their heads to be cut off. She went with her sons to the 
place of their execution. When they had cut off the eldest one's head, they set 
about cutting off the middle one's head. Seeing the eldest one's head already 
cut off and the middle one's head being cut off, she gave up hope for the youngest, 
thinking, "He too will fare like them." Now, the meditator's seeing the cessation 
of past formations is like the woman's seeing the eldest son's head cut off. His 

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seeing the cessation of those present is like her seeing the middle one's head 
being cut off. His seeing the cessation of those in the future, thinking, "Formations 
to be generated in the future will cease too," is like her giving up hope for the 
youngest son, thinking, "He too will fare like them." When he sees in this way, 
knowledge of appearance as terror arises in him at that stage. 

31. Also another simile: a woman with an infected womb had, it seems, given 
birth to ten children. [646] Of these, nine had already died and one was dying in 
her hands. There was another in her womb. Seeing that nine were dead and the 
tenth was dying, she gave up hope about the one in her womb, thinking, "It too 
will fare just like them." Herein, the meditator's seeing the cessation of past 
formations is like the woman's remembering the death of the nine children. The 
meditator's seeing the cessation of those present is like her seeing the moribund 
state of the one in her hands. His seeing the cessation of those in the future is like 
her giving up hope about the one in her womb. When he sees in this way, 
knowledge of appearance as terror arises in him at that stage. 

32. But does the knowledge of appearance as terror [itself] fear or does it not 
fear? It does not fear. For it is simply the mere judgment that past formations have 
ceased, present ones are ceasing, and future ones will cease. Just as a man with 
eyes looking at three charcoal pits at a city gate is not himself afraid, since he 
only forms the mere judgment that all who fall into them will suffer no little 
pain; — or just as when a man with eyes looks at three spikes set in a row, an 
acacia spike, an iron spike, and a gold spike, he is not himself afraid, since he 
only forms the mere judgment that all who fall on these spikes will suffer no 
little pain; — so too the knowledge of appearance as terror does not itself fear; it 
only forms the mere judgment that in the three kinds of becoming, which resemble 
the three charcoal pits and the three spikes, past formations have ceased, present 
ones are ceasing, and future ones will cease. 

33. But it is called "appearance as terror" only because formations in all kinds 
of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode are fearful in being bound for 
destruction and so they appear only as a terror. 

Here is the text about its appearance to him as terror: "When he brings to 
mind as impermanent, what appears to him as terror? When he brings to mind 
as painful, what appears to him as terror? When he brings to mind as not-self, 
what appears to him as terror? When he brings to mind as impermanent, the 
sign appears to him as terror. When he brings to mind as painful, occurrence 
appears to him as terror. When he brings to mind as not-self, the sign and 
occurrence appear to him as terror" (Patis II 63). 

34. Herein, the sign is the sign of formations. This is a term for past, future and 
present formations themselves. [647] He sees only the death of formations when 
he brings them to mind as impermanent and so the sign appears to him as a 
terror. Occurrence is occurrence in material and immaterial becoming. He sees 
occurrence — though ordinarily reckoned as pleasure — only as a state of being 
continuously oppressed when he brings them to mind as painful, and so 
occurrence appears to him as a terror. 



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He sees both the sign and the occurrence as empty, vain, void, without power 
or guide, like an empty village, a mirage, a goblin city, etc., when he brings 
[them] to mind as not-self, and so the sign and occurrence appear to him as a 
terror. 

Knowledge of appearance as terror is ended. 

[4. Knowledge of Danger] 

35. As he repeats, develops and cultivates the knowledge of appearance as 
terror he finds no asylum, no shelter, no place to go to, no refuge in any kind of 
becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode. In all the kinds of becoming, 
generation, destiny, station, and abode there is not a single formation that he can 
place his hopes in or hold on to. The three kinds of becoming appear like charcoal 
pits full of glowing coals, the four primary elements like hideous venomous 
snakes (S IV 174), the five aggregates like murderers with raised weapons (S IV 
174), the six internal bases like an empty village, the six external bases like 
village-raiding robbers (S IV 174-75), the seven stations of consciousness and 
the nine abodes of beings as though burning, blazing and glowing with the 
eleven fires (see S IV 19), and all formations appear as a huge mass of dangers 
destitute of satisfaction or substance, like a tumour, a disease, a dart, a calamity, 
an affliction (see M I 436). How? 

36. They appear as a forest thicket of seemingly pleasant aspect but infested 
with wild beasts, a cave full of tigers, water haunted by monsters and ogres, an 
enemy with raised sword, poisoned food, a road beset by robbers, a burning 
coal, a battlefield between contending armies appear to a timid man who wants 
to live in peace. And just as that man is frightened and horrified and his hair 
stands up when he comes upon a thicket infested by wild beasts, etc., and he 
sees it as nothing but danger, so too when all formations have appeared as a 
terror by contemplation of dissolution, this meditator sees them as utterly destitute 
of any core or any satisfaction and as nothing but danger. 

37. "How is it that understanding of appearance as terror is knowledge of 
danger? [648] 

"(l.a.) Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Arising is terror,' is 
knowledge of danger. Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Occurrence 
is terror' . . . 'The sign is terror' . . . 'Accumulation is terror' . . . 'Rebirth-linking is 
terror' ... 'Destiny is terror' ... 'Generation is terror' ... 'Re-arising is terror' ... 
'Birth is terror' . . . 'Ageing is terror' . . . 'Sickness is terror' . . . 'Death is terror' . . . 
'Sorrow is terror' ... Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Lamentation 
is terror,' is knowledge of danger. Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 
'Despair is terror,' is knowledge of danger. 

"(1 .b.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-arising is safety' Knowledge 
of the state of peace is this: 'Non-occurrence is safety' ... (etc.) ... Knowledge of 
the state of peace is this: 'Non-despair is safety' 

"(I.e.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Arising is terror; non-arising is 
safety' Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Occurrence is terror; non- 



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occurrence is safety' ... (etc.) ... Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Despair 
is terror; non-despair is safety.' 

"(2. a.) Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Arising is suffering,' is 
knowledge of danger. Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Occurrence 
is suffering' ... (etc.) ... 'Despair is suffering' is knowledge of danger. 

"(2.b.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-occurrence is bliss' ... 
(etc.) ... Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-despair is bliss.' 

"(2.c.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Arising is suffering; non- 
arising is bliss.' Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Occurrence is suffering; 
non-occurrence is bliss' . . . (etc.) . . . Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Despair 
is suffering; non-despair is bliss.' 

"(3. a.) Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Arising is worldly,' is 
knowledge of danger. Understanding of appearance as thus, 'Occurrence is 
worldly' ... (etc.) ... 'Despair is worldly' is knowledge of danger. 

"(3.b) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-arising is unworldly' 
Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-occurrence is unworldly' ... (etc.) 
... Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-despair is unworldly' 

"(3.c.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Arising is worldly; non-arising 
is unworldly' Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Occurrence is worldly; 
non-occurrence is unworldly' ... (etc.) ... Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 
'Despair is worldly; non-despair is unworldly' 

"(4. a.) Understanding of appearance as terror thus, 'Arising is formations,' is 
knowledge of danger. Understanding of appearance as terror thus, Occurrence 
is formations' ... (etc.) ... 'Despair is formations' is knowledge of danger. 

"(4.b) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-arising is Nibbana." 
Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Non-occurrence is Nibbana' ... (etc.) ... 
Knowledge of the state of peace is this Non-despair is Nibbana.' 

"(4.c.) Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Arising is formations; non- 
arising is Nibbana.' Knowledge of the state of peace is this: 'Occurrence is 
formations; non-occurrence is Nibbana' ... (etc.) ... Knowledge of the state of 
peace is this: 'Despair is formations; non-despair is Nibbana.' [649] 

"He contemplates as suffering 
Arising, occurrence, and the sign, 
Accumulation, rebirth-linking — 
And this his knowledge is of danger. 

"He contemplates as bliss no arising, 
And no occurrence, and no sign, 
No accumulation, no rebirth-linking — 
And this his knowledge is of peace. 

"This knowledge about danger has 
Five sources for its origin; 
Knowledge of peace has also five — 
Ten knowledges he understands. 



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"When skilled in these two kinds of knowledge 
The various views will shake him not. 

"Knowledge is in the sense of that being known and understanding is in the 
sense of the act of understanding that. Hence it was said: 'Understanding of 
appearance as terror is knowledge of danger'" (Patis I 59f). 

38. Herein, arising is appearance here [in this becoming] with previous kamma 
as condition. Occurrence is the occurrence of what has arisen in this way. The sign 
is the sign of all formations. Accumulation is the kamma that is the cause of future 
rebirth-linking. Rebirth-linking is future appearance. Destiny is the destiny in 
which the rebirth-linking takes place. Generation is the generating of aggregates. 
Re-arising is the occurrence of kamma-result stated thus, "In one who has attained 
[to it] or in one who has been reborn [in it]" (Dhs §1282). Birth is birth with 
becoming as its condition, itself a condition for ageing and so on. Ageing, 
sickness, death, etc., are obvious. 

39. And here only the five beginning with arising are mentioned as actual 
objects of knowledge of danger; the rest are synonyms for them. For the pair, 
generation and birth, are synonyms both for arising and for rebirth-linking. The 
pair, destiny and re-arising, are synonyms for occurrence. Ageing, etc., are synonyms 
for the sign. Hence it was said: 

"He contemplates as suffering 
Arising, occurrence, and the sign, 
Accumulation, rebirth-linking — 
And this his knowledge is of danger." 

And: 

"This knowledge about danger has 
Five sources for its origin" (§37). 

40. Knowledge of the state of peace is this: "Non-arising is safety," etc.: this, however, 
should be understood as said for the purpose of showing the opposite kind of 
knowledge to knowledge of danger. Or when it is stated in this way, that there is 
safety without terror and free from danger, it is for the purpose of comforting 
those who are upset in their hearts by seeing danger through appearance as 
terror. Or else, when arising, etc., have clearly appeared to a man as terror, his 
mind inclines towards their opposites, and so this is said [650] for the purpose 
of showing the advantages in the knowledge of danger established by the 
appearance as terror. 

41. And here (l.a.) what is terror is certainly (2. a) suffering, and what is suffering 
is purely (3. a.) worldly since it is not free from the worldliness of the rounds [of 
becoming], of the world, and of defilements, 13 and what is worldly consists solely 



13. Vism-mht defines the three kinds of worldliness (amisa) as follows: Worldliness of 
the round (vattamisa) is that of the threefold round of past, future and present becoming; 
worldliness of the world (lokamisa) is the five cords of sense desire (i.e. objects of sense 
desire including food, etc.) because they are accessible to defilements; worldliness of 
defilement (kilesamisa) is the defilements themselves (see Vism-mht 836). 



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of (4. a) formations. Therefore it is said that (2. a) understanding of appearance as 
terror thus, "Arising is suffering," is knowledge of danger, and so on. And while 
this is so, still there is a difference to be understood here in the way these things 
[beginning with "arising"] occur, since there is a difference in their mode with 
the mode of terror, the mode of suffering, and the mode of worldliness. 

42. Ten knowledges he understands: one who understands knowledge of danger 
understands, penetrates, realizes, ten kinds of knowledge, that is, the five based 
on arising, etc., and the five on non-arising and so on. When skilled in these two 
kinds of knowledge: with skill in the two, that is, knowledge of danger and 
knowledge of the state of peace. The various views will shake him not: he does not 
vacillate about views that occur such as "The ultimate Nibbana is here and 
now." The rest is clear. 

Knowledge of contemplation of danger is ended. 

[5. Knowledge of Dispassion] 

43. When he sees all formations in this way as danger, he becomes 
dispassionate towards, is dissatisfied with, takes no delight in the manifold 
field of formations belonging to any kind of becoming, destiny, station of 
consciousness, or abode of beings. Just as a golden swan that loves the foothills 
of Citta Peak finds delight, not in a filthy puddle at the gate of a village of 
outcastes, but only in the seven great lakes (see XIII. 38), so too this meditator 
swan finds delight, not in the manifold formations seen clearly as danger, but 
only in the seven contemplations, because he delights in development. And just 
as the lion, king of beasts, finds delight, not when put into a gold cage, but only 
in Himalaya with its three thousand leagues' extent, so too the meditator lion 
finds delight, not in the triple becoming of the happy destiny 14 but only in the 
three contemplations. And just as Chaddanta, king of elephants, all white with 
sevenfold stance, possessed of supernormal power, who travels through the 
air, 15 finds pleasure, not in the midst of a town, but only in the Chaddanta Lake 
and Wood in the Himalaya, [651] so too this meditator elephant finds delight, 
not in any formation, but only in the state of peace seen in the way beginning 
"Non-arising is safety," and his mind tends, inclines, and leans towards that. 

Knowledge of contemplation of dispassion is ended. 

44. [Knowledge of contemplation of danger] is the same as the last two kinds 
of knowledge in meaning. Hence the Ancients said: "Knowledge of appearance 
as terror while one only has three names: It saw all formations as terror, thus the 
name 'appearance as terror' arose; it aroused the [appearance of] danger in 
those same formations, thus the name 'contemplation of danger' arose; it arose, 

14. The reference is to the happy destinies of the sense-desire world (human beings 
and deities), the fine-material Brahma-world, and the immaterial Brahma-world. 

15. For "ten kinds of elephants" of which the Chaddanta (Six-toothed) is the "best" 
see M-a II 25. Cf. also the description of the elephant called "Uposatha," one of the 
seven treasures of the Wheel- turning Monarch (M II 173). On the expression "with 
sevenfold stance" {sattappatittha) Vism-mht says " Hatthapada-valavatthikosehi 
bhilmiphusanehi sattahi patitthito ti sattapatittho" (Vism-mht 838). 

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becoming dispassionate towards those same formations, thus the name 
'contemplation of dispassion' arose." Also it is said in the text: "Understanding 
of appearance as terror, knowledge of danger, and dispassion: these things are 
one in meaning, only the letter is different" (Patis II 63). 

[6. Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance] 

45. When, owing to this knowledge of dispassion, this clansman becomes 
dispassionate towards, is dissatisfied with, takes no delight in any single one of 
all the manifold formations in any kind of becoming, generation, destiny, station 
of consciousness, or abode of beings, his mind no longer sticks fast, cleaves, 
fastens on to them, and he becomes desirous of being delivered from the whole 
field of formations and escaping from it. Like what? 

46. Just as a fish in a net, a frog in a snake's jaws, a jungle fowl shut into a cage, 
a deer fallen into the clutches of a strong snare, a snake in the hands of a snake 
charmer, an elephant stuck fast in a great bog, a royal naga in the mouth of a 
supanna, the moon inside Rahu's mouth, 16 a man encircled by enemies, etc. — 
just as these are desirous of being delivered, of finding an escape from these 
things, so too this meditator's mind is desirous of being delivered from the 
whole field of formations and escaping from it. Then, when he thus no longer 
relies on any formations and is desirous of being delivered from the whole field 
of formations, knowledge of desire for deliverance arises in him. 

Knowledge of desire for deliverance is ended. 

[7. Knowledge of Reflection] 

47. Being thus desirous of deliverance from all the manifold formations in any 
kind of becoming, generation, destiny, station, or abode, in order to be delivered 
from the whole field of formations [652] he again discerns those same formations, 
attributing to them the three characteristics by knowledge of contemplation of 
reflection. 

48. He sees all formations as impermanent for the following reasons: because 
they are non-continuous, temporary, limited by rise and fall, disintegrating, 
fickle, perishable, unenduring, subject to change, coreless, due to be annihilated, 
formed, subject to death, and so on. 

He sees them as painful for the following reasons: because they are 
continuously oppressed, hard to bear, the basis of pain, a disease, a tumour, a 
dart, a calamity, an affliction, a plague, a disaster, a terror, a menace, no protection, 
no shelter, no refuge, a danger, the root of calamity, murderous, subject to cankers, 
Mara's bait, subject to birth, subject to ageing, subject to illness, subject to sorrow, 
subject to lamentation, subject to despair, subject to defilement, and so on. 

He sees all formations as foul (ugly) — the ancillary characteristic to that of 
pain — for the following reasons: because they are objectionable, stinking, 
disgusting, repulsive, unaffected by disguise, hideous, loathsome, and so on. 

16. Rami is the name for the eclipse of the sun or moon, personalized as a demon 
who takes them in his mouth (see S I 50-51 and M I 87). 

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He sees all formations as not-self for the following reasons: because they are 
alien, empty, vain, void, ownerless, with no Overlord, with none to wield power 
over them, and so on. 

It is when he sees formations in this way that he is said to discern them by 
attributing to them the three characteristics. 

49. But why does he discern them in this way? In order to contrive the means 
to deliverance. Here is a simile: a man thought to catch a fish, it seems, so he took 
a fishing net and cast it in the water. He put his hand into the mouth of the net 
under the water and seized a snake by the neck. He was glad, thinking, "I have 
caught a fish." In the belief that he had caught a big fish, he lifted it up to see. 
When he saw three marks, he perceived that it was a snake and he was terrified. 
He saw danger, felt dispassion (revulsion) for what he had seized, and desired 
to be delivered from it. Contriving a means to deliverance, he unwrapped [the 
coils from] his hand, starting from the tip of its tail. Then he raised his arm, and 
when he had weakened the snake by swinging it two or three times round his 
head, he flung it away, crying "Go, foul snake." Then quickly scrambling up on 
to dry land, he stood looking back whence he had come, thinking, "Goodness, I 
have been delivered from the jaws of a huge snake!" 

50. Herein, the time when the meditator was glad at the outset to have acquired 
a person is like the time when the man was glad to have seized the snake by the 
neck. This meditator's seeing the three characteristics in formations after effecting 
resolution of the compact [into elements] is like the man's seeing the three marks 
on pulling the snake's head out of the mouth of the net. [653] The meditator's 
knowledge of appearance as terror is like the time when the man was frightened. 
Knowledge of contemplation of danger is like the man's thereupon seeing the 
danger. Knowledge of contemplation of dispassion is like the man's dispassion 
(revulsion) for what he had seized. Knowledge of desire for deliverance is like 
the man's deliverance from the snake. The attribution of the three characteristics 
to formations by knowledge of contemplation of reflection is like the man's 
contriving a means to deliverance. For just as the man weakened the snake by 
swinging it, keeping it away and rendering it incapable of biting, and was thus 
quite delivered, so too this meditator weakens formations by swinging them 
with the attribution of the three characteristics, rendering them incapable of 
appearing again in the modes of permanence, pleasure, beauty, and self, and is 
thus quite delivered. That is why it was said above that he discerns them in this 
way "in order to contrive the means to deliverance." 

51. At this point knowledge of reflection has arisen in him, with reference to 
which it is said: "When he brings to mind as impermanent, there arises in him 
knowledge after reflecting on what? When he brings to mind as painful, ... as 
not-self, there arises in him knowledge after reflecting on what? When he brings 
to mind as impermanent, there arises in him knowledge after reflecting on the 
sign. When he brings to mind as painful, there arises in him knowledge after 
reflecting on occurrence. When he brings to mind as not-self, there arises in him 
knowledge after reflecting on the sign and occurrence" (Patis II 63). 



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52. As here after reflecting on the sign [means] having known the sign of 
formations by means of the characteristic of impermanence as unlasting and 
temporary. Of course, it is not 17 that, first having known, subsequently knowledge 
arises; but it is expressed in this way according to common usage, as in the 
passage beginning, "Due to (lit. having depended upon) mind and mental 
object, mind-consciousness arises" (M I 112), and so on. Or alternatively, it can 
be understood as expressed thus according to the method of identity by 
identifying the preceding with the subsequent. The meaning of the remaining 
two expressions [that is, "occurrence" and "the sign and occurrence"] should 
be understood in the same way. 

Knowledge of contemplation of reflection is ended. 

[Discerning Formations as Void] 

53. Having thus discerned by knowledge of contemplation of reflection that 
"All formations are void" (see S III 167), he again discerns voidness in the double 
logical relation 18 thus: "This is void of self or of what belongs to self" (M II 263; 
Patis II 36). 

When he has thus seen that there is neither a self nor any other [thing or 
being] occupying the position of a self s property, he again discerns voidness in 
the quadruple logical relation as set forth in this [654] passage: "I am not 
anywhere anyone's owning, nor is there anywhere my owning in anyone (nahatn 
kvacani kassaci kincanat' asmim na ca mama kvacani kisminci kincanat' atthi)" (M II 
263). 19 How? 



17. The sense seems to require a reading, "Kaman ca na pathamam" ... 

18. Dvikotika ("double logical relation") and catukotika ("quadruple logical relation"): 
Skr. catuhkoti (cf. Th. Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic, pp. 60-61, note 5). 

19. There are a number of variant readings to this sutta passage (which is met with 
elsewhere as follows: A I 206; II 177; cf. Ill 170). There are also variant readings of the 
commentary, reproduced at M-a IV 63-65 and in the commentary to A II 177. The 
readings adopted are those which a study of the various contexts has indicated. The 
passage is a difficult one. 

The sutta passage seems from its various settings to have been a phrase current 
among non-Buddhists, as a sort of slogan for naked ascetics (A I 206); and it is used 
to describe the base consisting of nothingness (M II 263), in which latter sense it is 
incorporated in the Buddha's teaching as a description that can be made the basis for 
right view or wrong view according as it is treated. 

The commentarial interpretation given here is summed up by Vism-mht as follows: 
'"Naham kvacini': he sees the non-existence of a self of his own. 'Na kassaci kincanat' asmim': 
he sees of his own self too that it is not the property of another's self. 'Na ca mama': 
these words should be construed as indicated. 'Atthi' applies to each clause. He sees 
the nonexistence of another's self thus, 'There is no other's self anywhere.' He sees of 
another that that other is not the property of his own self thus, 'My owning of that 
other's self does not exist.' So this mere conglomeration of formations is seen, by 
discerning it with the voidness of the quadruple logical relation, as voidness of self or 
property of a self in both internal and external aggregates'" (Vism-mht 840-41 = tika 
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54. (i) This [meditator, thinking] I ... not anywhere (naham kvacani), does not 
see a self anywhere; (ii) [Thinking] am ... anyone's owning (kassaci kincanat' 
asmim), he does not see a self of his own to be inferred in another's owning; the 
meaning is that he does not see [a self of his own] deducible by conceiving a 
brother [to own it] in the case of a brother, 20 a friend [to own it] in the case of a 
friend, or a chattel [to own it] in the case of a chattel; (iii) [As regards the phrase] 
nor ... anywhere my (na ca mama kvacani), leaving aside the word my (mama) here 
for the moment, [the words] nor anywhere (na ca kvacani) [means that] he does 
not 21 see another's self anywhere; (iv) Now, bringing in the word my (mama), [we 
have] is there ... my owning in anyone (mama kisminci kincanat' atthi): he does not 
see thus, "Another's self exists owing to some state of my owning 22 [of it]"; the 
meaning is that he does not see in any instance another's self deducible owing 
to this fact of his owning a brother in the case of a brother, a friend in the case of 
a friend, chattel in the case of a chattel. So (i) he sees no self anywhere [of his 
own]; (ii) nor does he see it as deducible in the fact of another's owning; (iii) nor 
does he see another's self; (iv) nor does he see that as deducible in the fact of his 
own owning. 23 This is how he discerns voidness in the quadruple logical relation. 

55. Having discerned voidness in the quadruple logical relation in this way, 
he discerns voidness again in six modes. How? Eye (i) is void of self, (ii) or of the 
property of a self, (iii) or of permanence, (iv) or of lastingness, (v) or of eternalness, 
(vi) or of non-subjectness to change; ... mind ... visible data ... mental data ... 
eye-consciousness ... mind-consciousness ... mind-contact ... (Nidd II 187 (Se); 
Nidd II 279 (Ee); cf. S IV 54) and this should be continued as far as ageing-and- 
death (see XX.9). 

56. Having discerned voidness in the six modes in this way, he discerns it 
again in eight modes, that is to say: "Materiality has no core, is coreless, without 
core, as far as concerns (i) any core of permanence, or (ii) core of lastingness, or 
(iii) core of pleasure, or (iv) core of self, or as far as concerns (v) what is permanent, 
or (vi) what is lasting, or (vii) what is eternal, or (viii) what is not subject to 
change. Feeling . . . perception . . . formations . . . consciousness . . . eye . . . (etc., see 
XX.9) ... ageing-and-death has no core, is coreless, without a core, as far as 
concerns any core of permanence, or core of lastingness, or core of pleasure, or 
core of self, or as far as concerns what is permanent, or what is lasting, or what 
is eternal, or what is not subject to change. Just as a reed has no core, is coreless, 
without core; just as a castor-oil plant, an udumbara (fig) tree, a setavaccha tree, a 
palibhaddaka tree, a lump of froth, a bubble on water, a mirage, a plantain trunk, 
[655] a conjuring trick, has no core, is coreless, without core, so too materiality . . . 



20. Bhatitthane — "in the case of a brother": the form bhati is not given in PED. 

21 . Reading "... thapetva na ca kvacini (:) parassa ca attanam kvaci na passati ti ay am attho; 
idani ..." with Ce of M-a and A-a 

22. M-a Sinhalese (Aluvihara) ed. has kincanabhavena here instead of kincana-bhave. 

23. Sinhalese eds. of M-a and A-a both read here: "... upanetabbam passati, na parassa 
attanam passati, na parassa attano kincanabhave upanetabbam passati," which the sense 
demands. 



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(etc) ... ageing-and-death has no core ... or what is subject to change" (Nidd II 
184-85 (Se); Nidd II 278-89 (Ee)). 

57. Having discerned voidness in eight modes in this way, he discerns it again 
in ten modes. How? "He sees materiality as empty as vain, as not-self, as having 
no Overlord, as incapable of being made into what one wants, as incapable of 
being had [as one wishes], as insusceptible to the exercise of mastery, as alien, as 
secluded [from past and future]. He sees feeling ... (etc.) ... consciousness as 
empty, ... as secluded" 24 (Nidd II 279 (Ee)). 

58. Having discerned voidness in ten modes in this way, he discerns it again 
in twelve modes, that is to say: "Materiality is no living being, 25 no soul, no 
human being, no man, no female, no male, no self, no property of a self, not I, not 
mine, not another's, not anyone's. Feeling ... (etc.) ... consciousness ... not 
anyone's (Nidd II 186 (Se); Nidd II 280 (Ee)). 

59. Having discerned voidness in twelve modes in this way, he discerns it 
again in forty-two modes through full-understanding as investigating. He sees 
materiality as impermanent, as painful, as a disease, a tumour, a dart, a calamity, 
an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, a plague, a disaster, a terror, a menace, 
as fickle, perishable, unenduring, as no protection, no shelter, no refuge, as unfit 
to be a refuge, as empty, vain, void, not-self, as without satisfaction, 26 as a danger, 
as subject to change, as having no core, as the root of calamity, as murderous, as 
due to be annihilated, as subject to cankers, as formed, as Mara's bait, as subject 
to birth, subject to ageing, subject to illness, subject to death, subject to sorrow, 
lamentation, pain, grief and despair; as arising, as departing; as danger, 27 as 
(having an) escape. He sees feeling ... (etc.) ... consciousness ... as (having an) 
escape (cf. Patis II 238). 

60. And this is said too: 28 "When he sees materiality as impermanent ... as 
(having an) escape, he looks upon the world as void. When he sees feeling ... 
(etc.) ... consciousness as impermanent ... as (having an) escape, he looks upon 
the world as void." [656] 

"Let him look on the world as void: 
Thus, Mogharaja, always mindful, 
He may escape the clutch of death 



24. The cause and the fruit being secluded from each other (see Vism-mht 842). 

25. "A meaning such as 'what in common usage in the world is called a being is not 
materiality' is not intended here because it is not implied by what is said; for the 
common usage of the world does not speak of mere materiality as a being. What is 
intended as a being is the self that is conjectured by outsiders" (Vism-mht 842). 

26. "This is not in the text. If it were there would be forty-three ways" (Vism-mht 842). 

27. "Although it has already been described as a danger in order to show it as such, 
the word is used again in order to show that it is opposed to enjoyment (satisfaction)" 
(Vism-mht 843). 

28. Vism-mht (p. 843) seems to suggest that this is quoted from the Niddesa, but it 
is not in Nidd II in this form. Cf. Nidd II 162 (Be): Atha va, vedanam aniccato . . . dukkhato 
rogato gandato sallato agitato abadhato ... pe ... nissaranato passanto vedanam nabhinandati . . . 



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By giving up belief in self. 

For King Death cannot see the man 

That looks in this way on the world" 29 

[8. Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations] 

61. When he has discerned formations by attributing the three characteristics 
to them and seeing them as void in this way he abandons both terror and delight, 
he becomes indifferent to them and neutral, he neither takes them as "I" nor as 
mine," he is like a man who has divorced his wife. 

62. Suppose a man were married to a lovely, desirable, charming wife and so 
deeply in love with her as to be unable to bear separation from her for a moment. 
He would be disturbed and displeased to see her standing or sitting or talking 
or laughing with another man, and would be very unhappy; but later, when he 
had found out the woman's faults, and wanting to get free, had divorced her, he 
would no more take her as "mine"; and thereafter, even though he saw her 
doing whatever it might be with whomsoever it might be, he would not be 
disturbed or displeased, but would on the contrary be indifferent and neutral. 
So too this [meditator], wanting to get free from all formations, discerns formations 
by the contemplation of reflection; then, seeing nothing to be taken as "I" or 
"mine," he abandons both terror and delight and becomes indifferent and neutral 
towards all formations. 

63. When he knows and sees thus, his heart retreats, retracts and recoils from 
the three kinds of becoming, the four kinds of generation, the five kinds of destiny, 
the seven stations of consciousness, and the nine abodes of beings; his heart no 
longer goes out to them. Either equanimity or repulsiveness is established. Just 
as water drops retreat, retract and recoil on a lotus leaf that slopes a little and do 
not spread out, so too his heart . . . And just as a fowl's feather or a shred of sinew 
thrown on a fire retreats, retracts and recoils, and does not spread out, so too his 
heart retreats, retracts and recoils from the three kinds of becoming ... Either 
equanimity or repulsiveness is established. 

In this way there arises in him what is called knowledge of equanimity about 
formations. 

64. But if this [knowledge] sees Nibbana, the state of peace, as peaceful, it 
rejects the occurrence of all formations and enters only into Nibbana. If it does 
not see Nibbana as peaceful, [657] it occurs again and again with formations as 
its object, like the sailors' crow. 

65. When traders board a ship, it seems, they take with them what is called a 
land-finding crow. When the ship gets blown off its course by gales and goes 
adrift with no land in sight, then they release the land-finding crow. It takes off 
from the mast-head, 30 and after exploring all the quarters, if it sees land, it flies 
straight in the direction of it; if not, it returns and alights on the mast-head. So 

29. Sn 1119: Nidd II 190 (Se); Nidd II 278 (Ee) 

30. Kupaka-yatthi — "mast-head" (?): the word kupaka appears in PED, only as an 
equivalent for kttpa = a hole. Cf. D I 222 for this simile. 

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too, if knowledge of equanimity about formations sees Nibbana, the state of peace, as 
peaceful, it rejects the occurrence of all formations and enters only into Nibbana. If 
it does not see it, it occurs again and again with formations as its object. 

66. Now, after discerning formations in the various modes, as though sifting 
flour on the edge of a tray, as though carding cotton from which the seeds have 
been picked out, 31 and after abandoning terror and delight, and after becoming 
neutral in the investigation of formations, he still persists in the triple 
contemplation. And in so doing, this [insight knowledge] enters upon the state 
of the triple gateway to liberation, and it becomes a condition for the classification 
of noble persons into seven kinds. 

[The Triple Gateway to Liberation] 

It enters upon the state of the triple gateway to liberation now with the 
predominance of [one of] three faculties according as the contemplation occurs 
in [one of] the three ways. 32 

67. For it is the three contemplations that are called the three gateways to liberation, 
according as it is said: "But these three gateways to liberation lead to the outlet from 
the world, [that is to say] (i) to the seeing of all formations as limited and circumscribed 
and to the entering of consciousness into the signless element, (ii) to the stirring up 
of the mind with respect to all formations and to the entering of consciousness into 
the desireless element, (iii) to the seeing of all things (dhamma) as alien and to the 
entering of consciousness into the voidness element. These three gateways to 
liberation lead to the outlet from the world" (Patis II 48). 33 



31. Vattayamana — "sifting": not in PED; Vism-mht glosses with niccoriyamana, also 
not in PED. Nibbattita — "picked out": not in PED. Vism-mht glosses nibbattita-kappasam 
with nibattita-blja-kappasam." Vihatamana — "carding": not in PED; glossed by Vism- 
mht with dhunakena (not in PED) vihannamanam viya (Vism-mht 844). 

32. When insight reaches its culmination, it settles down in one of the three 
contemplations [impermanence, pain, or not-self] and at this stage of the development 
the "seven contemplations" and the "eighteen contemplations" (or "principal insights") 
are all included by the three (see Vism-mht 844). 

33. "Contemplation of impermanence sees formations as limited by rise in the 
beginning and by fall in the end, and it sees that it is because they have a beginning 
and an end that they are impermanent. 'Into the signless element': into the unformed 
element, which is given the name 'signless' because it is the opposite of the sign of 
formations. 'To the entering of consciousness' : to the higher consciousness's completely 
going into by means of the state of conformity knowledge, after delimiting. 'Into the 
desireless': into the unformed element, which is given the name 'desireless' owing to 
the non-existence of desire due to greed and so on. 'Into the void': into the unformed 
element, which is given the name 'void' because of voidness of self" (Vism-mht 845). 

34. "One who is pursuing insight by discerning formations according to their sign 
by means of the contemplation of impermanence and resolves according to the signless 
aspect thus, 'Where this sign of formations is entirely nonexistent, that is, the signless 
Nibbana' joins insight leading to emergence with the path. Then the path realizes 
Nibbana for him as signless. The signless aspect of Nibbana is not created by the path 
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68. Herein, as limited and circumscribed [means] both as limited by rise and fall 
and as circumscribed by them; for contemplation of impermanence limits them 
thus, "Formations do not exist previous to their rise," and in seeking their destiny, 
sees them as circumscribed thus, "They do not go beyond fall, they vanish there." 
To the stirring up of the mind: by giving consciousness a sense of urgency; for 
with the contemplation of pain consciousness acquires a sense of urgency with 
respect to formations. [658] To the seeing ...as alien: to contemplating them as not- 
self thus: "Not I," "Not mine." 

69. So these three clauses should be understood to express the contemplations 
of impermanence, and so on. Hence in the answer to the next question [asked in 
the Patisambhida] it is said: "When he brings [them] to mind as impermanent, 
formations appear as liable to destruction. When he brings them to mind as 
painful, formations appear as a terror. When he brings them to mind as not-self, 
formations appear as void" (Patis II 48). 

70. What are the liberations to which these contemplations are the gateways? 
They are these three, namely, the signless, the desireless, and the void. For this is 
said: "When one who has great resolution brings [formations] to mind as 
impermanent, he acquires the signless liberation. When one who has great 
tranquillity brings [them] to mind as painful, he acquires the desireless liberation. 
When one who has great wisdom brings [them] to mind as not-self, he acquires 
the void liberation" (Patis II 58). 

71. And here the signless liberation should be understood as the noble path that 
has occurred by making Nibbana its object through the signless aspect. For that 
path is signless owing to the signless element having arisen, and it is a liberation 
owing to deliverance from defilements. 34 In the same way the path that has 
occurred by making Nibbana its object through the desireless aspect is desireless. 
And the path that has occurred by making Nibbana its object through the void 
aspect is void. 

72. But it is said in the Abhidhamma: "On the occasion when he develops the 
supramundane jhana that is an outlet and leads to dispersal, having abandoned 
the field of [false] views with the reaching of the first grade, secluded from sense 
desires he enters upon and dwells in the first jhana, which is desireless ... is 
void," (Dhs §510) thus mentioning only two liberations. This refers to the way in 
which insight arrives [at the path] and is expressed literally. 

73. However, in the Patisambhida insight knowledge is expressed as follows: 
(i) It is expressed firstly as the void liberation by its liberating from misinterpreting 
[formations]: "Knowledge of contemplation of impermanence is the void liberation 
since it liberates from interpreting [them] as permanent; knowledge of 
contemplation of pain is the void liberation since it liberates from interpreting 

Nibbana, and the path is called signless because it has that as its object. One who 
resolves upon the desireless by keeping desire away by means of the contemplation 
of pain, and one who resolves upon the void by keeping the belief in self away by 
means of the contemplation of not-self, should both be construed in the same way" 
(Vism-mht 846). 

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[them] as pleasant; knowledge of contemplation of not-self is the void liberation 
since it liberates from interpreting [them] as self" (Patis II 67). (ii) Then it is 
expressed as the signless liberation by liberating from signs: "Knowledge of 
contemplation of impermanence is the signless liberation since it liberates from 
the sign [of formations] as permanent; knowledge of contemplation of pain is 
the signless liberation since it liberates from the sign [of formations] as pleasant; 
knowledge of contemplation of not-self is the signless liberation since it liberates 
from the sign [of formations] as self" (Patis II 68). [659] (iii) Lastly it is expressed 
as the desireless liberation by its liberating from desire: "Knowledge of 
contemplation of impermanence is the desireless liberation since it liberates 
from desire [for formations] as permanent; knowledge of contemplation of pain 
is the desireless liberation since it liberates from the desire [for them] as pleasant; 
knowledge of contemplation of not-self is the desireless liberation since it 
liberates from the desire [for them] as self" (Patis II 68). But although stated in 
this way insight knowledge is not literally signless because there is no 
abandoning of the sign of formations [as formed, here, as distinct from their 
sign as impermanent and so on]. It is however literally void and desireless. And 
it is at the moment of the noble path that the liberation is distinguished, and that 
is done according to insight knowledge's way of arrival at the path. 35 That, it 

35. "Why is signless insight unable to give its own name to the path when it has 
come to the point of arrival at the path? Of course, signless insight is mentioned in the 
suttas thus, 'Develop the signless and get rid of the inherent tendency to conceit' (Sn 
342). Nevertheless, though it eliminates the signs of permanence, of lastingness, and 
of self, it still possesses a sign itself and is occupied with states that possess a sign. 
Again, the Abhidhamma is the teaching in the ultimate sense, and in the ultimate 
sense the cause of a signless path is wanting. For the signless liberation is stated in 
accordance with the contemplation of impermanence, and in that the faith faculty 
predominates. But the faith faculty is not represented by any one of the factors of the 
path. And so it cannot give its name to the path since it forms no part of it. In the case 
of the other two, the desireless liberation is due to the contemplation of pain, and the 
void liberation is due to the contemplation of not-self. Now the concentration faculty 
predominates in the desireless liberation and the understanding faculty in the void 
liberation. So since these are factors of the path as well, they can give their own names 
to the path; but there is no signless path because the factor is wanting. So some say. 
But there are others who say that there is a signless path, and that although it does not 
get its name from the way insight arrives at it, still it gets its name from a special 
quality of its own and from its object. In their opinion the desireless and void paths 
should also get their names from special qualities of their own and from their objects 
too. That is wrong. Why? Because the path gets its names for two reasons, that is, 
because of its own nature and because of what it opposes — the meaning is, because of 
its individual essence and because of what it is contrary to. For the desireless path is 
free from desire due to greed, etc., and the void path is free from greed too, so they 
both get their names from their individual essence. Similarly, the desireless path is the 
contrary of desire and the void path is the contrary of misinterpretation as self, so 
they get their names from what they oppose. On the other hand, the signless path 
gets its name only from its own nature owing to the non-existence in it of the signs of 
greed, etc., or of the signs of permanence, etc., but not owing to what it opposes. For it 

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should be understood, is why only two liberations are stated [in the 
Abhidhamma], namely the desireless and the void. 

This, firstly, is the treatise on the liberations here. 

[The Seven Kinds of Noble Persons] 

74. It was said above, "It becomes a condition for the classification of noble 
persons into seven kinds." (§66) Herein, there are firstly these seven kinds of 
noble person: (1) the faith devotee, (2) one liberated by faith, (3) the body witness, 
(4) the both-ways liberated, (5) the Dhamma devotee, (6) one attained to vision, 
and (7) one liberated by understanding. This knowledge of equanimity about 
formations is a condition for their being placed as these seven classes. 

75. When a man brings [formations] to mind as impermanent and, having 
great resolution, acquires the faith faculty, (1) he becomes a faith devotee at the 
moment of the stream-entry path; and in the other seven instances [that is, in the 
three higher paths and the four fruitions] he becomes (2) one liberated by faith. 
When a man brings [them] to mind as painful and, having great tranquillity, 
acquires the faculty of concentration, (3) he is called a body witness in all eight 
instances. (4) He is called both-ways liberated when he has reached the highest 
fruition after also reaching the immaterial jhanas. When a man brings [them] to 
mind as not-self and, having great wisdom, acquires the faculty of understanding, 
he becomes (5) a Dhamma devotee at the moment of the stream-entry path; (6) in 
the next six instances he becomes one attained to vision; and (7) in the case of the 
highest fruition he becomes one liberated by understanding. 

76. (1) This is said: "When he brings [formations] to mind as impermanent, 
the faith faculty is in excess in him. With the faith faculty in excess he acquires 
the stream-entry path. Hence he is called a 'faith devotee'" (Patis II 53). [660] 
Likewise, (2) "When he brings [formations] to mind as impermanent, the faith 
faculty is in excess in him. With the faith faculty in excess the fruition of stream- 
entry is realized. Hence he is called 'one liberated by faith'" (Patis II 53). 



does not oppose the contemplation of impermanence, which has as its object the sign of 
formations [as formed], but remains in agreement with it. So a signless path is altogether 
inadmissible by the Abhidhamma method. This is why it is said, 'This refers to the way in 
which insight arrives at the path and is expressed in the literal sense' (§72). 

"However, by the Suttanta method a signless path is admissible. For according to that, 
in whatever way insight leading to emergence (see §83) effects its comprehending it still 
leads on to emergence of the path, and when it is at the point of arrival it gives its own 
name to the path accordingly — when emerging owing to comprehension as impermanent 
the path is signless, when emerging owing to comprehension as painful it is desireless, 
and when emerging owing to comprehension as not-self it is void. Taking this as a sutta 
commentary therefore, three liberations are differentiated here. But in the Patisambhida 
the deliverance from misinterpreting, from the sign and from desire, are taken respectively 
as the arrival of the three kinds of comprehension at that deliverance, and what is described 
is a corresponding state of void liberation, etc., respectively in the paths that follow upon 
that deliverance. There is no question of treating that literally, which is why he said, 
'However, in the Patisambhida insight knowledge' and so on" (Vism-mht 846^48). 

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77. It is said further: "[At the moment of the first path:] (2) he has been liberated 
by having faith (saddahanto vimutto), thus he is one liberated by faith; (3) he has 
realized [Nibbana] by experiencing, thus he is a body witness; (6) he has attained 
[Nibbana] by vision, thus he is one attained to vision. [At the moments of the 
three remaining paths:] (2) he is liberated by faith (saddahanto vimuccati), thus he 
is one liberated by faith; (3) he first experiences the experience of jhana and 
afterwards realizes cessation, Nibbana, thus he is a body witness; (6) it is known, 
seen, recognized, realized, and experienced with understanding, that formations 
are painful and cessation is bliss, thus he is one attained to vision" (Patis II 52). 

78. As to the remaining four, however, the word meaning should be understood 
thus: (1) he follows (anusarati) faith, thus he is a faith devotee (saddhanusari); or 
he follows, he goes, by means of faith, thus he is a faith devotee. (5) Likewise, he 
follows the Dhamma called understanding, or he follows by means of the 
Dhamma, thus he is a Dhamma devotee. (4) He is liberated in both ways, by 
immaterial jhana and the noble path, thus he is both-ways liberated. (7) 
Understanding, he is liberated, thus he is one liberated by understanding. 

[The Last Three Knowledges are One] 

79. This [knowledge of equanimity about formations] is the same in meaning 
as the two kinds that precede it. Hence the Ancients said: "This knowledge of 
equanimity about formations is one only and has three names. At the outset it 
has the name of knowledge of desire for deliverance. In the middle it has the 
name knowledge of reflection. At the end, when it has reached its culmination, 
it is called knowledge of equanimity about formations." 

80. "How is it that understanding of desire for deliverance, of reflection, and of 
composure is knowledge of the kinds of equanimity about formations? 
Understanding of desire for deliverance, of reflection, and composure [occupied 
with] arising is knowledge of equanimity about formations. Understanding of 
desire for deliverance, of reflection, and of composure [occupied with] occurrence 
... the sign ... (etc., see §37) ... with despair is knowledge of equanimity about 
formations" (Patis I 60f.). 

81. Herein, the compound muncitukamyata-patisankha-santitthana ("consisting 
in desire for deliverance, in reflection, and in composure") should be resolved 
into muncitukamyata ca sa patisahkha ca santitthana ca. So [661] in the first stage it 
is desire to give up, the desire to be delivered from, arising, etc., in one who has 
become dispassionate by knowledge of dispassion that is desire for deliverance. It 
is reflection in the middle stage for the purpose of finding a means to deliverance 
that is reflection. It is equanimous onlooking in the end stage on being delivered 
that is composure. It is said with reference to this: "Arising is formations; he looks 
with equanimity on those formations; thus it is equanimity about formations" 
(Patis I 61), and so on. So this is only one kind of knowledge. 

82. Furthermore, it may be understood that this is so from the following text; 
for this is said: "Desire for deliverance, and contemplation of reflection, and 
equanimity about formations: these things are one in meaning and only the 
letter is different" (Patis II 64). 



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[Insight Leading to Emergence] 

83. Now, when this clansman has reached equanimity about formations thus, 
his insight has reached its culmination and leads to emergence. "Insight that 
has reached culmination" or "insight leading to emergence" are names for the 
three kinds of knowledge beginning with equanimity about formations, [that is, 
equanimity about formations, conformity, and change-of-lineage]. It has "reached 
its culmination" because it has reached the culminating final stage. It is called 
"leading to emergence" because it goes towards emergence. The path is called 
"emergence" because it emerges externally from the objective basis interpreted 
as a sign and also internally from occurrence [of defilement]. 36 It goes to that, 
thus it leads to emergence; the meaning is that it joins with the path. 

84. Herein, for the purpose of clarification there is this list of the kinds of 
emergence classed according to the manner of interpreting: (1) after interpreting 
the internal 37 it emerges from the internal, (2) after interpreting the internal it 
emerges from the external, (3) after interpreting the external it emerges from the 
external, (4) after interpreting the external it emerges from the internal; (5) after 
interpreting the material it emerges from the material, (6) after interpreting the 
material it emerges from the immaterial, (7) after interpreting the immaterial it 
emerges from the immaterial, (8) after interpreting the immaterial it emerges 
from the material; (9) it emerges at one stroke from the five aggregates; (10) after 
interpreting as impermanent it emerges from the impermanent, (11) after 
interpreting as impermanent it emerges from the painful, (12) after interpreting 
as impermanent it emerges from the not-self; (13) after interpreting as painful it 
emerges from the painful, (14) after interpreting as painful it emerges from the 
impermanent, (15) after interpreting as painful it emerges from the not-self, (16) 
after interpreting as not-self it emerges from the not-self, (17) after interpreting 
as not-self it emerges from the impermanent, (18) after interpreting as not-self it 
emerges from the painful. How? 

36. "'From the object interpreted as the sign': from the pentad of aggregates as the 
object of insight; for that pentad of aggregates is called the 'object interpreted' on 
account of the interpreting, in other words, on account of being made the domain of 
insight. And although it is included in one's own continuity, it is nevertheless called 
'external' because it is seen as alien to it; it is that too which in other contexts is spoken 
of as 'externally from all signs' (Patis I 71). 'Internally from occurrence': from the 
occurrence of wrong view, etc., in one's own continuity, and from the defilements and 
from the aggregates that occur consequent upon them. For it is stated in this way 
because there is occurrence of defilement in one's own continuity and because there 
is occurrence of clung-to aggregates produced by that [defilement] when there is no 
path development. And emergence consists both in making these the object and in 
producing their non-liability to future arising" (Vism-mht 853). 

37. '"Emerges from the internal' is said figuratively owing to the fact that in this case 
the insight leading to emergence has an internal state as its object. In the literal sense, 
however, the path emerges from both" (Vism-mht 853). 

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85. Here (1) someone does his interpreting at the start with his own internal 
formations. After interpreting them he sees them. But emergence of the path does 
not come about through seeing the bare internal only since the external must be 
seen too, so he sees that another's aggregates, as well as unclung-to formations 
[inanimate things], are impermanent, painful, not-self. At one time [662] he 
comprehends the internal and at another time the external. As he does so, insight 
joins with the path while he is comprehending the internal. It is said of him that 
"after interpreting the internal it emerges from the internal." (2) If his insight 
joins with the path at the time when he is comprehending the external, it is said 
of him that "after interpreting the internal it emerges from the external." (3) 
Similarly in the case of "after interpreting the external it emerges from the 
external," and (4) "from the internal." 

86. (5) Another does his interpreting at the start with materiality. When he has 
done that, he sees the materiality of the primaries and the materiality derived 
from them all together. But emergence does not come about through the seeing 
of bare materiality only since the immaterial must be seen too, so he sees as the 
immaterial [mentality] the feeling, perception, formations and consciousness 
that have arisen by making that materiality their object. At one time he 
comprehends the material and at another the immaterial. As he does so, insight 
joins with the path while he is comprehending materiality. It is said of him that 
"after interpreting the material it emerges from the material." (6) But if his insight 
joins with the path at the time when he is comprehending the immaterial, it is 
said of him that "after interpreting the material it emerges from the immaterial." 
(7) Similarly in the case of "after interpreting the immaterial it emerges from the 
immaterial," and (8) "from the material." 

87. (9) When he has done his interpreting in this way, "All that is subject to 
arising is subject to cessation" (M I 380), and so too at the time of emergence, it is 
said that "it emerges at one stroke from the five aggregates." 

88. (10) One man comprehends formations as impermanent at the start. But 
emergence does not come about through mere comprehending as impermanent 
since there must be comprehension of them as painful and not-self too, so he 
comprehends them as painful and not-self. As he does so, emergence comes 
about while he is comprehending them as impermanent. It is said of him that 
"after interpreting as impermanent it emerges from the impermanent," (11)- 
(12) But if emergence comes about in him while he is comprehending them as 
painful ... as not-self, then it is said that "after interpreting as impermanent it 
emerges from the painful . . . from the not-self." Similarly in the cases of emergence 
after interpreting (13)-(15) as painful and (16)-(18) as not-self. 

89. And whether they have interpreted [at the start] as impermanent or as 
painful or as not-self, when the time of emergence comes, if the emergence takes 
place [while contemplating] as impermanent, then all three persons acquire the 
faculty of faith since they have great resolution; they are liberated by the signless 
liberation, and so they become faith devotees at the moment of the first path; and 
in the remaining seven stages they are liberated by faith. [663] If the emergence 
is from the painful, then the three persons acquire the faculty of concentration 



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since they have great tranquillity; they are liberated by the desireless liberation, 
and in all eight states they are body witnesses. Of them, the one who has an 
immaterial jhana as the basis for his insight is, in the case of the highest fruition, 
both-ways liberated. And then if the emergence takes place [while contemplating] 
as not-self, the three persons acquire the faculty of understanding since they 
have great wisdom; they are liberated by the void liberation. They become Dhamma 
devotees at the moment of the first path. In the next six instances they become 
attained to vision. In the case of the highest fruit they are liberated by 
understanding. 

[The Twelve Similes] 

90. Now, twelve similes should be understood in order to explain this insight 
leading to emergence and the kinds of knowledge that precede and follow it. 
Here is the list: 

(1) The fruit bat, (2) the black snake, and (3) the house, 
(4) The oxen, and(5) the ghoul, (6) the child, 
(7) Hunger, and (8) thirst, and (9) cold, and (10) heat, 
And (11) darkness, and (12) by poison, too. 

A pause can be made to bring in these similes anywhere among the kinds of 
knowledge from appearance as terror onwards. But if they are brought in here, 
then all becomes clear from appearance as terror up to fruition knowledge, 
which is why it was said that they should be brought in here. 38 

91. 1. The Fruit Bat. There was a fruit bat, it seems. She had alighted on a honey 
tree (madhuka) with five branches, thinking, "I shall find flowers or fruits here." 
She investigated one branch but saw no flowers or fruits there worth taking. And 
as with the first so too she tried the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth, but 
saw nothing. She thought, "This tree is barren; there is nothing worth taking 
here," so she lost interest in the tree. She climbed up on a straight branch, and 
poking her head through a gap in the foliage, she looked upwards, flew up into 
the air and alighted on another tree. 

92. Herein, the meditator should be regarded as like the fruit bat. The five aggregates 
as objects of clinging are like the honey tree with the five branches. The meditator's 
interpreting of the five aggregates is like the fruit bat's alighting on the tree. His 
comprehending the materiality aggregate and, seeing nothing there worth taking, 
comprehending the remaining aggregates is like her trying each branch and, seeing 
nothing there worth taking, trying the rest. His triple knowledge beginning with 
desire for deliverance, after he has become dispassionate towards the five aggregates 
[664] through seeing their characteristic of impermanence, etc., is like her thinking 
"This tree is barren; there is nothing worth taking here" and losing interest. His 
conformity knowledge is like her climbing up the straight branch. His change-of- 
lineage knowledge is like her poking her head out and looking upwards. His path 
knowledge is like her flying up into the air. His fruition knowledge is like her 
alighting on a different tree. 

38. "Said in the Discourse on Purification (visuddhi-katha)" (Vism-mht 855). See XX.77. 

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93. 2. The Black Snake. This simile has already been given (§49). But the 
application of the simile here is this. Change-of-lineage knowledge is like 
throwing the snake away. Path knowledge is like the man's standing and looking 
back whence he had come after getting free from it. Fruition knowledge is like 
his standing in a place free from fear after he had got away. This is the difference. 

94. 3. The House. The owner of a house, it seems, ate his meal in the evening, 
climbed into his bed and fell asleep. The house caught fire. When he woke up 
and saw the fire, he was frightened. He thought, "It would be good if I could get 
out without getting burnt." Looking round, he saw a way. Getting out, he quickly 
went away to a safe place and stayed there. 

95. Herein, the foolish ordinary man's taking the five aggregates as "I" and 
"mine" is like the house-owner's falling asleep after he had eaten and climbed 
into bed. Knowledge of appearance as terror after entering upon the right way 
and seeing the three characteristics is like the time when the man was frightened 
on waking up and seeing the fire. Knowledge of desire for deliverance is like the 
man's looking for a way out. Conformity knowledge is like the man's seeing the 
way. Change-of-lineage is like the man's going away quickly. Fruition knowledge 
is like his staying in a safe place. 

96. 4. The Oxen. One night, it seems, while a farmer was sleeping his oxen 
broke out of their stable and escaped. When he went there at dawn and looked 
in, he found that they had escaped. Going to find them, he saw the king's oxen. 
He thought that they were his and drove them back. When it got light, he 
recognized that they were not his but the king's oxen. He was frightened. 
Thinking, "I shall escape before the king's men seize me for a thief and bring me 
to ruin and destruction," he abandoned the oxen. Escaping quickly, he stopped 
in a place free from fear. 

97. Herein, the foolish ordinary man's taking the five aggregates as "I" and 
"mine" is like the man's taking the king's oxen. The meditator's recognizing 
the five aggregates as impermanent, painful, and not-self by means of the three 
characteristics is like the man's recognizing the oxen as the king's when it got 
light. Knowledge of appearance as terror is like the time when the man was 
frightened. Desire for deliverance is like the man's desire to leave them and go 
away. Change-of-lineage is like the man's actual leaving. The path is like his 
escaping. Fruition is like the man's staying in a place without fear after escaping. 
[665] 

98. 5. The Ghoul. A man went to live with a ghoul, it seems. At night, thinking 
he was asleep, she went to the place where the dead were exposed and ate 
human flesh. He wondered where she was going and followed her. When he 
saw her eating human flesh, he knew that she was a non-human being. He was 
frightened, and he thought, "I shall escape before she eats me." Quickly escaping, 
he went to a safe place and stayed there. 

99. Herein, taking the aggregates as "I" and "mine" is like the man's living 
with the ghoul. Recognizing the aggregates as impermanent, etc., by seeing the 
three characteristics is like the man's recognizing that she was a ghoul on 
seeing her eating human flesh in the place for the dead. Appearance as terror is 

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like the time when the man was frightened. Desire for deliverance is like his 
desire to escape. Change-of-lineage is like his leaving the place for the dead. 
The path is like his escaping quickly. Fruition is like his standing in the place 
without fear. 

100. 6. The Child. A woman was very fond of her son, it seems. While sitting on 
an upper floor she heard the sound of a child in the street. Wondering, "Is 
someone hurting my child?," she hurried down. Mistaking the child for her 
own son, she picked up someone else's son. Then she recognized that it was 
someone else's son, and she was ashamed and looked about her. She thought, 
"Let no one say I am a baby thief" and she put the child down there and then, 
and she quickly returned to the upper floor and sat down. 

101. Herein, taking the five aggregates as "I" and "mine" is like the woman's 
mistaking someone else's child for her own. The recognition that "This is not I, 
not mine" by means of the three characteristics is like her recognizing it as 
someone else's child. Knowledge of desire for deliverance is like her looking 
about her. Conformity knowledge is like her putting the child down there and 
then. Change-of-lineage is like the time when she stood in the street after putting 
the child down. The path is like her return to the upper floor. Fruition is like her 
sitting down after returning. 

102. 7-12. Hunger, Thirst, Cold, Heat, Darkness, and By Poison. These six similes, 
however, are given for the purpose of showing that one with insight that leads to 
emergence tends, inclines and leans in the direction of the supramundane states. 

103. 7. Just as a man faint with hunger and famished longs for delicious food, 
so too the meditator famished with the hunger of the round of rebirths longs for 
the food consisting of mindfulness occupied with the body, which tastes of the 
deathless. 

104. 8. Just as a thirsty man whose throat and mouth are parched longs for a 
drink with many ingredients, so too this meditator [666] who is parched with 
the thirst of the round of rebirths longs for the noble drink of the Eightfold Path. 

105. 9. Just as a man frozen by cold longs for heat, so too this meditator frozen 
by the cold of craving and [selfish] affection in the round of rebirths longs for 
the fire of the path that burns up the defilements. 

106. 10. Just as a man faint with heat longs for cold, so too this meditator 
scorched by the burning of the eleven fires (see S IV 19) in the round of rebirths 
longs for Nibbana. 

107. 11. Just as a man smothered in darkness longs for light, so too this 
meditator wrapped and enveloped in the darkness of ignorance longs for the 
light of knowledge consisting in path development. 

108. 12. Just as a man sick with poison longs for an antidote, so too this meditator 
sick with the poison of defilement longs for Nibbana, the deathless medicine 
that destroys the poison of defilement. 

109. That is why it was said above: "When he knows and sees thus, his heart 
retreats, retracts and recoils from the three kinds of becoming, the four kinds of 
generation, the five kinds of destiny, the seven stations of consciousness, and the 

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nine abodes of beings; his heart no longer goes out to them. Just as water drops 
retreat, retract and recoil on a lotus leaf that slopes a little ..." (§63), all of which 
should be given in the way already stated. 

110. But at this point he is called "one who walks aloof," with reference to 
whom it is said: 

"When a bhikkhu keeps apart 

And cultivates seclusion of the mind, 

It will befit him, as they say, 

To show himself no more in this becoming" (Sn 810). 

[The Difference in the Noble Path's Factors, Etc.] 

111. This knowledge of equanimity about formations governs the fact that the 
meditator keeps apart. It furthermore governs the difference in the [number of 
the] noble path's enlightenment factors, path factors, and jhana factors, the mode 
of progress, and the kind of liberation. For while some elders say that it is the 
jhana used as the basis for insight [leading to emergence] that governs the 
difference in the [number of] enlightenment factors, path factors, and jhana 
factors, and some say that it is the aggregates made the object of insight that 
govern it, and some say that it is the personal bent that governs it, 39 yet it is only 
this preliminary insight and insight leading to emergence that should be 
understood to govern it in their doctrine. 

112. To deal with these [three theories] in order: According to governance by 
insight, the path arisen in a bare-insight (dry-insight) worker, and the path 
arisen in one who possesses a jhana attainment but who has not made the jhana 
the basis for insight, and the path made to arise by comprehending unrelated 
formations after using the first jhana as the basis for insight, are [667] paths of 
the first jhana only. In each case there are seven enlightenment factors, eight 
path factors, and five jhana factors. For while their preliminary insight can be 
accompanied by joy and it can be accompanied by equanimity, when their insight 
reaches the state of equanimity about formations at the time of emergence it is 
accompanied by joy. 

113. When paths are made to arise by using the second, third, and fourth 
jhanas in the fivefold reckoning as the basis for insight, then the jhana in those 
paths has respectively four, three, and two factors. In each case, however, the path 
factors number seven, and in the fourth case there are six enlightenment factors. 
This difference is due both to governance by the basic jhana and to governance 
by insight. For again, while their preliminary insight can be accompanied by 
joy and it can be accompanied by equanimity, their insight leading to emergence 
is accompanied by joy only. 

114. However, when the path is produced by making the fifth jhana the basis 
for insight, then the jhana factors number two, that is, equanimity and unification 

39. "The first 'some' refers to the Elder Tipitaka Cula-Naga. The second 'some' refers 
to the Elder Maha Datta, dweller at Moravapi. The third 'some' refers to the Elder 
Tipitaka Cula Abhaya" (Vism-mht 856). 

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of the mind, and there are six enlightenment factors and seven path factors. This 
difference too is due to both kinds of governance. For in this case the preliminary 
insight is either accompanied by joy or accompanied by equanimity but that 
leading to emergence is accompanied by equanimity only. The same method 
applies in the case of the path made to arise by making the immaterial jhanas the 
basis for insight. 

Also when, after emerging from jhana made the basis for insight, the path 
has been produced by comprehending no matter what formations [unrelated to 
that jhana], then it is the attainment emerged from at the point nearest to the path 
that makes it like itself, as the colour of the soil does an monitor lizard's colour. 

115. But in the case of the second elder's theory the path is like the attainment, 
whatever it may be, which was instrumental in producing the path through the 
comprehension of any of its states after emergence from it. And here governance 
by insight should be understood in the same way as before. 

116. In the case of the third elder's theory the path is like that jhana, whichever 
it may be, that suits the personal bent, which jhana was instrumental in 
producing the path through the comprehension of any of its states in using it as 
the basis for insight. But this is not accomplished by mere bent alone unless the 
jhana has been made the basis for insight or unless the jhana has been 
comprehended; and this meaning should be illustrated by the Nandakovada 
Sutta (see M III 277, and Commentary). And here too, governance by insight 
should be understood in the same way as before. 

This, firstly, is how it should be understood that equanimity about formations 
governs the [numbers of] enlightenment factors, path factors, and jhana factors. 

117. [Progress.] But if [insight] has from the start only been able to suppress 
defilements with difficulty, with effort and with prompting, then it is called "of 
difficult progress." [668] The opposite kind is called "of easy progress." And 
when the manifestation of the path, the goal of insight, is slowly effected after 
defilements have been suppressed, then it is called "of sluggish direct- 
knowledge." The opposite kind is called "of swift direct-knowledge." So this 
equanimity about formations stands at the arrival point and gives its own name 
to the path in each case, and so the path has four names [according to the kind 
of progress] (see D III 228). 

118. For one bhikkhu this progress is different in the four paths, while for 
another it is the same. For Buddhas, however, the four paths are of easy progress 
and swift direct-knowledge. Likewise in the case of the General of the Dhamma 
[the Elder Sariputta]. But in the Elder Maha Moggallana's case the first path 
was of easy progress and swift direct-knowledge, but the others were of difficult 
progress and sluggish direct-knowledge. 

119. [Predominance.] And as with the kinds of progress, so also with the kinds 
of predominance, 40 which are different in the four paths for one bhikkhu and the 



40. The four predominances are those of zeal (desire), energy, consciousness, and 
inquiry. Cf. four roads to power (Dhs §73-74; Vibh 216 and Corny.). 

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same for another. So it is equanimity about formations that governs the difference 
in the progress. 

[Liberation.] But it has already been told how it governs the difference in the 
liberation [§66f.]. 

120. Furthermore, the path gets its names for five reasons, that is to say, (1) 
owing to its own nature, or (2) owing to what it opposes, or (3) owing to its own 
special quality, or (4) owing to its object, or (5) owing to the way of arrival. 

121. 1. If equanimity about formations induces emergence by comprehending 
formations as impermanent, liberation takes place with the signless liberation. 
If it induces emergence by comprehending them as painful, liberation takes 
place with the desireless liberation. If it induces emergence by comprehending 
them as not-self, liberation takes place with the void liberation. This is its name 
according to its own nature. 

122. 2. When this path is arrived at with the abandoning of the signs of 
permanence, lastingness, and eternalness, by effecting the resolution of the 
compact in formations by means of the contemplation of impermanence, it is 
then called signless. When it is arrived at with the drying up of desire and 
longing, by abandoning perception of pleasure by means of the contemplation 
of pain, it is then called desireless. When formations are seen as void by 
abandoning perception of self, of a living being, of a person, by means of the 
contemplation of not-self, it is then called void. This is its name according to 
what it opposes. 

123. 3. It is void because void of greed, and so on. It is signless owing either to 
absence of the sign of materiality, etc., or to absence only of the sign of greed, and 
so on. It is desireless because of absence of desire as greed, and so on. This is its 
name according to its own special quality. 

124. 4. It is called void, signless, and desireless, too, because it makes the void, 
signless, desireless Nibbana its object. This is its name according to its object. 
[669] 

125. 5. The way of arrival is twofold, namely, insight's way of arrival applies to 
the path, and the path's way of arrival applies to fruition. 

Now, contemplation of not-self is called void and the path [arrived at] by void 
insight is [called] void. 

Again, contemplation of impermanence is called signless and the path 
[arrived at] by signless insight is [called] signless. 

126. But while this name is inadmissible by the Abhidhamma method, 41 it is 
admissible by the Suttanta method; for, they say, by that method change-of- 
lineage takes the name "signless" by making the signless Nibbana its object, 
and while itself remaining at the arrival point, it gives its name to the path. 



41 . "If this is so, then is the path that follows on the contemplation of impermanence 
not included in the Abhidhamma? — That is not so; for it is included in the method of 
'simple progress' (suddhika patipada — see Dhs §§339-340)" (Vism-mht 861). 

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Hence the path is called signless. And its fruition can be called signless too 
according to the path's way of arrival. 

127. Lastly, contemplation of pain is called desireless because it arrives [at the 
path] by drying up desire for formations. The path [arrived at] by desireless 
insight is [called] desireless. The fruition of the desireless path is [called] 
desireless. 

In this way insight gives its own name to the path, and the path hands it on to 
its fruition. This is its name according to the way of arrival. 

This is how equanimity about formations governs the difference in the 
liberations. 

Equanimity about formations is ended. 

[9. Conformity Knowledge] 

128. As he repeats, develops and cultivates that equanimity about formations, 
his faith becomes more resolute, his energy better exerted, his mindfulness better 
established, his mind better concentrated, while his equanimity about formations 
grows more refined. 

129. He thinks, "Now the path will arise." Equanimity about formations, after 
comprehending formations as impermanent, or as painful, or as not-self, sinks 
into the life-continuum. Next to the life-continuum, mind-door adverting arises 
making formations its object as impermanent or as painful or as not-self 
according to the way taken by equanimity about formations. Then next to the 
functional [adverting] consciousness that arose displacing the life-continuum, 
the first impulsion consciousness arises making formations its object in the 
same way, maintaining the continuity of consciousness. 42 This is called the 
"preliminary work." Next to that a second impulsion consciousness arises 
making formations its object in the same way. This is called the "access." Next to 
that [670] a third impulsion consciousness also arises making formations its 
object in the same way. This is called "conformity." 

130. These are their individual names. But it is admissible to call all three 
impulsions "repetition" or "preliminary-work" or "access" or "conformity" 
indiscriminately. 

Conformity to what? To what precedes and to what follows. For it conforms to 
the functions of truth both in the eight preceding kinds of insight knowledge 
and in the thirty-seven states partaking of enlightenment that follow. 



42. "'Maintaining the continuity of consciousness' by absence of interruption, in other 
words, of occurrence of dissimilar consciousness. For when the life-continuum [which 
is mind-consciousness element] is displaced by the functional mind element [of five- 
door adverting (70)], the occurrence of the functional consciousness makes an 
interruption, an interval, between the occurrence of the resultant consciousness [i.e. 
the life-continuum and the consciousness that follows]. But this is not so with mind- 
door adverting (71) [which is mind-consciousness element]" (Vism-mht 862). See 
Table V Cognitive Series. 

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Chapter XXI Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way 

131. Since its occurrence is contingent upon formations through [compre- 
hending] the characteristics of impermanence, etc., it, so to speak, says, 
"Knowledge of rise and fall indeed saw the rise and fall of precisely those states 
that possess rise and fall" and "Contemplation of dissolution indeed saw the 
dissolution of precisely those states that possess dissolution" and "It was indeed 
precisely what was terrible that appeared as terror to [knowledge of] appearance 
as terror" and "Contemplation of danger indeed saw danger in precisely what 
was dangerous" and "Knowledge of dispassion indeed became dispassionate 
towards precisely that which should be regarded with dispassion" and 
"Knowledge of desire for deliverance indeed produced desire for deliverance 
from precisely what there should be deliverance from" and "What was reflected 
upon by knowledge of reflection was indeed precisely what should be reflected 
upon" and "What was looked on at with equanimity by equanimity about 
formations was indeed precisely what should be looked on at with equanimity." 
So it conforms to the functions of truth both in these eight kinds of knowledge 
and in the thirty-seven states partaking of enlightenment which follow, because 
they are to be reached by entering upon it. 

132. Just as a righteous king, who sits in the place of judgement hearing the 
pronouncements of the judges while excluding bias and remaining impartial, 
conforms both to their pronouncements and to the ancient royal custom by 
saying, "So be it," so it is here too. 

133. Conformity is like the king. The eight kinds of knowledge are like eight 
judges. The thirty-seven states partaking of enlightenment are like the ancient 
royal custom. Herein, just as the king conforms by saying "So be it" both to the 
judges' pronouncements and to the royal custom, so this conformity, which 
arises contingent upon formations through [comprehending] impermanence, 
etc., conforms to the function of truth both in the eight kinds of knowledge and 
in the thirty-seven states partaking of enlightenment that follow. Hence it is 
called "knowledge in conformity with truth." [671] 

Knowledge of conformity is ended. 

134. Though this conformity knowledge is the end of the insight leading to 
emergence that has formations as its object, still change-of-lineage knowledge 
is the last of all the kinds of insight leading to emergence. 

[Sutta References] 

135. Now, the following sutta references should be understood in order not to 
be confused about insight leading to emergence. For this insight leading to 
emergence is called "aloofness" (atammayata) 43 in the Salayatana-vibhahga Sutta 
thus, "Bhikkhus, by depending and relying on aloofness abandon, surmount, 
equanimity that is unified, based on unity" (M III 220). In the Alagadda Sutta it 



43. "Aloofness" — atammayata: not in PED. See also M III 43. The word is made up of 
a + tarn + maya + ta = "not-made-of-that-ness." Its meaning is non-attachment to any 
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is called "dispassion" (nibbida) thus, "Being dispassionate his greed fades away. 
With the fading away of greed he is liberated" (M I 139). 

In the Susima Sutta it is called "knowledge of the relationship of states" 
(dhammatthiti-nana) thus, "Previously, Susima, there is knowledge of relationship 
of states; subsequently there is knowledge of Nibbana" (S II 124). In the 
Potthapada Sutta it is called the "culmination of perception" (sannagga) thus, 
"First, Potthapada, the culmination of perception arises, and afterwards 
knowledge" (D I 185). In the Dasuttara Sutta it is called the "principal factor of 
purity" (parisuddhi-padhaniyanga) thus, "Purification by knowledge and vision 
of the way is the principal factor of purity" (D III 288). 

In the Patisambhidamagga it is called by the three names thus, "Desire for 
deliverance, and contemplation of reflection, and equanimity about formations: 
these things are one in meaning and only the letter is different" (Patis II 64). In 
the Patthana it is called by two names thus, "conformity to change-of-lineage" 
and "conformity to cleansing" 44 (Patth 1, 159). 

In the Rathavinita Sutta it is called "purification by knowledge and vision of 
the way" thus, "But how, friend, is it for the purpose of the purification by 
knowledge and vision of the way that the life of purity is lived under the Blessed 
One?" (M I 147). 

136. The Greatest Sage did thus proclaim 

This insight stilled and purified, 
That to emergence leads beside, 
With many a neatly chosen name. 
The round of rebirth's slough of pain 
Is vast and terrible; a man 
Wisely should strive as best he can, 
If he would this emergence gain. 

The twenty-first chapter called "The Description of 
Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Way" in the 
Treatise on the Development of Understanding in the Path 
of Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening 
good people. 



44. The word vodana ("cleansing") is used, in its loose sense of "purifying" in general, 
in 1.143. For its technical Abhidhamma sense here see Ch. XXII note 7. 



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Purification by Knowledge and Vision 
(Nanadassana-visuddhi-niddesa) 

[I. Change-of-Lineage, Paths, and Fruits] 

1. [672] Change-of- lineage knowledge comes next. Its position is to advert 
to the path, and so it belongs neither to purification by knowledge and vision 
of the way nor to purification by knowledge and vision, but being intermediate, 
it is unassignable. Still it is reckoned as insight because it falls in line with 
insight. 

2. Purification by knowledge and vision properly consists in knowledge of the 
four paths, that is to say, the path of stream-entry the path of once-return, the path 
of non-return, and the path of Arahantship 

[The First Path — First Noble Person] 

3. Herein, nothing further needs to be done by one who wants to achieve, 
firstly, the knowledge of the first path. For what he needs to do has already been 
done by arousing the insight that ends in conformity knowledge. 

4. As soon as conformity knowledge has arisen in him in this way, and the 
thick murk that hides the truths has been dispelled by the respective force peculiar 
to each of the three kinds of conformity (see XXI.129f.), then his consciousness 
no longer enters into or settles down on or resolves upon any field of formations 
at all, or clings, cleaves or clutches on to it, but retreats, retracts and recoils as 
water does from a lotus leaf, and every sign as object, every occurrence as object, 
appears as an impediment. 

5. Then, while every sign and occurrence appears to him as an impediment, 
when conformity knowledge's repetition has ended, change-of-lineage 
knowledge arises in him, which takes as its object the signless, non- 
occurrence, non-formation, cessation, Nibbana, — which knowledge passes 
out of the lineage, the category, the plane, of the ordinary man and enters the 
lineage, the category, the plane, of the Noble Ones, — which, being the first 
adverting, the first concern, the first reaction, to Nibbana as object, fulfils the 
state of a condition for the path in six ways, as proximity, [673] contiguity, 
repetition, decisive-support, absence, and disappearance conditions, — which 
is the culminating peak of insight, — which is irrevocable, — of which it is 
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"How is it that understanding of emergence and turning away from the 
external 1 is change-of-lineage knowledge? 

"It overcomes arising, thus it is change-of-lineage. It overcomes occurrence . . . 
[the sign ... accumulation ... rebirth-linking ... destiny ... generation ... re- 
arising ... birth ... ageing ... sickness ... death ... sorrow ... lamentation ... ]. It 
overcomes despair, thus it is change-of-lineage. It overcomes the sign of 
formations externally, thus it is change-of-lineage. 

"It enters into 2 non-arising, thus it is change-of-lineage. It enters into non- 
occurrence, thus it is change-of-lineage ... (etc.) ... It enters into non-despair, 
thus it is change-of-lineage. It enters into cessation, Nibbana, thus it is change- 
of-lineage. 

"Having overcome arising, it enters into non-arising, thus it is change-of- 
lineage ..." (Patis I 56) and so on, all of which should be quoted. 

6. Here is a simile that illustrates how conformity and change-of-lineage occur 
with different objects though occurring in a single cognitive series with a single 
adverting. Suppose a man wanted to leap across a broad stream and establish 
himself on the opposite bank, he would run fast, and seizing a rope fastened to 
the branch of a tree on the stream's near bank and hanging down, or a pole, he 
would leap with his body tending, inclining and leaning towards the opposite 
bank, and when he had arrived above the opposite bank, he would let go, fall on 
to the opposite bank, staggering first and then steady himself there; so too this 
meditator, who wants to establish himself on Nibbana, the bank opposite to the 
kinds of becoming, generation, destiny, station, and abode, runs fast by means of 
the contemplation of rise and fall, etc., and seizing with conformity's adverting 
to impermanence, pain or not-self the rope of materiality fastened to the branch 
of his selfhood and hanging down, or one among the poles beginning with 
feeling, he leaps with the first conformity consciousness without letting go and 
with the second he tends, inclines and leans towards Nibbana, like the body that 
was tending, inclining and leaning towards the opposite bank; then, being 
with the third next to Nibbana, which is now attainable, like the other's arriving 
above the opposite bank, he lets go that information as object with the ceasing of 
that consciousness, and with the change-of-lineage consciousness he falls on to 
the unformed Nibbana, the bank opposite; but staggering, as the man did, for 
lack of [previous] repetition, he is not yet properly steady on the single object. 
After that he is steadied by path knowledge. 

1. "'Of emerging and turning away from the external': it is the understanding of turning 
away that is being effected, which turning away is emergence from the field of 
formations; it is termed external because the unformed element's existence is external" 
(Vism-mht 866). The unformed element (=Nibbana) is classed as "external" under 
the internal (ajjhattika) triad of the Abhidhamma Matika (see Dhs 2 and p. 241). 

2. Pakkhandati — "enters into is glossed there by anupavisati (enters in Vism-mht (p. 
566), which is the sense required and may be taken as based on the idiom in the 
Suttas, "Cittam pakkhandati pasidati santitthati adhimuccati — the mind enters into [that], 
becomes settled, steady and resolute" (M I 186), which is obviously inappropriate 
here. 

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7. Herein, conformity is able to dispel the murk of defilements that conceals the 
truths, but is unable to make Nibbana its object. Change-of-lineage is only able 
to make Nibbana its object, but it is unable to dispel the murk that conceals the 
truths. 

8. Here is a simile: [674] A man with eyes went out at night, it seems, to find out 
the conjunction of the stars, and he looked up to see the moon. It was invisible 
because it was concealed by clouds. Then a wind sprang up and blew away the 
thick clouds; another blew away the medium clouds; and another blew away the 
fine clouds as well. Then the man saw the moon in the sky free from clouds, and 
he found out the conjunction of the stars. 

9. Herein, the thick, medium and fine kinds of darkness that conceal the truths 
are like the three kinds of cloud. The three kinds of conformity consciousness 
are like the three winds. Change-of-lineage knowledge is like the man with eyes. 
Nibbana is like the moon. The dispelling of the murk that conceals the truths by 
each kind of conformity consciousness is like the successive blowing away of 
the clouds by each wind. Change-of-lineage knowledge's seeing the clear 
Nibbana when the murk that concealed the truths has disappeared is like the 
man's seeing the clear moon in the sky free from cloud. 

10. Just as the three winds are able only to blow away the clouds that conceal 
the moon but cannot see the moon, so the three kinds of conformity are able only 
to dispel the murk that conceals the truths but cannot see Nibbana. Just as the 
man can only see the moon but cannot blow away the clouds, so change-of- 
lineage knowledge can only see Nibbana but cannot dispel the defilements. 
Hence it is called "adverting to the path." 

11. For although it is not adverting, it occupies the position of adverting; and 
then, after, as it were, giving a sign to the path to come into being, it ceases. And 
without pausing after the sign given by that the change-of-lineage knowledge, 
the path follows upon it in uninterrupted continuity, and as it comes into being 
it pierces and explodes the mass of greed, the mass of hate, and the mass of 
delusion never pierced and exploded before (cf. Patis II 20). 

12. Here is a simile for this. An archer, it seems, had a target 3 set up at a distance 
of eight usabhas (about 100 yards), and wrapping his face in a cloth and arming 
himself with an arrow, he stood on a wheel contrivance (a revolving platform). 
Another man turned the wheel contrivance, and when the target was opposite 
the archer, he gave him a sign with a stick. Without pausing after the sign the 
archer shot the arrow and hit the target. 

13. Herein, change-of-lineage knowledge is like the sign with the stick. Path 
knowledge is like the archer. Path knowledge's [675] making Nibbana its object 
without pausing after the sign given by change-of-lineage, and its piercing and 
exploding the mass of greed, hate and delusion never pierced and exploded 
before, is like the archer's hitting the target without pausing after the sign. 

3. Phalakasatam — "target": not in PED. Vism-mht says " Phalakasatan ti asana-sara- 
mayam phalakasatam — a "phalakasata" is one made of the heart (pith) of the asana tree." 
The "wheel contrivance" resembles a potter's wheel according to Vism-mht (p.867). 

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14. And not only does it cause the piercing of this mass of greed, etc., but it 
also dries up the ocean of suffering of the round in the beginningless round of 
rebirths. It closes all doors to the states of loss. It provides actual experience of 
the seven noble treasures. 4 It abandons the eightfold wrong path. It allays all 
enmity and fear. 5 It leads to the state of the Fully Enlightened One's breast-born 
son (see S II 221). And it leads to the acquisition of many hundred other blessings. 
So it is the knowledge associated with the path of stream-entry the provider of 
many hundred blessings, that is called knowledge of the path of stream-entry 

The first kind of knowledge is ended. 

[The First Fruition — Second Noble Person] 

15. Immediately next to that knowledge, however, there arise either two or three 
fruition consciousnesses, which are its result. For it is owing to this very fact that 
supramundane profitable [consciousness] results immediately that it is said, 
"And which he called the concentration with immediate result" (Sn 226), and 
"Sluggishly he reaches what has immediate result for the destruction of the 
cankers" (A II 149), and so on. 

16. Some, however, say that there are one, two, three, four, or five fruition 
consciousnesses. That is inadmissible. For change-of-lineage knowledge arises 
at the end of conformity's repetition, so at the minimum there must be two 
conformity consciousnesses, since one alone does not act as repetition condition. 
And a single series of impulsions has a maximum of seven [impulsion] 
consciousnesses. Consequently, that series which has two conformities and 
change-of-lineage as a third and path consciousness as fourth has three fruition 
consciousnesses. That which has three conformities and change-of-lineage as 
fourth and path consciousness as fifth has two fruition consciousnesses. That is 
why it was said above, "There arise either two or three fruition consciousnesses." 

17. Then some say that which has four conformities and change-of-lineage as 
fifth and path consciousness as sixth has one fruition consciousness. But that is 
refuted because it is the fourth or fifth [impulsion] that reaches [the path], not 
those after that, owing to their nearness to the life-continuum (see IV75). So that 
cannot be accepted as correct. [676] 

18. And at this point this stream-enterer is called the second noble person. 
However negligent he may be, he is bound to make an end of suffering when he 
has travelled and traversed the round of rebirths among deities and human 
beings for the seventh time. 

19. At the end of the fruition his consciousness enters the life-continuum. After 
that, it arises as mind-door adverting interrupting the life-continuum for the purpose 
of reviewing the path. When that has ceased, seven impulsions of path reviewing 

4. The seven (noble) treasures are: faith, virtue, conscience, shame, learning, 
generosity and understanding (D III 251). 

5. See the five kinds of enmity and fear at S II 68f. Vism-mht, however, says: "The five 
kinds of enmity beginning with killing living things and the twenty-five great terrors 
(maha-bhayani) are what constitute 'all enmity and fear'" (Vism-mht 867). 

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arise. After re-entry into the life-continuum, adverting, etc., arise again in the same 
way for the purpose of reviewing fruition, and so on. With the arising of these he 
reviews the path, he reviews the fruition, he reviews the defilements abandoned, he 
reviews the defilements still remaining, and he reviews Nibbana. 

20. He reviews the path in this way, "So this is the path I have come by." Next he 
reviews the fruition after that in this way, "This is the blessing I have obtained." 
Next he reviews the defilements that have been abandoned, "These are the 
defilements abandoned in me." Next he reviews the defilements still to be 
eliminated by the three higher paths, "These are the defilements still remaining 
in me." And lastly he reviews the deathless Nibbana in this way, "This is the 
state (dhamma) that has been penetrated by me as object." So the noble disciple 
who is a stream-enterer has five kinds of reviewing. 

21. And as in the case of the stream-enterer, so also in the cases of the once- 
returner and non-returner. But the Arahant has no reviewing of remaining 
defilements. So all the kinds of reviewing total nineteen. This is the maximum 
number. Trainers may or may not have the reviewing of the defilements 
abandoned and those still remaining. In fact it was owing to the absence of such 
reviewing that Mahanama asked the Blessed One, "What state is there still 
unabandoned by me internally owing to which at times states of greed invade 
my mind and remain?" (M I 91) all of which should be quoted. 

[The Second Path — Third Noble Person] 

22. However, after reviewing in this way, either while sitting in the same session 
or on another occasion, the noble disciple who is a stream-enterer makes it his 
task to reach the second plane by attenuating both greed for sense desires and 
ill-will. He brings to bear the faculties, 6 the powers, and the enlightenment factors, 
and he works over and turns up that same field of formations, classed as 
materiality, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, with the 
knowledge that they are impermanent, painful, not-self, and he embarks upon 
the progressive series of insights. 

23. When he has [677] done so, and when, at the end of equanimity about 
formations, conformity and change-of-lineage 7 knowledge have arisen in a single 

6. For the use of the expression "brings to bear" — samodhaneti in this sense see Patis I 
181. 

7. "Here 'change-of-lineage' means 'like change-of-lineage'; for the knowledge that ushers 
in the [first] path is called that in the literal sense because it overcomes the ordinary man's 
lineage and develops the Noble One's lineage. But this is called 'change-of-lineage' 
figuratively because of its similarity to the other. It is also called 'cleansing' (vodana) because 
it purifies from certain defilements and because it makes absolute purification its object. 
Hence it is said in the Patthana, 'Conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for 
cleansing' (Patth I 59). But 'next to change-of-lineage' is said here because it is said in the 
Patisambhidamagga that for the purpose of 'overcoming arising,' etc., 'eight states of 
change-of-lineage arise through concentration' and 'ten states of change-of-lineage arise 
through concentration' and 'ten states of change-of-lineage arise through insight' (Patis I 
68-69), and it is given in the same way in this page" (Vism-mht 869). 

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adverting in the way already described, then the path of once-return arises next 
to change-of-lineage. The knowledge associated with that is knowledge of the 
path of once-return. 

The second kind of knowledge is ended. 

[The Second Fruition — Fourth Noble Person] 

24. The fruition consciousness should be understood to follow immediately 
upon this knowledge in the same way as before. And at this point this once- 
returner is called the fourth noble person. He is bound to make an end of suffering 
after returning once to this world. Next there comes reviewing in the way already 
described. 

[The Third Path — Fifth Noble Person] 

25. Now, after reviewing in this way, either while sitting in the same session or 
on another occasion, this noble disciple who is a once-returner makes it his task 
to reach the third plane by abandoning, without remainder, both greed for the 
sense desires and ill-will. He brings to bear the faculties, the powers, and the 
enlightenment factors, and he works over and turns up that same field of 
formations with the knowledge that they are impermanent, painful, not-self, 
and he embarks upon the progressive series of insights. 

26. When he has done so, and when, at the end of equanimity about formations, 
conformity and change-of-lineage have arisen in a single adverting in the way 
already described, then the path of non-return arises next to change-of-lineage. 
The knowledge associated with that is knowledge of the path of non-return. 

The third kind of knowledge is ended. 

[The Third Fruition — Sixth Noble Person] 

27. The fruition consciousnesses should be understood to follow immediately 
upon this knowledge in the same way as before. And at this point this non- 
returner is called the sixth noble person. [After death] he reappears apparitionally 
[elsewhere] and attains complete extinction there without ever returning, without 
ever coming to this world again through rebirth-linking. Next there comes 
reviewing in the way already described. 

[The Fourth Path — Seventh Noble Person] 

28. Now, after reviewing in this way, either while sitting in the same session or 
on another occasion, this noble disciple who is a non-returner makes it his task 
to reach the fourth plane by abandoning, without remainder, greed for the fine- 
material and immaterial, conceit (pride), agitation, and ignorance. He brings to 
bear the faculties, the powers, and the enlightenment factors, and he works over 
[678] and turns up that same field of formations with the knowledge that they 
are impermanent, painful, not-self, and he embarks upon the progressive series 
of insights. 

29. When he has done so, and when, at the end of equanimity about formations, 
conformity and change-of-lineage have arisen in a single adverting, then the 

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path of Arahantship arises next to change-of -lineage. The knowledge associated 
with that is knowledge of the path of Arahantship. 

The fourth kind of knowledge is ended. 

[The Fourth Fruition — Eighth Noble Person] 

30. The fruition consciousness should be understood to follow immediately 
upon this knowledge in the same way as before. And at this point this Arahant 
is called the eighth noble person. He is one of the Great Ones with cankers 
destroyed, he bears this last body he has laid down the burden, reached his 
goal and destroyed the fetter of becoming, he is rightly liberated with [final] 
knowledge and worthy of the highest offering of the world with its deities. 

31. So when it was said above, "However, purification by knowledge and vision 
properly consists in knowledge of the four paths, that is to say, the path of 
stream-entry the path of once-return, the path of non-return, and the path of 
Arahantship" (§2), that referred to these four kinds of knowledge to be reached 
in this order. 

[II. The States Associated with the Path, Etc.] 

32. Now, in order to appreciate the value of this same purification by knowledge 
and vision with its four kinds of knowledge: 

(1) fulfilment of states sharing in enlightenment, 

(2) Emergence, and (3) the coupling of the powers, 

(4) The kinds of states that ought to be abandoned, 

(5) Also the act of their abandoning, 

(6) Functions of full-understanding, and the rest 

As stated when truths are penetrated to, 

(7) Each one of which ought to be recognized 

According to its individual essence. 

33. 1. Herein, the fulfilment of states sharing in enlightenment is the fulfilledness 
of those states partaking in enlightenment. For they are the following thirty- 
seven states: the four foundations of mindfulness (MN 10), the four right 
endeavours (M II 11), the four roads to power (M I 103), the five faculties (M II 
12), the five powers (M II 12), the seven enlightenment factors (M I 11), and the 
Noble Eightfold Path (D II 311f.). And they are called "partaking of 
enlightenment" because they take the part of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is 
called "enlightenment" in the sense of enlightening, and they "take the part" 
of that because they are helpful. 8 

8. The four foundations of mindfulness are fully commented on in the commentary 
to MN 10 (= commentary to DN 22). The right endeavours are fully commented on in 
the commentary to the Sammappadhana Vibhanga (cf. M-a II 243ff.; also A-a 
commenting on AN 1:11 1). The four roads to power are briefly commented on at M-a 
II 69 and fully in the commentary to the M-a I 82f. and more fully in the commentary 
to the Bojjhahga Vibhanga. The Noble Eightfold Path is commented on at M-a I 105 

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34. "Foundation" (patthana) is because of establishment (upatthana) by going down 
into, by descending upon, such and such objects. 9 Mindfulness itself as foundation 
(establishment) is "foundation of mindfulness." It is of four kinds because it occurs 
with respect to the body feeling, consciousness, and mental objects (dhamma), taking 
them as foul, painful, impermanent, and non-self, and because it accomplishes the 
function of abandoning perception of beauty pleasure, permanence, and self. [679] 
That is why "four foundations of mindfulness" is said. 

35. By it they endeavour (padahanti) , thus it is endeavour (padhana); a good 
endeavour is a right (samma) endeavour. Or alternatively: by its means people 
endeavour rightly (samma padahanti), thus it is right endeavour (sammappa- 
dhana). Or alternatively: it is good because of abandoning the unseemliness 
of defilement, and it is endeavour because of bringing about improvement 
and giving precedence (padhana-bhava-karana) in the sense of producing 
well-being and bliss, thus it is right endeavour. It is a name for energy. It 
accomplishes the functions of abandoning arisen unprofitable things, 
preventing the arising of those not yet arisen, arousing unarisen profitable 
things, and maintaining those already arisen; thus it is fourfold. That is why 
"four right endeavours" is said. 

36. Power (iddhi) is in the sense of success (ijjhana) as already described (XII.44). It 
is the road (basis — pada) to that power (for that success — iddhi) in the sense of being 
the precursor of that success which is associated with it and in the sense of being the 
prior cause of that success which is its fruit, thus it is a road to power (basis for 
success). It is fourfold as zeal (desire), and so on. That is why "four roads to power" 
are spoken of, according as it is said: "Four roads to power: the road to power 
consisting in zeal, the road to power consisting in energy, the road to power consisting 
in [natural purity of] consciousness, the road to power consisting in inquiry" (Vibh 
223). These are supramundane only. But because of the words "If a bhikkhu obtains 
concentration, obtains mental unification by making zeal predominant, this is called 
concentration through zeal" (Vibh 216), etc., they are also mundane as states acquired 
by predominance of zeal, etc., respectively. 

37. "Faculty" is in the sense of predominance, in other words, of overcoming, 
because [these states, as faculties] respectively overcome faithlessness, idleness, 
negligence, distraction, and confusion. 

"Power" is in the sense of unwaveringness because [these states, as powers] 
are incapable of being overcome respectively by faithlessness, and so on. Both 
are fivefold as consisting in faith, [energy, mindfulness, concentration, and 
understanding]. That is why "five faculties" and "five powers" is said. 

and from a different angle in the commentary to the Magga Vibhariga. The five faculties 
and the five powers are not apparently dealt with in the Nikaya and the Abhidhamma 
Commentaries by adding anything further to what is said here (§37). 
9. The Patisambhida (Patis I 177) derives satipatthana from sati (mindfulness) and 
patthana (foundation, establishment). The commentaries prefer to derive it from sati 
and upatthana (establishment, appearance, and also waiting upon: see M-a I 238). The 
readings of the Ee and Ae eds. disagree here and that of the former has been followed 
though the result is much the same. 

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38. Mindfulness, [investigation-of-states, energy, happiness, tranquillity 
concentration, and equanimity] as factors in a being who is becoming 
enlightened, are the "seven enlightenment factors." And right view, [right 
thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right 
mindfulness, and right concentration,] are the eight "path factors" in the sense 
of being an outlet. Hence, "seven enlightenment factors" and "the Noble 
Eightfold Path" is said. 

39. So there are these thirty-seven states partaking of enlightenment. 

Now, in the prior stage when mundane insight is occurring, they are found 
in a plurality of consciousnesses as follows: the foundation of mindfulness 
consisting in contemplation of the body [is found] in one discerning the 
body in the fourteen ways; 10 the foundation of mindfulness consisting in 
contemplation of feeling, in one discerning feeling in the nine ways; the 
foundation of mindfulness consisting in the contemplation of mind, in one 
discerning the [manner of] consciousness in sixteen ways; [680] the 
foundation of mindfulness consisting in contemplation of mental objects, in 
one discerning mental objects in the five ways. And at the time when, on 
seeing an unprofitable state arisen in someone else, which has not yet arisen 
in his own person, he strives for its non-arising thus, "I shall not behave as 
he has done in whom this is now arisen, and so this will not arise in me," 
then he has the first right endeavour; when, seeing something unprofitable 
in his own behaviour, he strives to abandon it, then he has the second; when 
he strives to arouse jhana or insight so far unarisen in this person, he has the 
third; and when he arouses again and again what has already arisen so that 
it shall not diminish, he has the fourth. And at the time of arousing a profitable 
state with zeal as the motive force, there is the road to power consisting in 
zeal, [and so on with the remaining three roads to power]. And at the time of 
abstaining from wrong speech there is right speech, [and so on with 
abstaining from wrong action and wrong livelihood]. 11 

At the time of arising of [any one of] the four kinds of [path] knowledge, [all 
these states] are found in a single consciousness. In the moment of fruition the 
thirty-three excepting the four right endeavours are found. 



10. These figures refer to the numbers of different contemplations described in the 
tenth sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (= DN 22). 

11. These three abstinences are the "prior state" of the Eightfold Path (see M III 289). 
"Only the road to power consisting in zeal, and right speech, are actually included 

here; but when these are mentioned, the remaining roads to power and remaining 
two abstinences are implied in the meaning too. The meaning of this sentence should 
be understood according to the 'category of characteristics' (lakkhana-hara — see 
Nettipakarana)" (Vism-mht 872). This Netti rule says: 

"When one thing has been stated, then those things 

That are in characteristic one with it 

Are stated too-this is the formulation 

Of the category of characteristics" (Netti 3). 

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40. When these are found in a single consciousness in this way, it is the one kind 
of mindfulness whose object is Nibbana that is called "the four foundations of 
mindfulness" because it accomplishes the function of abandoning the [four] 
perceptions of beauty, etc., in the [four things] beginning with the body. And also the 
one kind of energy is called "four right endeavours" because it accomplishes the 
[four] functions beginning with preventing the arising of the unarisen [unprofitable]. 
But there is no decrease or increase with the rest. 

41. Furthermore it is said of them: 

Nine in one way, one in two ways, 
Then in four ways, and in five ways, 
In eight ways, and in nine ways, too — 
So in six ways they come to be. 

42. (i) Nine in one way: these nine are zeal, consciousness, happiness, tranquillity, 
equanimity, thinking, speech, action, and livelihood, and they are found "in one 
way" as road to power consisting in zeal, etc., since they do not belong to any other 
group, (ii) One in two ways: faith is found "in two ways," as a faculty and as a power, 
(iii) Then in four ways, and (iv) in five ways: the meaning is that another one is found 
in four ways and another in five. Herein, concentration is the "one in four ways" 
since it is a faculty, a power, an enlightenment factor, and a path factor; understanding 
is the "one in five ways" since it is these four and also a road to power, (v) In eight 
ways, and (vi) in nine ways, too: the meaning is that another one is found in eight ways 
and another in nine ways. Mindfulness is one "in eight ways" since it is the four 
foundations of mindfulness, a faculty, a power, an enlightenment factor, and a path 
factor; energy is the one "in nine ways" since it is four right endeavours, a road to 
power, a faculty, a power, an enlightenment factor, and a path factor. [681] So: 

43. States sharing in enlightenment 
Are fourteen, undistributed; 
They total thirty-seven states 
Among the groups distributed. 

While each performs the proper task 
That to its special lot falls due, 
They all come into being when 
The Noble Eightfold Path comes true. 

This is how, firstly, the "fulfilment of states partaking in enlightenment" should 
be understood here. 

44. 2. Emergence and 3. coupling of the powers: the resolution of the compound 
vutthanabalasamayoga is vutthanah c'eva bala-samayogo ca. 

[2. Emergence:] mundane insight induces no emergence either from occurrence 
[of defilement internally], because it does not cut off originating, which is the 
act of causing occurrence, 12 or from the sign [of formations externally], because 
it has the sign as object. 



12. "Emergence from the sign consists in relinquishing the sign of formations and 
making Nibbana the object. Emergence from occurrence consists in entering upon 



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Change-of-lineage knowledge does not induce emergence from occurrence 
[internally] because it does not cut off originating, but it does induce emergence 
from the sign [externally] because it has Nibbana as its object; so there is 
emergence from one. Hence it is said, "Understanding of emergence and turning 
away from the external is knowledge of change-of-lineage" (Patis I 66). Likewise 
the whole passage, "Having turned away from arising, it enters into non-arising, 
thus it is change-of-lineage. Having turned away from occurrence ... (etc. — for 
elision see Ch. XXI. 37) ... [Having turned away from the sign of formations 
externally, it enters into cessation, Nibbana, thus it is change-of-lineage]" (Patis 
I 67), should be understood here. 

These four kinds of [path] knowledge emerge from the sign because they have 
the signless as their object, and also from occurrence because they cut off 
origination. So they emerge from both. Hence it is said: 

45. "How is it that understanding of emergence and turning away from both 
is knowledge of the path? 

"At the moment of the stream-entry path, right view in the sense of seeing (a) 
emerges from wrong view, and it emerges from defilements and from the 
aggregates that occur consequent upon that [wrong view], 13 and (b) externally it 
emerges from all signs; hence it was said: Understanding of emergence and 
turning away from both is knowledge of the path. Right thinking in the sense of 
directing emerges from wrong thinking . . . Right speech in the sense of embracing 
emerges from wrong speech . . . Right action in the sense of originating emerges 
from wrong action ... Right livelihood in the sense of cleansing emerges from 
wrong livelihood ... Right effort in the sense of exerting emerges from wrong 
effort ... Right mindfulness in the sense of establishment emerges from wrong 
mindfulness ... Right concentration in the sense of non-distraction emerges 
from wrong concentration and it emerges from defilements and from the 
aggregates that occur consequent upon that [wrong concentration], and 
externally it emerges from all signs; hence it was said: Understanding of 
emergence and turning away from both is knowledge of the path. 

"At the moment of the once-return path, right view in the sense of seeing . . . 
Right concentration in the sense of non-distraction (a) emerges from the gross 
fetter of greed for sense desires, from the gross fetter of resentment, from the 
gross inherent tendency to greed for sense desires, and from the gross inherent 
tendency to resentment, [and it emerges from defilements and from the 
aggregates consequent upon that, and (b) externally it emerges from all signs; 
hence it was said: Understanding of emergence and turning away from both is 
knowledge of the path]. 

"At the moment of the non-return path, right view in the sense of seeing . . . 
Right concentration in the sense of non-distraction (a) emerges [682] from the 

the state of non-liability to the occurrence of kamma-result in the future by causing 
the cessation of cause" (Vism-mht 874). 

13. "It emerges from the defilements of uncertainty, etc., that occur consequent 
upon that view, which is wrong since it leads to states of loss" (Vism-mht 874). 

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residual fetter of greed for sense desires, from the residual fetter of resentment, 
from the residual inherent tendency to greed for sense desires, from the residual 
inherent tendency to resentment, [and it emerges from defilements and from the 
aggregates that occur consequent upon that, and (b) externally it emerges from 
all signs; hence it was said: Understanding of emergence and turning away 
from both is knowledge of the path]. 

"At the moment of the Arahant path, right view in the sense of seeing ... 
Right concentration in the sense of non-distraction (a) emerges from greed for 
the fine-material [existence], from greed for immaterial [existence], from conceit 
(pride), from agitation, from ignorance, from the inherent tendency to conceit 
(pride), from the inherent tendency to greed for becoming, from the inherent 
tendency to ignorance, and it emerges from defilements and from the aggregates 
that occur consequent upon that, and (b) externally it emerges from all signs; 
hence it was said: Understanding of emergence and turning away from both is 
knowledge of the path" (Patis I 69f.). 

46. [3. Coupling of the powers:] At the time of developing the eight mundane 
attainments the serenity power is in excess, while at the time of developing the 
contemplations of impermanence, etc., the insight power is in excess. But at the 
noble path moment they occur coupled together in the sense that neither one 
exceeds the other. So there is coupling of the powers in the case of each one of 
these four kinds of knowledge, according as it is said: "When he emerges from 
the defilements associated with agitation, and from the aggregates, his mental 
unification, non-distraction, concentration, has cessation as its domain. When 
he emerges from the defilements associated with ignorance and from the 
aggregates, his insight in the sense of contemplation has cessation as its domain. 
So serenity and insight have a single nature in the sense of emergence, they are 
coupled together, and neither exceeds the other. Hence it was said: He develops 
serenity and insight coupled together in the sense of emergence" (Patis II 98). 

"Emergence" and "coupling of the powers" should be understood here in 
this way. 

47. 4. The kinds of states that ought to be abandoned, 5. also the act of their abandoning: 
now which states are to be abandoned by which kind of knowledge among 
these four should be understood, and also the act of abandoning them. For they 
each and severally bring about the act of abandoning of the states called fetters, 
defilements, wrongnesses, worldly states, kinds of avarice, perversions, ties, bad 
ways, cankers, floods, bonds, hindrances, adherences, clingings, inherent 
tendencies, stains, unprofitable courses of action, and unprofitable thought- 
arisings. 

48. Herein, the fetters are the ten states beginning with greed for the fine material, 
so called because they fetter aggregates [in this life] to aggregates [of the next], 
or kamma to its fruit, or beings to suffering. For as long as those exist there is no 
cessation of the others. And of these fetters, greed for the fine material, greed for 
the immaterial, conceit (pride), agitation, and ignorance are called the five higher 
fetters because they fetter beings to aggregates, etc., produced in higher [forms 
of becoming], [683] while false view of individuality, uncertainty, adherence to 

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rules and vows, greed for sense desires, and resentment are called the five lower 
fetters because they fetter beings to aggregates, etc., produced in the lower [forms 
of becoming]. 

49. The defilements are the ten states, namely, greed, hate, delusion, conceit 
(pride), [false] view, uncertainty, stiffness [of mind], agitation, consciencelessness, 
shamelessness. They are so called because they are themselves defiled and 
because they defile their associated states. 

50. The wrongnesses are the eight states, namely, wrong view, wrong thinking, 
wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong 
mindfulness, wrong concentration, which with wrong knowledge and wrong 
deliverance, 14 come to ten. They are so called because they occur wrongly. 

51. The worldly states are the eight, namely, gain, loss, fame, disgrace, pleasure, 
pain, blame, and praise. They are so called because they continually succeed 
each other as long as the world persists. But when the worldly states are included, 
then by the metaphorical use of the cause's name [for its fruit], the approval that 
has the gain, etc., as its object and the resentment that has the loss, etc., as its 
object should also be understood as included. 

52. The kinds of avarice are the five, namely, avarice about dwellings, families, 
gain, Dhamma, and praise, which occur as inability to bear sharing with others 
any of these things beginning with dwellings. 

53. The perversions are the three, namely, perversions of perception, of 
consciousness, and of view, which occur apprehending objects that are 
impermanent, painful, not-self, and foul (ugly), as permanent, pleasant, self, 
and beautiful. 

54. The ties are the four beginning with covetousness, so called because they 
tie the mental body and the material body. They are described as "the bodily tie 
of covetousness, the bodily tie of ill will, the bodily tie of adherence to rules and 
vows, and the bodily tie of insisting (misinterpreting) that 'This [only] is the 
truth'" (Vibh 374). 

55. Bad ways is a term for doing what ought not to be done and not doing what 
ought to be done, out of zeal (desire), hate, delusion, and fear. They are called 
"bad ways" because they are ways not to be travelled by Noble Ones. 

56. Cankers (asava): as far as (a) change-of-lineage [in the case of states of 
consciousness] and as far as (a) the acme of becoming [in the case of the kinds of 
becoming, that is to say, the fourth immaterial state,] there are exudations (savana) 
owing to the [formed nature of the] object. This is a term for greed for sense 
desires, greed for becoming, wrong view, and ignorance, because of the exuding 
(savana) [of these defilements] from unguarded sense-doors like water from cracks 

14. '"Wrong knowledge,' which is wrong because it does not occur rightly [i.e. in 
conformity with the truth], and is wrong and mistaken owing to misinterpretations, 
etc., is just delusion. 'Wrong deliverance' is the wrong notion of liberation that 
assumes liberation to take place in a 'World Apex' (lokathupika-see XVI. 85), and so 
on" (Vism-mht 886). 

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in a pot in the sense of constant trickling, or because of their producing (savana) 
the suffering of the round of rebirths. 15 [684] 

The floods are so called in the sense of sweeping away into the ocean of 
becoming, and in the sense of being hard to cross. 

The bonds are so called because they do not allow disengagement from an 
object and disengagement from suffering. Both "floods" and "bonds" are terms 
for the cankers already mentioned. 

57. The hindrances are the five, namely, lust, [ill will, stiffness and torpor, agitation 
and worry, and uncertainty] in the sense of obstructing and hindering and 
concealing [reality] from consciousness (IV86). 

58. Adherence {misapprehension — paramasa) is a term for wrong view, because it 
occurs in the aspect of missing the individual essence of a given state (dhamma) 
and apprehending (amasana) elsewhere (parato) an unactual individual essence. 

59. The clingings are the four beginning with sense-desire clinging described 
in all their aspects in the Description of the Dependent Origination (Ch. 
XVII.240f.). 

60. The inherent tendencies are the seven, namely, greed for sense desires, etc., in 
the sense of the inveterateness, stated thus: the inherent tendency to greed for 
sense desires, the inherent tendency to resentment, conceit (pride), [false] view, 
uncertainty, greed for becoming, and ignorance. For it is owing to their inveteracy 
that they are called inherent tendencies (anusaya) since they inhere (anusenti) as 
cause for the arising of greed for sense desires, etc., again and again. 

61. The stains are the three, namely, greed, hate, and delusion. They are so 
called because they are themselves dirty like oil, black, and mud, and because 
they dirty other things. 

62. The unprofitable courses of action are the ten, namely, killing living things, 
taking what is not given, sexual misconduct; false speech, malicious speech, 
harsh speech, gossip; covetousness, ill will, and wrong view; They are so called 
since they are both unprofitable action (kamma) and courses that lead to unhappy 
destinies. 

63. The unprofitable thought-arisings are the twelve consisting of the eight rooted 
in greed, the two rooted in hate, and the two rooted in delusion (XIV89f.). 

64. So these [four kinds of knowledge] each and severally abandon these states 
beginning with the fetters. How? 

The five states eliminated by the first knowledge in the case of the fetters, 
firstly, are: false view of personality, doubt, adherence to rules and vows, and 

15. The meaning of this paragraph is made clearer by reference to the AtthasalinT 
(Dhs-a 48) and Mula Tika (Dhs-t 51), where the use of a as an adverb in the sense of "as 
far as" indirectly with the ablative (gotrabhuto, etc.) is explained; the abl. properly 
belongs to savana (i.e. exudations from). Vism-mht only says: '"Exudations' (savana) 
because of occurring [due to], savanato ("because of exuding") is because of flowing out 
as filth of defilement. Savanato ("because of producing") the second time is because of 
giving out (pasavana)" (Vism-mht 876. Cf. also M-a I 61). 

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then greed for sense desires and resentment that are [strong enough] to lead to 
states of loss. The remaining gross greed for sense desires and resentment are 
eliminated by the second knowledge. Subtle greed for sense desires and 
resentment are eliminated by the third knowledge. The five beginning with 
greed for the fine material are only [actually] eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

In what follows, we shall not in every instance specify the fact with the 
expression "only [actually]"; nevertheless, whatever we shall say is eliminated 
by one of the [three] higher knowledges should be understood as only the 
[residual] state eliminated by the higher knowledge; for that state will have already 
been rendered not conducive to states of loss by the preceding knowledge. 

65. In the case of the defilements, [false] view and uncertainty are eliminated by 
the first knowledge. Hate is eliminated by the third knowledge. Greed, delusion, 
conceit (pride), mental stiffness, agitation, consciencelessness, and shameless- 
ness are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

66. In the case of the wrongnesses, wrong view, false speech, wrong action, and 
wrong [685] livelihood are eliminated by the first knowledge. Wrong thinking, 
malicious speech, and harsh speech are eliminated by the third knowledge. 
And here only volition is to be understood as speech. Gossip, wrong effort, 
wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration, wrong deliverance, and wrong 
knowledge are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

67. In the case of the worldly states, resentment is eliminated by the third 
knowledge, and approval is eliminated by the fourth knowledge. Some say that 
approval of fame and praise is eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

The kinds of avarice are eliminated by the first knowledge only. 

68. In the case of the perversions, the perversions of perception, consciousness, 
and view, which find permanence in the impermanent and self in the not-self, 
and the perversion of view finding pleasure in pain and beauty in the foul, are 
eliminated by the first knowledge. The perversions of perception and 
consciousness finding beauty in the foul are eliminated by the third path. The 
perversions of perception and consciousness finding pleasure in the painful 
are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

69. In the case of ties, the bodily ties of adherence to rules and vows and of the 
insistence (misinterpretation) that "This is the truth" are eliminated by the first 
knowledge. The bodily tie of ill will is eliminated by the third knowledge. The 
remaining one is eliminated by the fourth path. 

The bad ways are eliminated by the first knowledge only. 

70. In the case of the cankers, the canker of view is eliminated by the first 
knowledge. The canker of sense desire is eliminated by the third knowledge. 
The other two are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

The same thing applies in the case of the floods and the bonds. 

71. In the case of the hindrances, the hindrance of uncertainty is eliminated by 
the first knowledge. The three, namely, lust, ill will, and worry, are eliminated by 



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the third knowledge. Stiffness and torpor and agitation are eliminated by the 
fourth knowledge. 

Adherence is eliminated by the first knowledge only. 

72. In the case of the clingings, since according to what is given in the texts all 
worldly states are sense desires, that is, sense desires as object (see Nidd I 1-2), 
and so greed both for the fine material and the immaterial falls under sense- 
desire clinging, consequently that sense-desire clinging is eliminated by the 
fourth knowledge. The rest are eliminated by the first knowledge. 

73. In the case of the inherent tendencies, the inherent tendencies to [false] view 
and to uncertainty are eliminated by the first knowledge. The inherent tendencies 
to greed for sense desires and to resentment are eliminated by the third knowledge. 
The inherent tendencies to conceit (pride), to greed for becoming, and to 
ignorance are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

74. In the case of the stains, the stain of hate is eliminated by the third knowledge, 
the others are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

75. In the case of the unprofitable courses of action, killing living things, taking 
what is not given, sexual misconduct, false speech, and wrong view are 
eliminated by the first knowledge. The three, namely, malicious speech, harsh 
speech, and ill will, are eliminated by the third knowledge. Gossip and 
covetousness are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

76. In the case of the unprofitable thought-arisings, the four associated with [false] 
view, and that associated with uncertainty, making five, are eliminated by the 
first knowledge. The two associated with resentment are eliminated by the third 
knowledge. The rest are eliminated by the fourth knowledge. 

77. And what is eliminated by any one of them is abandoned by it. That is why 
it was said above, "So these [four kinds of knowledge] each and severally abandon 
these states beginning with the fetters." 

78. 5. The act of the abandoning: but how then? Do these [knowledges] abandon 
these states when they are past, or when they are future, or when [686] they are 
present? What is the position here? For, firstly, if [they are said to abandon them] 
when past or future, it follows that the effort is fruitless. Why? Because what has 
to be abandoned is non-existent. Then if it is when they are present, it is likewise 
fruitless because the things to be abandoned exist simultaneously with the 
effort, and it follows that there is development of a path that has defilement, or it 
follows that defilements are dissociated [from consciousness] though there is no 
such thing as a present defilement dissociated from consciousness. 16 

16. "The intention is: or it follows that there is dissociation of defilements from 
consciousness, like that of formations according to those who assert that formations 
exist dissociated form consciousness. He said, 'there is no such thing as a present 
defilement dissociated from consciousness' in order to show that that is merely the 
opinion of those who make the assertion. For it is when immaterial states are actually 
occurring by their having a single basis and being included in the three instants that 
they are present; so how could that be dissociated from consciousness? Consequently 
there is no dissociation from consciousness here" (Vism-mht 878). 

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79. That is not an original argument; for in the text first the question is put: 
"When a man abandons defilements, does he abandon past defilements? Does 
he abandon future defilements? Does he abandon present defilements?" Then 
the objection is put in this way: "If he abandons past defilements, he destroys 
what has already been destroyed, causes to cease what has already ceased, 
causes to vanish what has already vanished, causes to subside what has already 
subsided. What is past, which is non-existent, that he abandons." But this is 
denied in this way: "He does not abandon past defilements." Then the objection 
is put in this way: "If he abandons future defilements, he abandons what has 
not been born, he abandons what has not been generated, he abandons what 
has not arisen, he abandons what has not become manifest. What is future, 
which is non-existent, that he abandons." But this is denied in this way: "He 
does not abandon future defilements." Then the objection is put in this way: "If 
he abandons present defilements, then though inflamed with greed he abandons 
greed, though corrupted with hate he abandons hate, though deluded he 
abandons delusion, though shackled 17 he abandons conceit (pride), though 
misconceiving he abandons [false] view, though distracted he abandons 
agitation, though not having made up his mind he abandons uncertainty, though 
not having inveterate habits he abandons inherent tendency, dark and bright 
states occur coupled together, and there is development of a path that has 
defilement." But this is all denied in this way: "He does not abandon past 
defilements, he does not abandon future defilements, he does not abandon present 
defilements." Finally it is asked: "Then there is no path development, there is no 
realization of fruition, there is no abandoning of defilements, there is no 
penetration to the Dhamma (convergence of states)?" Then it is claimed: "There 
is path development ... there is penetration to the Dhamma (convergence of 
states)." 

And when it is asked: "In what way?" this is said: "Suppose there were a 
young tree with unborn fruit, and a man cut its root, then the unborn fruits of the 
tree would remain unborn and not come to be born, remain ungenerated and not 
come to be generated, remain unarisen and not come to be arisen, remain 
unmanifested and not come to be manifested. So too, arising is a cause, arising 
is a condition, for the generation of defilements. Seeing danger in defilements, 
consciousness enters into non-arising. With consciousness's entering into non- 
arising the defilements that would be generated with arising as their condition 
remain unborn and do not come to be born ... remain unmanifest and do not 
come to be manifested. So with the cessation of the cause there is the cessation of 
suffering. [687] Occurrence is a cause ... The sign is a cause ... Accumulation is 
a cause, accumulation is a condition, for the generation of defilements. Seeing 
danger in accumulation, consciousness enters into non-accumulation. With 
consciousness's entering into non-accumulation the defilements that would be 
generated with accumulation as their condition remain unborn and do not come 
to be born ... remain unmanifest and do not come to be manifested. So with the 

17. "'Shackled': one whose consciousness is shackled by conceit (pride)" 
(Vism-mht 878). 

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cessation of the cause there is cessation of suffering. So there is path development, 
there is realization of fruition, there is abandoning of defilements, and there is 
penetrating to the Dhamma" (Patis II 217-19). 

80. What does that show? It shows abandoning of defilements that have soil [to 
grow in]. But are defilements that have soil [to grow in] past, future or present? 
They are simply those described as "arisen by having soil [to grow in]." 

81. Now, there are various meanings of "arisen," that is to say, (i) arisen as 
"actually occurring," (ii) arisen as "been and gone," (iii) arisen "by opportunity," 
and (iv) arisen "by having [soil to grow in]." 

Herein, (i) all that is reckoned to possess [the three moments of] arising, 
ageing, [that is, presence] and dissolution, is called arisen as actually occurring. 

(ii) Profitable and unprofitable [kamma-result] experienced as the stimulus of 
an object and ceased-reckoned as "experienced and gone" (anubhutapagata) — , 
and also anything formed, when it has reached the three instants beginning 
with arising and has ceased-reckoned as 'been and gone' (hutvapagata) — , are 
called arisen as been and gone (bhutapagata). 

(iii) Kamma described in the way beginning, "Deeds that he did in the past" 
(M III 164), even when actually past, is called arisen by opportunity made because 
it reaches presence by inhibiting other [ripening] kamma and making that the 
opportunity for its own result (see XIX. 16.) And kamma-result that has its 
opportunity made in this way, even when as yet unarisen, is called "arisen by 
opportunity made," too, because it is sure to arise when an opportunity for it has 
been made in this way. 

(iv) While unprofitable [kamma] is still unabolished in any given soil (plane) 18 
it is called arisen by having soil [to grow in]. 

82. And here the difference between the soil and what has soil should be 
understood. For "soil" (plane) means the five aggregates in the three planes of 
becoming, which are the object of insight. 19 "What has soil" is an expression for 
defilements capable of arising with respect to those aggregates. Those defilements 
have that soil (plane). That is why "by having soil [to grow in]" is said. 

83. And that is not meant objectively. For defilements occupied with an object 
arise with respect to any aggregates including past or future ones as well [as 
present], and also with respect to the [subjectively] fully-understood aggregates 
in someone [else] whose cankers are destroyed, like those that arose in the rich 
man Soreyya with respect to the aggregates in Maha Kaccana (Dhp-a I 325) and 
in the brahman student Nanda with respect to Uppalavanna (Dhp-a II 49), and 



18. "'In any given plane' means aggregates as objects of clinging, reckoned as a 
human or divine person" (Vism-mht 879). 

19. "By the words 'which are the object of insight' he points out the non-fully- 
understood state of the aggregates, not merely the fact that they are the object of 
insight, which is proved by his taking only the three planes. For it is not-fully- 
understood aggregates among the aggregates constituting the [subjective] basis that 
are intended as the 'soil of defilements'" (Vism-mht ! 



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so on. And if that were what is called "arisen by having soil [to grow in]" no one 
could abandon the root of becoming because it would be unabandonable. But "arisen 
by having soil [to grow in]" should be understood [subjectively] with respect to the 
basis [for them in oneself]. 20 For the defilements that are the root of the round are 
inherent in [one's own] aggregates not fully understood by insight from the instant 
those aggregates arise. And that is what should be understood as "arisen by having 
the soil [to grow in]," in the sense of its being unabandoned. [688] 

84. Now, when defilements are inherent, in the sense of being unabandoned, 
in someone's aggregates, it is only those aggregates of his that are the basis for 
those defilements, not aggregates belonging to another. And only past 
aggregates, not others, are the basis for defilements that inhere unabandoned in 
past aggregates. Likewise in the case of future aggregates, and so on. Similarly 
too only sense-sphere aggregates, not others, are the basis for defilements that 
inhere unabandoned in sense-sphere aggregates. Likewise in the case of the 
fine material and immaterial. 

85. But in the case of the stream-enterer, etc., when a given defilement, which is 
a root of the round, has been abandoned by means of a given path in a given 
noble person's aggregates, then his aggregates are no longer called "soil" for 
such defilement since they are no longer a basis for it. But in an ordinary man 
the defilements that are the root of the round are not abandoned at all, and so 
whatever kamma he performs is always either profitable or unprofitable. So for 
him the round goes on revolving with kamma and defilements as its condition. 

86. But while it is thus the root of the round it cannot be said that it is only in 
his materiality aggregate, and not in his other aggregates beginning with feeling 
. . . that it is only in his consciousness aggregate, and not in his other aggregates 
beginning with materiality. Why? Because it is inherent in all five aggregates 
indiscriminately. How? Like the juice of humus, etc., in a tree. 

87. For when a great tree is growing on the earth's surface supported by the 
essences of humus and water and, with that as condition, increases its roots, 
trunks, branches, twigs, shoots, foliage, flowers, and fruit, till it fills the sky, and 
continues the tree's lineage through the succession of the seed up till the end of 
the eon, it cannot be said that the essence of humus, etc., are found only in its root 
and not in the trunk, etc., . . . that they are only in the fruit and not in the root, etc., 
Why? Because they spread indiscriminately through the whole of it from the 
root onwards. 

88. But some man who felt revulsion for that same tree's flowers, fruits, etc., 
might puncture it on four sides with the poison thorn called "manduka thorn," 
and then the tree, being poisoned, would be no more able to prolong its continuity 
since it would have become barren with the contamination of the essences of 
humus and water. 



20. "No one would be able to abandon the root of becoming if it were in another's 
continuity. 'With respect to the basis [for them in oneself]' means as the place of their 
arising; in that particular becoming or continuity" (Vism-mht I 



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So too the clansman who feels revulsion (dispassion) for the occurrence of 
the aggregates, undertakes to develop the four paths in his own continuity which 
is like the man's application of poison to the tree on all four sides. Then the 
continuity of his aggregates is rendered incapable of prolonging the continuity 
to a subsequent becoming. It is now unproductive of future becoming since all 
kinds of kamma beginning with bodily kamma are now merely functional: for 
the effect of the four paths' poison has entirely exterminated the defilements that 
are the root of the round. [689] Being without clinging, he inevitably attains 
with the cessation of the last consciousness the complete extinction [of Nibbana], 
like a fire with no more fuel. This is how the difference between the soil and what 
has soil should be understood. 

89. Besides these there are four other ways of classing "arisen," namely, (v) 
arisen as happening, (vi) arisen with apprehension of an object, (vii) arisen 
through non-suppression, (viii) arisen through non-abolition. 

Herein, (v) arisen as happening is the same as (i) "arisen as actually occurring." 

(vi) When an object has at some previous time come into focus in the eye, etc., 
and defilement did not arise then but arose in full force later on simply because 
the object had been apprehended, then that defilement is called arisen with 
apprehension of an object. Like the defilement that arose in the Elder Maha-Tissa 
after seeing the form of a person of the opposite sex while wandering for alms in 
the village of Kalyana (cf. M-a I 66 and A-a to A I 4). 

(vii) As long as a defilement is not suppressed by either serenity or insight, 
though it may not have actually entered the conscious continuity, it is nevertheless 
called arisen through non-suppression because there is no cause to prevent its 
arising [if suitable conditions combine], (viii) But even when they are suppressed 
by serenity or insight they are still called arisen through non-abolition because the 
necessity for their arising has not been transcended unless they have been cut 
off by the path. Like the elder who had obtained the eight attainments, and the 
defilements that arose in him while he was going through the air on his hearing 
the sound of a woman singing with a sweet voice as she was gathering flowers 
in a grove of blossoming trees. 

90. And the three kinds, namely, (vi) arisen with apprehension of an object, 
(vii) arisen through non-suppression, and (vii) arisen through non-abolition, 
should be understood as included by (iv) arisen by having soil [to grow in]. 

91. So as regard the kinds of "arisen" stated, the four kinds, namely, (i) as 
actually occurring, (ii) as been and gone, (iii) by opportunity made, and (v) as 
happening, cannot be abandoned by any [of these four kinds of] knowledge 
because they cannot be eliminated by the paths. But the four kinds of "arisen," 
namely, (iv) by having soil [to grow in], (vi) with apprehension of an object, (vii) 
through non-suppression, and (viii) through non-abolition, can all be 
abandoned because a given mundane or supramundane knowledge, when it 
arises, nullifies a given one of these modes of being arisen. 

So here "the kinds of states that ought to be abandoned, also the act of their 
abandoning" (§32) should be known in this way. 



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[The Four Functions] 

92. (6) Functions of full-understanding and the rest 
As stated when truths are penetrated to, 

(7) Each one of which ought to be recognized 
According to its individual essence. (§32) 

[The Four Functions in a Single Moment] 

6. Now, at the times of penetrating to the truths each one of the four [path] 
knowledges is said to exercise four functions in a single moment. These are full- 
understanding, abandoning, realizing, and developing; and each one of them 
ought to be recognized according to its individual essence. [690] For this is said 
by the Ancients: "Just as a lamp performs the four functions simultaneously in 
a single moment — it burns the wick, dispels darkness, makes light appear, and 
uses up the oil — , so too, path knowledge penetrates to the four truths 
simultaneously in a single moment — it penetrates to suffering by penetrating to 
it with full-understanding, penetrates to origination by penetrating to it with 
abandoning, penetrates to the path by penetrating to it with developing, and 
penetrates cessation by penetrating to it with realizing" (see Pet 134). What is 
meant? By making cessation its object it reaches, sees and pierces the four truths." 

93. For this is said: "Bhikkhus, he who sees suffering sees also the origin of 
suffering, sees also the cessation of suffering, sees also the way leading to the 
cessation of suffering" (S V 437), etc., and so it should be understood [for all the 
other three truths]. And further it is said: "The knowledge of one who possesses 
the path is knowledge of suffering and it is knowledge of the origin of suffering 
and it is knowledge of the cessation of suffering and it is knowledge of the way 
leading to the cessation of suffering" (Patis I 119). 

94. As the lamp burns the wick, so his path knowledge fully understands 
suffering; as the lamp dispels the darkness, so the knowledge abandons origin; 
as the lamp makes the light appear, so the knowledge [as right view] develops 
the path, in other words, the states consisting in right thinking, etc., [by acting] 
as conascence, etc., for them; and as the lamp uses up the oil, so the knowledge 
realizes cessation, which brings defilements to an end. This is how the application 
of the simile should be understood. 

95. Another method: as the sun, when it rises, performs four functions 
simultaneously with its appearance — it illuminates visible objects, dispels 
darkness, causes light to be seen, and allays cold — , so too, path knowledge . . . 
penetrates to cessation by penetrating to it with realizing. And here also, as the 
sun illuminates visible objects, so path knowledge fully understands suffering; 
as the sun dispels darkness, so path knowledge abandons origin; as the sun 
causes light to be seen, so path knowledge [as right view] develops the [other] 
path [factors] by acting as [their] conascence condition, etc.; as the sun allays 
cold, so path knowledge realizes the cessation, which is the tranquilizing of 
defilements. This is how the application of the simile should be understood. 

96. Another method: as a boat performs four functions simultaneously in a 
single moment — it leaves the hither shore, it cleaves the stream, it carries its 

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cargo, [691] and it approaches the further shore — , so too, path knowledge ... 
penetrates to cessation by penetrating to it with realizing. And here, as the boat 
leaves the hither shore, so path knowledge fully understands suffering; as the 
boat cleaves the stream, so path knowledge abandons origin; as the boat carries 
its cargo, so path knowledge develops the [other] path [factors] by acting as 
[their] conascence condition, etc.; as the boat approaches the further shore, so 
path knowledge realizes cessation, which is the further shore. This is how the 
application of the simile should be understood. 

97. So when his knowledge occurs with the four functions in a single moment 
at the time of penetrating the four truths, then the four truths have a single 
penetration in the sense of trueness (reality) in sixteen ways, as it is said: "How 
is there single penetration of the four truths in the sense of trueness? There is 
single penetration of the four truths in the sense of trueness in sixteen aspects: 
suffering has the meaning of oppressing, meaning of being formed, meaning of 
burning (torment), meaning of change, as its meaning of trueness; origin has 
the meaning of accumulation, meaning of source, meaning of bondage, meaning 
of impediment, as its meaning of trueness; cessation has the meaning of escape, 
meaning of seclusion, meaning of being not formed, meaning of deathlessness, 
as its meaning of trueness; the path has the meaning of outlet, meaning of cause, 
meaning of seeing, meaning of dominance, as its meaning of trueness. The four 
truths in these sixteen ways are included as one. What is included as one is 
unity. Unity is penetrated by a single knowledge. Thus the four truths have a 
single penetration" (Patis II 107). 

98. Here it may be asked: "Since there are other meanings of suffering, etc., too, 
such as 'a disease, a tumour' (Patis II 238; M I 435), etc., why then are only four 
mentioned for each?" We answer that in this context it is better because of what 
is evident through seeing the other [three truths in each case]. 

Firstly, in the passage beginning, "Herein, what is knowledge of suffering? It 
is the understanding, the act of understanding ... that arises contingent upon 
suffering" (Patis I 119), knowledge of the truths is presented as having a single 
truth as its object [individually]. But in the passage beginning, "Bhikkhus, he 
who sees suffering also sees its origin" (S V 437), it is presented as accomplishing 
its function with respect to the other three truths simultaneously with its making 
one of them its object. 

99. As regards these [two contexts], when, firstly, knowledge makes each truth 
its object singly, then [when suffering is made the object], suffering has the 
characteristic of oppressing as its individual essence, but its sense of being formed 
becomes evident through seeing origin because that suffering is accumulated, 
formed, agglomerated, by the origin, which has the characteristic of 
accumulating. Then the cooling path removes the burning of the defilements, 
[692] and so suffering's sense of burning becomes evident through seeing the 
path, as the beauty's (Sundari's) ugliness did to the venerable Nanda through 
seeing the celestial nymphs (see Ud 23). But its sense of changing becomes evident 
through seeing cessation as not subject to change, which needs no explaining. 



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100. Likewise, [when origin is made the object,] origin has the characteristic of 
accumulating as its individual essence; but its sense of source becomes evident 
through seeing suffering, just as the fact that unsuitable food is the source of a 
sickness, becomes evident through seeing how a sickness arises owing to such 
food. Its sense of bondage becomes evident through seeing cessation, which has 
no bonds. And its sense of impediment becomes evident through seeing the path, 
which is the outlet. 

101. Likewise, [when cessation is made the object,] cessation has the 
characteristic of an escape. But its sense of seclusion becomes evident through 
seeing origin as unsecluded. Its sense of being not formed becomes evident through 
seeing the path; for the path has never been seen by him before in the 
beginningless round of rebirths, and yet even that is formed since it has 
conditions, and so the unformedness of the conditionless becomes quite clear. 
But its sense of being deathless becomes evident through seeing suffering; for 
suffering is poison and Nibbana is deathless. 

102. Likewise, [when the path is made the object,] the path has the characteristic 
of the outlet. But its sense of cause becomes evident through seeing origin thus, 
"That is not the cause, [but on the contrary] this is the cause, for the attaining of 
Nibbana." Its sense of seeing becomes evident through seeing cessation, as the 
eye's clearness becomes evident to one who sees very subtle visible objects and 
thinks, "How clear my eye is!" Its sense of dominance becomes evident through 
seeing suffering, just as the superiority of lordly people becomes evident through 
seeing wretched people afflicted with many diseases. 

103. So in that [first] context four senses are stated for each truth because in the 
case of each truth [individually] one sense becomes evident as the specific 
characteristic, while the other three become evident through seeing the remaining 
three truths. 

At the path moment, however, all these senses are penetrated simultaneously 
by a single knowledge that has four functions with respect to suffering and the 
rest. But about those who would have it that [the different truths] are penetrated 
to separately, more is said in the Abhidhamma in the Kathavatthu (Kv 212-20). 

[The Four Functions Described Separately] 

104. 7. Now, as to those four functions beginning with full-understanding, 
which were mentioned above (§92): 

(a) Full-understanding is threefold; 
So too (b) abandoning, and (c) realizing, 
And (d) two developings are reckoned — 
Thus should be known the exposition. 

105. (a) Full-understanding is threefold, that is, (i) full understanding as the 
known, (ii) full-understanding as investigating (judging), and (iii) full- 
understanding as abandoning (see XX. 3). 

106. (i) Herein, full-understanding as the known [693] is summarized thus: 
"Understanding that is direct-knowledge is knowledge in the sense of the 



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known" (Patis I 87). It is briefly stated thus: "Whatever states are directly known 
are known" (Patis I 87). It is given in detail in the way beginning: "Bhikkhus, all 
is to be directly known. And what is all that is to be directly known? Eye is to be 
directly known ..." (Patis I 5). Its particular plane is the direct knowing of 
mentality-materiality with its conditions. 

107. (ii) Full-understanding as investigating (judging) is summarized thus: 
"Understanding that is full-understanding is knowledge in the sense of 
investigation (judging)" (Patis I 87). It is briefly stated thus: "Whatever states are 
fully understood are investigated (judged)" (Patis I 87). It is given in detail in the 
way beginning: "Bhikkhus, all is to be fully understood. And what is all that is 
to be fully understood? The eye is to be fully understood ..." (Patis I 22) Its 
particular plane starts with comprehension by groups, and occurring as 
investigation of impermanence, suffering, and not-self, it extends as far as 
conformity (cf. XX.4). 

108. (iii) Full-understanding as abandoning is summarized thus: "Understanding 
that is abandoning is knowledge in the sense of giving up" (Patis I 87). It is 
stated in detail thus: Whatever states are abandoned are given up" (Patis I 87). It 
occurs in the way beginning: "Through the contemplation of impermanence he 
abandons the perception of permanence ..." (cf. Patis I 58). Its plane extends 
from the contemplation of dissolution up to path knowledge. This is what is 
intended here. 

109. Or alternatively, full- understanding as the known and full-understanding 
as investigating have that [third kind] as their aim, too, and whatever states a 
man abandons are certainly known and investigated, and so all three kinds of 
full-understanding can be understood in this way as the function of path 
knowledge. 

110. (b) So too abandoning: abandoning is threefold too, like full-understanding, 
that is, (i) abandoning by suppressing, (ii) abandoning by substitution of 
opposites, and (iii) abandoning by cutting off. 

111. (i) Herein, when any of the mundane kinds of concentration suppresses 
opposing states such as the hindrances, that act of suppressing, which is like 
the pressing down of water-weed by placing a porous pot on weed-filled water, 
is called abandoning by suppressing. But the suppression of only the hindrances 
is given in the text thus: "And there is abandoning of the hindrances by 
suppression in one who develops the first jhana" (Patis I 27). However, that 
should be understood as so stated because of the obviousness [of the suppression 
then]. For even before and after the jhana as well hindrances do not invade 
consciousness suddenly; but applied thought, etc., [are suppressed] only at the 
moment of actual absorption [in the second jhana, etc.,] and so the suppression 
of the hindrances then is obvious. 

112. (ii) But what is called abandoning by substitution of opposites is the 
abandoning of any given state that ought to be abandoned through the means 
of a particular factor of knowledge, which as a constituent of insight is opposed 
to it, like the abandoning of darkness at night through the means of a light. 
[694] It is in fact the abandoning firstly of the [false] view of individuality through 

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the means of delimitation of mentality-materiality; the abandoning of both the 
no-cause view and the fictitious-cause view and also of the stain of doubt through 
the means of discerning conditions; the abandoning of apprehension of a 
conglomeration as "I" and "mine" through the means of comprehension by 
groups; the abandoning of perception of the path in what is not the path through 
the means of the definition of what is the path and what is not the path; the 
abandoning of the annihilation view through the means of seeing rise; the 
abandoning of the eternity view through the means of seeing fall; the 
abandoning of the perception of non-terror in what is terror through the means 
of appearance as terror; the abandoning of the perception of enjoyment through 
the means of seeing danger; the abandoning of the perception of delight through 
the means of the contemplation of dispassion (revulsion); the abandoning of 
lack of desire for deliverance through the means of desire for deliverance; the 
abandoning of non-reflection through the means of reflection; the abandoning 
of not looking on equably through the means of equanimity; the abandoning of 
apprehension contrary to truth through the means of conformity. 

113. And also in the case of the eighteen principal insights the abandoning 
by substitution of opposites is: (1) the abandoning of the perception of the 
perception of permanence, through the means of the contemplation of 
impermanence; (2) of the perception of pleasure, through the means of the 
contemplation of pain; (3) of the perception of self, through the means of the 
contemplation of not-self; (4) of delight, through the means of the contemplation 
of dispassion (revulsion); (5) of greed, through the means of the contemplation 
of fading away; (6) of originating, through the means of the contemplation of 
cessation; (7) of grasping, through the means of the contemplation of 
relinquishment; (8) of the perception of compactness, through the means of the 
contemplation of destruction; (9) of accumulation, through the means of the 
contemplation of fall; (10) of the perception of lastingness, through the means of 
the contemplation of change; (11) of the sign, through the means of the 
contemplation of the signless; (12) of desire, through the means of the 
contemplation of the desireless; (13) of misinterpreting (insisting), through the 
means of the contemplation of voidness; (14) of misinterpreting (insisting) due 
to grasping at a core, through the means of insight into states that is higher 
understanding; (15) of misinterpreting (insisting) due to confusion, through 
the means of correct knowledge and vision; (16) of misinterpreting (insisting) 
due to reliance [on formations], through the means of the contemplation of danger 
[in them]; (17) of non-reflection, through the means of the contemplation of 
reflection; (18) of misinterpreting (insisting) due to bondage, through means of 
contemplation of turning away (cf. Patis I 47). 

114. Herein, (l)-(7) the way in which the abandoning of the perception of 
permanence, etc., takes place through the means of the seven contemplations 
beginning with that of impermanence has already been explained under the 
contemplation of dissolution (Ch. XXI. 15f.). 

(8) Contemplation of destruction, however, is the knowledge in one who effects 
the resolution of the compact and so sees destruction as "impermanent in the 



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sense of destruction." Through the means of that knowledge there comes to be 
the abandoning of the perception of compactness. 

115. (9) Contemplation of fall is stated thus: 

"Defining both to be alike 

By inference from that same object. 

Intentness on cessation — these 

Are insight in the mark of fall" (Patis I 58). 

It is intentness on cessation, in other words, on that same dissolution, after 
seeing dissolution of [both seen and unseen] formations by personal experience 
and by inference [respectively]. Through the means of that contemplation there 
comes to be the abandoning of accumulation. When a man sees with insight 
that "The things for the sake of which I might accumulate [kamma] are thus 
[695] subject to fall," his consciousness no longer inclines to accumulation. 

116. (10) Contemplation of change is the act of seeing, according to the material 
septad, etc., how [momentary] occurrences [in continuity] take place differently 
by [gradually] diverging from any definition; or it is the act of seeing change in 
the two aspects of the ageing and the death of what is arisen. Through the 
means of that contemplation the perception of lastingness is abandoned. 

117. (11) Contemplation of the signless is the same as the contemplation of 
impermanence. Through its means the sign of permanence is abandoned. 

(12) Contemplation of the desireless is the same as the contemplation of pain. 
Through its means desire for pleasure and hope for pleasure are abandoned. 

(13) Contemplation of voidness is the same as the contemplation of not-self. 
Through its means the misinterpreting (insisting) that "a self exists" (see S IV 
400) is abandoned. 

118. (14) Insight into states that is higher understanding is stated thus: 

"Having reflected on the object, 

Dissolution he contemplates, 

Appearance then as empty — this 

Is insight of higher understanding" (Patis I 58). 

Insight so described occurs after knowing materiality, etc., as object, by seeing 
the dissolution both of that object and of the consciousness whose object it was, 
and by apprehending voidness through the dissolution in this way: "Only 
formations break up. It is the death of formations. There is nothing else." Taking 
that insight as higher understanding and as insight with respect to states, it is 
called "insight into states that is higher understanding." Through its means 
misinterpreting (insisting) due to grasping at a core is abandoned, because it 
has been clearly seen that there is no core of permanence and no core of self. 

119. (15) Correct knowledge and vision is the discernment of mentality-materiality 
with its conditions. Through its means misinterpreting (insisting) due to 
confusion that occurs in this way, "Was I in the past?" (M I 8), and in this way, 
"The world was created by an Overlord," are abandoned. 



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120. (16) Contemplation of danger is knowledge seeing danger in all kinds of 
becoming, etc., which as arisen owing to appearance as terror. Through its 
means misinterpreting (insisting) due to reliance is abandoned, since he does 
not see any [formation] to be relied on for shelter. 

(17) Contemplation of reflection is the reflection that effects the means to liberation. 
Through its means non-reflection is abandoned. 

121. (18) Contemplation of turning away is equanimity about formations and 
conformity. For at that point his mind is said to retreat, retract and recoil from the 
whole field of formations, as a water drop does on a lotus leaf that slopes a little. 
That is why through its means misinterpreting (insisting) due to bondage is 
abandoned. [696] The meaning is: abandoning of the occurrence of defilement 
that consists in misinterpreting defiled by the bondage of sense desires, and so 
on. 

Abandoning by substitution of the opposites should be understood in detail 
in this way. But in the texts it is stated in brief thus: "Abandoning of views by 
substitution of opposites comes about in one who develops concentration 
partaking of penetration" (Patis I 27). 

122. (iii) The abandoning of the states beginning with the fetters by the noble 
path knowledge in such a way that they never occur again, like a tree struck by 
a thunderbolt, is called abandoning by cutting off. With reference to this it is said: 
"Abandoning by cutting off comes about in one who develops the 
supramundane path that leads to the destruction [of defilements]" (Patis I 27). 

123. So of these three kinds of abandoning, it is only abandoning by cutting 
off that is intended here. But since that meditator's previous abandoning by 
suppression and by substitution by opposites have that [third kind] as their aim, 
too, all three kinds of abandoning can therefore be understood in this way as the 
function of path knowledge. For when a man has gained an empire by killing 
off the opposing kings, what was done by him previous to that is also called 
"done by the king." 

124. (c) Realizing is divided into two as (i) mundane realizing, and (ii) 
supramundane realizing. And it is threefold too with the subdivision of the 
supramundane into two as seeing and developing. 

125. (i) Herein, the touch (phassana) of the first jhana, etc., as given in the way 
beginning, "I am an obtainer, a master, of the first jhana; the first jhana has been 
realized by me" (Vin III 93-94), is called mundane realizing. "Touch" {phassana) is 
the touching (phusana) with the contact (phassa) of knowledge by personal 
experience on arriving, thus, "This has been arrived at by me". 21 With reference 
to this meaning realization is summarized thus, "Understanding that is 



21. "'With the contact of knowledge by personal experience' means by personal experience 
of it as object, which is what the 'contact of knowledge' is called. The words, 'By 
personal experience' exclude taking it as an object by inference. For what is intended 
here as the 'contact of knowledge' is knowing by personal experience through 
reviewing thus, 'This is like this'" (Vism-mht 888). 



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realization is knowledge in the sense of touch" (Patis I 87), after which it is 
described thus, "Whatever states are realized are touched" (Patis I 87). 

126. Also, those states which are not aroused in one's own continuity and are 
known through knowledge that depends on another are realized; for it is said, 
referring to that, "Bhikkhus, all should be realized. And what is all that should 
be realized? The eye should be realized" (Patis I 35), and so on. And it is further 
said: "One who sees materiality realizes it. One who sees [697] feeling ... 
perception ... formations ... consciousness realizes it. One who sees the eye ... 
(etc., see XX. 9) ... ageing and death realizes it. [One who sees suffering] ... 
(etc.) 22 . . . One who sees Nibbana, which merges in the deathless [in the sense of 
the end] realizes it. Whatever states are realized are touched" (Patis I 35). 

127. (ii) The seeing of Nibbana at the moment of the first path is realizing as 
seeing. At the other path moments it is realizing as developing. And it is intended 
as twofold here. So realizing of Nibbana as seeing and as developing should be 
understood as a function of this knowledge. 

128. (d) And two developings are reckoned: but developing is also reckoned as twofold, 
namely as (i) mundane developing, and (ii) as supramundane developing. 

(i) Herein, the arousing of mundane virtue, concentration and understanding, 
and the influencing of the continuity by their means, is mundane developing. And 
(ii) the arousing of supramundane virtue, concentration and understanding, 
and the influencing of the continuity by them, is supramundane developing. Of 
these, it is the supramundane that is intended here. For this fourfold knowledge 
arouses supramundane virtue, etc., since it is their conascence condition, and it 
influences the continuity by their means. So it is only supramundane developing 
that is a function of it. Therefore these are the: 

Functions of full-understanding, and the rest 
As stated when truths are penetrated to, 
Each one of which ought to be recognized 
According to its individual essence. 

[Conclusion] 

129. Now, with reference to the stanza: 

"When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding" (1.1), 

it was said above "After he has perfected the two purifications that are the 
'roots,' then he can develop the five purifications that are the 'trunk'"(XIV32). 
And at this point the detailed exposition of the system for developing 

22. The first elision here — "The eye . . . ageing-and-death" — is explained in XX. 9. The 
second elision — "One who sees suffering . . . One who sees Nibbana, which merges in 
the deathless in the sense of end ..." — covers all things listed from Patis I 8, line 18 
(N.B. the new para in the Patis text should begin with the words "dukkham abhinneyyam" 
up to p. 22, line 11, amatogadham nibbanam pariyosanattham abhinneyyam). In this case, 
however (Patis I 35), sacchikatabba ("to be realized"), etc., is substituted for abhinneyya 
("to be directly known"). 

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Chapter XXII Purification by Knowledge and Vision 

understanding in the proper way as it has been handed down is completed. So 
the question, "How should it be developed?" (XIV32) is now answered. 

The twenty-second chapter called "The Description of 
Purification by Knowledge and Vision" in the Treatise on 
the Development of Understanding in the Path of Purification 
composed for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Chapter XXIII 

The Benefits In Developing Understanding 
(Pannabhavananisamsa-niddesa) 

1. (vi) What are the benefits in developing understanding? (See XIV1) [698] 
To that question, which was asked above, we reply that this development of 

understanding has many hundred benefits. But it would be impossible to explain 
its benefits in detail, however long a time were taken over it. Briefly, though, its 
benefits should be understood as these: (A) removal of the various defilements, 
(B) experience of the taste of the noble fruit, (C) ability to attain the attainment of 
cessation, and (D) achievement of worthiness to receive gifts and so on. 

[A. Removal of the Defilements] 

2. Herein, it should be understood that one of the benefits of the mundane 
development of understanding is the removal of the various defilements 
beginning with [mistaken] view of individuality. This starts with the delimitation 
of mentality-materiality Then one of the benefits of the supramundane 
development of understanding is the removal, at the path moment, of the various 
defilements beginning with the fetters. 

With dreadful thump the thunderbolt 
Annihilates the rock. 
The fire whipped by the driving wind 
Annihilates the wood. 

The radiant orb of solar flame 
Annihilates the dark. 
Developed understanding, too, 
Annihilates inveterate 

Defilements' netted overgrowth, 
The source of every woe. 
This blessing in this very life 
A man himself may know. 

[B. The Taste of the Noble Fruit] 

3. Not only the removal of the various defilements but also the experience of 
the taste of the noble fruit is a benefit of the development of understanding. [699] 
For it is the fruitions of stream-entry etc. — the fruits of asceticism — that are called 

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the "noble fruit." Its taste is experienced in two ways, that is to say, in its occurrence 
in the cognitive series of the path, and in its occurrence in the attainment of 
fruition. Of these, only its occurrence in the cognitive series of the path has been 
shown (XXII.3f.). 

4. Furthermore, when people say that the fruit is the mere abandoning of fetters 1 
and nothing more than that, the following sutta can be cited in order to convince 
them that they are wrong: "How is it that understanding of the tranquilizing of 
effort is knowledge of fruit? At the moment of the stream-entry path right view in 
the sense of seeing emerges from wrong view, and it emerges from the defilements 
and from the aggregates that occur consequent upon that [wrong view], and 
externally it emerges from all signs. Right view arises because of the tranquilizing 
of that effort. This is the fruit of the path" (Patis I 71), and this should be given in 
detail. Also such passages as, "The four paths and the four fruits — these states 
have a measureless object" (Dhs §1408), and, "An exalted state is a condition, as 
proximity condition, for a measureless state" (Patth II 227 (Be)), establish the 
meaning here. 

5. However, in order to show how it occurs in the attainment of fruition there is 
the following set of questions: 

(i) What is fruition attainment? 

(ii) Who attains it? 

(iii) Who do not attain it? 

(iv) Why do they attain it? 

(v) How does its attainment come about? 

(vi) How is it made to last? 

(vii) How does the emergence from it come about? 

(viii) What is next to fruition? 

(ix) What is fruition next to? 

6. Herein, (i) What is fruition attainment? It is absorption in the cessation in 
which the noble fruition consists. 

(ii) Who attains it? (iii) Who do not attain it? No ordinary men attain it. Why? 
Because it is beyond their reach. But all Noble Ones attain it. Why? Because it is 
within their reach. But those who have reached a higher path do not attain a 
lower fruition because the state of each successive person is more tranquilized 
than the one below. And those who have only reached a lower path do not attain 
a higher fruition because it is beyond their reach. But each one attains his 
appropriate fruition. This is what has been agreed here. 

7. But there are some who say that the stream-enterer and once-returner do not 
attain it, and that only the two above them attain it. The reason they give is that 

1. "It is the Andhakas, etc., who maintain this; for they take the sutta wrongly which 
says, '"Arahantship" is said, friend Sariputta; what is Arahantship? — The destruction 
of greed, the destruction of hate, the destruction of delusion: that is what is called 
Arahantship" (S IV 252), taking it literally and asserting that nothing exists called 
Arahantship and that it is only the abandoning of defilements that is so called by 
common usage. And they deny that there are any other fruitions" (Vism-mht 891). 

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Path of Purification Part 3: Understanding (Panna) 

only these two show achievement in concentration. But that is no reason, since 
even the ordinary man attains such mundane concentration as is within his 
reach. But why argue here over what is and what is not a reason? Is it not said in 
the texts as follows? 

"Which ten states of change-of-lineage arise [700] through insight? 

"For the purpose of obtaining the stream-entry path it overcomes arising, 
occurrence ... (etc., see XXII. 5) ... despair, and externally the sign of formations, 
thus it is change-of-lineage. 

"For the purpose of attaining the stream-entry fruition ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the once-return path . . . 

"For the purpose of attaining the once-return fruition . . . 

"For the purpose of attaining the non-return path ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the non-return fruition ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the Arahant path ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the Arahant fruition ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the void abiding ... 

"For the purpose of attaining the signless abiding it overcomes arising, 
occurrence . . . (etc.) . . . despair, and externally the sign of formations, thus it is 
change-of-lineage" (Patis I 68). 2 From that it must be concluded that all Noble 
Ones attain each their own fruit. 

8. (iv) Why do they attain it? For the purpose of abiding in bliss here and now: 
For just as a king experiences royal bliss and a deity experiences divine bliss, so 
too the Noble Ones think, "We shall experience the noble supramundane bliss," 
and after deciding on the duration, they attain the attainment of fruition whenever 
they choose. 3 

9. (v) How does its attainment come about? (vi) How is it made to last? (vii) How 
does the emergence from it come about? 

(v) In the first place its attainment comes about for two reasons: with not 
bringing to mind any object other than Nibbana, and with bringing Nibbana to 
mind, according as it is said: "Friend, there are two conditions for the attainment 
of the signless mind-deliverance; they are the non-bringing to mind of all signs, 
and the bringing to mind of the signless element" (M I 296). 

10. Now, the process of attaining it is as follows. A noble disciple who seeks the 
attainment of fruition should go into solitary retreat. He should see formations 
with insight according to rise and fall and so on. When that insight has 
progressed [as far as conformity], then comes change-of-lineage knowledge 

2. The quotation in the Vism texts does not quite agree with the Patis text (Ee) where 
(as the sense demands) the words "bahiddha sahkharanimittam" do not follow the four 
fruitions and the two abidings but only the four paths. 

3. "Although they are resultant states, nevertheless the states of fruition attainment 
occur in the noble person only when he chooses since they do not arise without the 
preliminary work and do so only when they are given predominance" (Vism-mht 895). 

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Chapter XXIII The Benefits in Developing Understanding 

with formations as its object. 4 And immediately next to it consciousness becomes 
absorbed in cessation with the attainment of fruition. And here it is only fruition, 
not path, that arises even in a trainer, because his tendency is to fruition 
attainment. 

11. But there are those 5 who say that when a stream-enterer embarks on insight, 
thinking, "I shall attain fruition attainment," he becomes a once-returner, and a 
once-returner, a non-returner. They should be told: "In that case a non-returner 
becomes an Arahant and an Arahant, a Paccekabuddha and a Paccekabuddha, 
a Buddha. For that reason, and because it is contradicted as well by the text 
quoted above, none of that should be accepted. Only this should be accepted: 
fruition itself, not path, arises also in the trainer. And if the path he has arrived 
at had the first jhana, his fruition will have the first jhana too when it arises. If 
the path has the second, so will the fruition. And so with the other jhanas." 

This, firstly, is how attaining comes about. [701] 

12. (vi) It is made to last in three ways, because of the words: "Friend, there are 
three conditions for the persistence of the signless mind-deliverance: they are 
the non-bringing to mind of all signs, the bringing to mind of the signless 
element, and the prior volition" (M I 296-97). Herein, the prior volition is the 
predetermining of the time before attaining; 6 for it is by determining it thus, "I 
shall emerge at such a time," that it lasts until that time comes. This is how it is 
made to last. 

13. (vii) Emergence from it comes about in two ways, because of the words: 
"Friend, there are two conditions for the emergence from the signless mind- 
deliverance: they are the bringing to mind of all signs, and the non-bringing to 
mind of the signless element" (M I 297). Herein, of all signs means the sign of 
materiality, sign of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Of course, 
a man does not bring all those to mind at once, but this is said in order to include 
all. So the emergence from the attainment of fruition comes about in him when 
he brings to mind whatever is the object of the life-continuum. 7 

14. (viii) What is next to fruition? (ix) What is fruition next to? In the first case 
(viii) either fruition itself is next to fruition or the life-continuum is next to it. But 
(ix) there is fruition that is (a) next to the path, (b) there is that next to fruition, (c) 
there is that next to change-of-lineage, and (d) there is that next to the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. 

4. "Why does change-of-lineage not have Nibbana as its object here as it does when 
it precedes the path? Because states belonging to fruition are not associated with an 
outlet [as in the case of the path]. For this is said: 'What states are an outlet? The four 
unincluded paths' (Dhs §1592)" (Vism-mht 895). 

5. "Those of the Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura" (Vism-mht 895). 

6. "The 'volition' is attaining after deciding the time limit in this way 'When the moon, or 
the sun, has gone so far, I shall emerge,' which is an act of volition" (Vism-mht 897). 

7. "It is because he is called 'emerged from attainment' as soon as the life-continuum 
consciousness has arisen that 'he brings to mind that which is the object of the life-continuum' 
is said. Kamma, etc., are called the object of the life-continuum (see Ch. XVII, §133ff.)" 
(Vism-mht 897). 

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Herein, (a) it is next to the path in the cognitive series of the path, (b) Each one 
that is subsequent to a previous one is next to fruition, (c) Each first one in the 
attainments of fruition is next to change-of -lineage. And conformity should be 
understood here as "change-of-lineage"; for this is said in the Patthana: "In the 
Arahant, conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for fruition 
attainment. In trainers, conformity is a condition, as proximity condition, for 
fruition attainment" (Patth I 159). (d) The fruition by means of which there is 
emergence from the attainment of cessation is next to the base consisting of neither 
perception non-perception. 

15. Herein, all except the fruition that arises in the cognitive series of the path 
occur as fruition attainment. So whether it arises in the cognitive series of the 
path or in fruition attainment: 

Asceticism's fruit sublime, 

Which tranquilizes all distress, 

Its beauty from the Deathless draws, 

Its calm from lack of worldliness. [702] 

Of a sweet purifying bliss 
It is the fountainhead besides, 
Whose honey-sweet ambrosia 
A deathless sustenance provides. 

Now, if a wise man cultivates 
His understanding, he shall know 
This peerless bliss, which is the taste 
The noble fruit provides; and so 

This is the reason why they call 
Experience here and now aright 
Of flavour of the noble fruit 
A blessing of fulfilled insight. 

[C. The Attainment of Cessation] 

16. And not only the experience of the taste of the noble fruit but also the ability 
to attain the attainment of cessation should be understood as a benefit of the 
development of understanding. 

17. Now, in order to explain the attainment of cessation there is this set of 
questions: 



(i 
(ii 
(iii 
(iv 

(v 

(vi; 

(vii 

(viii 

(ix: 



What is the attainment of cessation? 

Who attains it? 

Who do not attain it? 

Where do they attain it? 

Why do they attain it? 

How does its attainment come about? 

How is it made to last? 

How does the emergence from it come about? 

Towards what does the mind of one who has emerged tend? 



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Chapter XXIII The Benefits in Developing Understanding 

(x) What is the difference between one who has attained it and one 

who is dead? 
(xi) Is the attainment of cessation formed or unformed, mundane or 

supramundane, produced or unproduced? 

18. Herein, (i) What is the attainment of cessation? It is the non-occurrence of 
consciousness and its concomitants owing to their progressive cessation. 

(ii) Who attains it? (iii) Who do not attain it? No ordinary men, no stream- 
enterers or once-returners, and no non-returners and Arahants who are bare- 
insight workers attain it. But both non-returners and those with cankers destroyed 
(Arahants) who are obtainers of the eight attainments attain it. For it is said: 
"Understanding that is mastery, owing to possession of two powers, to the 
tranquilization of three formations, to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge, 
and to nine kinds of exercise of concentration, is knowledge of the attainment of 
cessation" (Patis I 97). And these qualifications are not to be found together in 
any persons other than non-returners and those whose cankers are destroyed, 
who are obtainers of the eight attainments. That is why only they and no others 
attain it. 

19. But which are the two powers? And the [three formations] ... and mastery? 
Here there is no need for us to say anything; for it has all been said in the 
description of the summary [quoted above], according as it is said: 

20. "Of the two powers: of the two powers, the serenity power and the insight 
power. [703] 

"What is serenity as a power? The unification of the mind and non-distraction 
due to renunciation are serenity as a power. The unification of the mind and 
non-distraction due to non-ill will are serenity as a power. The unification of the 
mind and non-distraction due to perception of light ... [to non-distraction ... to 
defining of states (dhamma) ... to knowledge ... to gladness ... to the eight 
attainments, the ten kasinas, the ten recollections, the nine charnel-ground 
contemplations, and the thirty-two modes of mindfulness of breathing] 8 . . . the 
unification of the mind and non-distraction due to breathing out in one who is 
contemplating relinquishment 9 is serenity as a power. 

21. "In what sense is serenity a power? Owing to the first jhana it does not 
waver on account of the hindrances, thus serenity is a power. Owing to the 
second jhana it does not waver on account of applied and sustained thought, 
thus serenity is a power ... (etc.) ... Owing to the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception it does not waver on account of the perception of 
the base consisting of nothingness, thus serenity is a power. It does not waver 
and vacillate and hesitate on account of agitation and on account of the 
defilements and the aggregates that accompany agitation, thus serenity is a 
power. This is the serenity power. 



8. The list in brackets represents in summarized form the things listed at Patis I 94- 
95, repeated in this context in the Patisambhida but left out in the Vism quotation. 

9. The serenity shown here is access concentration (see Vism-mht 899). 



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22. "What is insight as a power? Contemplation of impermanence is insight as 
a power. Contemplation of pain . . . Contemplation of not-self . . . Contemplation 
of dispassion ... Contemplation of fading away ... Contemplation of cessation 
... Contemplation of relinquishment is insight as a power. Contemplation of 
impermanence in materiality ... (etc.) ... Contemplation of relinquishment in 
materiality is insight as a power. Contemplation of impermanence in feeling ... 
in perception ... in formations ... in consciousness is insight as a power ... 
Contemplation of relinquishment in consciousness is insight as a power. 
Contemplation of impermanence in the eye ... (etc., see XX. 9) ... Contemplation 
of impermanence in ageing-and-death ... (etc.) ... Contemplation of 
relinquishment in ageing-and-death is insight as a power. 

23. "In what sense is insight a power? Owing to the contemplation of 
impermanence it does not waver on account of perception of permanence, thus 
insight is a power. Owing to the contemplation of pain it does not waver on 
account of perception of pleasure ... Owing to the contemplation of not-self it 
does not waver on account of the perception of self . . . Owing to the contemplation 
of dispassion it does not waver on account of delight ... Owing to the 
contemplation of fading away it does not waver on account of greed . . . Owing to 
the contemplation of cessation it does not waver on account of arising . . . Owing 
to the contemplation of relinquishment it does not waver on account of grasping, 
thus insight is a power. It does not waver and vacillate and hesitate on account of 
ignorance and on account of the defilements and the aggregates that accompany 
ignorance, thus insight is a power. 

24. "Owing to the tranquilization of three formations: owing to the tranquilization of 
what three formations? In one who has attained the second jhana the verbal formations 
consisting in applied and sustained thought are quite tranquilized. In one who has 
attained the fourth jhana the bodily formations consisting in in-breaths and out- 
breaths are quite tranquilized. In one who has attained cessation of perception and 
feeling the mental formations consisting in feeling and perception are quite 
tranquilized. It is owing to the tranquilization of these three formations. 

25. "Owing to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge: owing to what sixteen kinds 
of exercise of knowledge? Contemplation of impermanence is a kind of exercise 
of knowledge. Contemplation of pain ... Contemplation of not-self ... 
Contemplation of dispassion . . . Contemplation of fading away . . . Contemplation 
of cessation ... Contemplation of relinquishment ... Contemplation of turning 
away is a kind of exercise of knowledge. [704] The stream-entry path is a kind of 
exercise of knowledge. The attainment of the fruition of stream-entry ... The 
once-return path ... The attainment of the fruition of once-return ... The non- 
return path . . . The attainment of the fruition of non-return . . . The Arahant path 
... The attainment of the fruition of Arahantship is a kind of exercise of 
knowledge. It is owing to these sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge. 

26. "Owing to nine kinds of exercise of concentration: owing to what nine kinds of 
exercise of concentration? The first jhana is a kind of exercise of concentration. 
The second jhana . . . [The third jhana . . . The fourth jhana . . . Th 



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e attainment of the base consisting of boundless space . . . The attainment of the 
base consisting of boundless consciousness ... The attainment of the base 
consisting of nothingness . . . ] . The attainment of the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception is a kind of exercise of concentration. And the 
applied thought and sustained thought and happiness and bliss and unification 
of mind that have the purpose of attaining the first jhana ... (etc.) ... And the 
applied thought and sustained thought and happiness and bliss and unification 
of mind that have the purpose of attaining the attainment of the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception. It is owing to these nine kinds of 
exercise of concentration. 10 

27. "Mastery: there are five kinds of mastery. There is mastery in adverting, in 
attaining, in resolving, in emerging, in reviewing. He adverts to the first jhana 
where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in adverting, 
thus it is mastery in adverting. He attains the first jhana where, when, and for as 
long as he wishes, he has no difficulty in attaining, thus it is mastery in attaining. 
He resolves upon [the duration of] the first jhana where, . . . thus it is mastery in 
resolving. He emerges from the first jhana, . . . thus it is mastery in emerging. He 
reviews the first jhana where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he has no 
difficulty in reviewing, thus it is mastery in reviewing. He adverts to the second 
jhana ... (etc.) ... He reviews the attainment of the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception where, when, and for as long as he wishes, he 
has no difficulty in reviewing, thus it is mastery in reviewing. These are the five 
kinds of mastery" (Patis I 97-100). 

28. And here the words: "Owing to sixteen kinds of exercise of knowledge" 
state the maximum. But in a non-returner the mastery is owing to fourteen kinds 
of exercise of knowledge. If that is so, then does it not come about also in the 
once-returner owing to twelve? And in the stream-enterer owing to ten? — It does 
not. Because the greed based on the cords of sense desire, which is an obstacle to 
concentration, is unabandoned in them. It is because that is not abandoned in 
them that the serenity power is not perfected. Since it is not perfected they are 
not, owing to want of power, able to attain the attainment of cessation, which has 
to be attained by the two powers. But it is abandoned in the non-returner and so 
his power is perfected. Since his power is perfected he is able to attain it. 

Hence the Blessed One said: "Profitable [consciousness] of the base consisting 
of neither perception nor non-perception in one emerging from cessation is a 
condition, as proximity condition, for the attainment of fruition" (Patth I 159). 
For this is said in the Great Book of the Patthana 11 with reference only to non- 
returners' emerging from cessation. [705] 



10. The nine are the four fine-material jhanas, the four immaterial jhanas, and the 
access concentration preceding each of the eight attainments, described in the last 
sentence and counted as one. 

11. "The word 'profitable' used in this Patthana passage shows that it applies only to 
non-returners, otherwise 'functional' would have been said" (Vism-mht 902). 

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29. (iv) Where do they attain it? In the five-constituent becoming. Why? Because 
of the necessity for the succession of [all] the attainments (cf. S IV 217). But in the 
four-constituent becoming there is no arising of the first jhana, etc., and so it is 
not possible to attain it there. But some say that is because of the lack of a physical 
basis [for the mind there]. 12 

30. (v) Why do they attain it? Being wearied by the occurrence and dissolution 
of formations, they attain it thinking, "Let us dwell in bliss by being without 
consciousness here and now and reaching the cessation that is Nibbana." 13 

31. (vi) How does its attainment come about? It comes about in one who performs 
the preparatory tasks by striving with serenity and insight and causes the 
cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception. One who strives with serenity alone reaches the 
base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception and remains there, while 
one who strives with insight alone reaches the attainment of fruition and remains 
there. But it is one who strives with both, and after performing the preparatory tasks, 
causes the cessation of [consciousness belonging to] the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception, who attains it. This is in brief. 

32. But the detail is this. When a bhikkhu who desires to attain cessation has 
finished all that has to do with his meal and has washed his hands and feet 
well, he sits down on a well-prepared seat in a secluded place. Having folded 
his legs crosswise, set his body erect, established mindfulness in front of him, he 
attains the first jhana, and on emerging he sees the formations in it with insight 
as impermanent, painful, not-self. 

33. This insight is threefold as insight that discerns formations, insight for the 
attainment of fruition, and insight for the attainment of cessation. Herein, insight 
that discerns formations, whether sluggish or keen, is the proximate cause only for 
a path. Insight for the attainment of fruition, which is only valid when keen, is 
similar to that for the development of a path. Insight for the attainment of cessation 
is only valid when it is not over-sluggish and not over-keen. Therefore he sees those 
formations with insight that is not over-sluggish and not over-keen. 

34. After that, he attains the second jhana, and on emerging he sees formations 
with insight in like manner. After that, he attains the third jhana ... (etc.) ... After 
that, he attains the base consisting of boundless consciousness, and on emerging 
he sees the formations in it in like manner. Likewise he attains the base consisting 

12. "They say so because of absence of heart-basis; but the meaning is because of 
absence of basis called physical body. For if anyone were to attain cessation in the 
immaterial worlds he would become indefinable (appahnattika) owing to the non- 
existence of any consciousness or consciousness concomitant at all, and he would be 
as though attained to final Nibbana without remainder of results of past clinging; for 
what remainder of results of past clinging could be predicated of him when he had 
entered into cessation? So it is because of the lack of the necessary factors that there 
is no attaining of the attainment of cessation in the immaterial worlds" (Vism-mht 
902). 

13. "'Reaching the cessation that is Nibbana': as though reaching Nibbana without 
remainder of result of past clinging. Tn bliss' means without suffering" (Vism-mht 902). 



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of nothingness. On emerging from that he does the fourfold preparatory task, 
that is to say, about (a) non-damage to others' property, (b) the Community's 
waiting, (c) the Master's summons, and (d) the limit of the duration. [706] 

35. (a) Herein, non-damage to others' property refers to what the bhikkhu has 
about him that is not his personal property: a robe and bowl, or a bed and chair, 
or a living room, or any other kind of requisite kept by him but the property of 
various others. It should be resolved 14 that such property will not be damaged, 
will not be destroyed by fire, water, wind, thieves, rats, and so on. Here is the form 
of the resolve: "During these seven days let this and this not be burnt by fire; let 
it not be swept off by water; let it not be spoilt by wind; let it not be stolen by 
thieves; let it not be devoured by rats, and so on." When he has resolved in this 
way, they are not in danger during the seven days. 

36. If he does not resolve in this way, they may be destroyed by fire, etc., as in the 
case of the Elder Maha Naga. The elder, it seems, went for alms into the village 
where his mother, a lay follower, lived. She gave him rice gruel and seated him in 
the sitting hall. The elder sat down and attained cessation. While he was sitting 
there the hall caught fire. The other bhikkhus each picked up their seats and 
fled. The villagers gathered together, and seeing the elder, they said, "What a 
lazy monk! What a lazy monk!" The fire burned the grass thatch, the bamboos, 
and timbers, and it encircled the elder. People brought water and put it out. They 
removed the ashes, did repairs, 15 scattered flowers, and then stood respectfully 
waiting. The elder emerged at the time he had determined. Seeing them, he said, 
"I am discovered!," and he rose up into the air and went to Piyahgu Island. This 
is "non-damage to others' property." 

37. There is no special resolving to be done for what is his own personal 
property such as the inner and outer robes or the seat he is sitting on. He protects 
all that by means of the attainment itself, like those of the venerable Sanjiva. And 
this is said: "There was success by intervention of concentration in the venerable 
Sanjiva. There was success by intervention of concentration in the venerable 
Sariputta" (Patis I 212— see XII.30). 

38. (b) The Community's waiting is the Community's expecting. The meaning 
is: till this bhikkhu comes there is no carrying out of acts of the Community. And 
here it is not the actual Community's waiting that is the preparatory task, but the 
adverting to the waiting. So it should be adverted to in this way: "While I am 
sitting for seven days in the attainment of cessation, if the Community wants to 
enact a resolution, etc., I shall emerge before any bhikkhu comes to summon 
me." [707] One who attains it after doing this emerges at exactly that time. 

14. "'It should be resolved': the thought should be aroused. For here the resolve 
consists in arousing the thought. In the non-arising of consciousness-originated 
materiality, etc., and in the absence of support by a postnascence condition, etc., the 
physical body continues the same only for seven days; after that it suffers wastage. So 
he limits the duration to seven days when he attains cessation, they say" 
(Vism-mht 903). 

15. Paribhanda — "repair work": this meaning is not given in PED; cf. M-a IV 157 
(patching of old robes), and M-a I 291. 

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39. But if he does not do so, then perhaps the Community assembles, and not 
seeing him, it is asked, "Where is the bhikkhu so and so?" They reply, "He has 
attained cessation." The Community dispatches a bhikkhu, telling him, "Go 
and summon him in the name of the Community." Then as soon as the bhikkhu 
stands within his hearing and merely says, "The Community is waiting for you, 
friend," he emerges. Such is the importance of the Community's order. So he 
should attain in such-wise that, by adverting to it beforehand, he emerges by 
himself. 

40. (c) The Master's summons: here too it is the adverting to the Master's summons 
that is the preparatory task. So that also should be adverted to in this way: 
"While I am sitting for seven days in the attainment of cessation, if the Master, 
after examining a case, makes known a course of training, or teaches the Dhamma, 
the origin of which discourse is some need that has arisen, 16 I shall emerge 
before anyone comes to summon me." For when he has seated himself after 
doing so, he emerges at exactly that time. 

41. But if he does not do so, when the Community assembles, the Master, not 
seeing him, asks, "Where is the bhikkhu so and so?" They reply, "He has attained 
cessation." Then he dispatches a bhikkhu, telling him, "Go and summon him in 
my name." As soon as the bhikkhu stands within his hearing and merely says, 
"The Master calls the venerable one," he emerges. Such is the importance of the 
Master's summons. So he should attain in such wise that, by adverting to it 
beforehand, he emerges himself. 

42. (d) The limit of duration is the limit of life's duration. For this bhikkhu 
should be very careful to determine what the limit of his life's duration is. He 
should attain only after adverting in this way: "Will my own vital formations go 
on occurring for seven days or will they not?" For if he attains it without adverting 
when the vital formations are due to cease within seven days, then since the 
attainment of cessation cannot ward off his death because there is no dying 
during cessation, 17 he consequently emerges from the attainment meanwhile. So 
he should attain only after adverting to that. For it is said that while it may be 
permissible to omit adverting to others, this must be adverted to. 

43. Now, when he has thus attained the base consisting of nothingness and 
emerged and done this preparatory task, he then attains the base consisting of 

16. The word atthuppatti ("the origin being a need arisen") is a technical commentarial 
term. "There are four kinds of origins (uppatti) or setting forth of suttas (sutta- 
nikkhepa): on account of the speaker's own inclination (attajjhasaya), on account of 
another's inclination (parajjhasaya), as the result of a question asked (pucchavasika), 
and on account of a need arisen (atthuppattika)' (M-a 1 15, see also Ch. III. 88). 

17. '"Vital formations' are the same as life span; though some say that they are the 
life span, heat and consciousness. These are the object only of his normal consciousness. 
There is no death during cessation because dying takes place by means of the final 
life-continuum [consciousness]. He should attain only after adverting thus, 'Let sudden 
death not occur.' For in the case of sudden death he would not be able to declare final 
knowledge, advise the bhikkhus, and testify to the Dispensation's power. And there 
would be no reaching the highest path in the case of a non-returner" (Vism-mht 904). 



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Chapter XXIII The Benefits in Developing Understanding 

neither perception nor non-perception. Then after one or two turns of 
consciousness have passed, he becomes without consciousness, he achieves 
cessation. But why do consciousnesses not go on occurring in him after the two 
consciousnesses? Because the effort is directed to cessation. For this bhikkhu's 
mounting through the eight attainments, coupling together the states of serenity 
and insight, [708] is directed to successive cessation, not to attaining the base 
consisting of neither perception nor non-perception. So it is because the effort is 
directed to cessation that no more than the two consciousnesses occur. 

44. But if a bhikkhu emerges from the base consisting of nothingness without 
having done this preparatory task and then attains the base consisting of neither 
perception nor non-perception, he is unable then to become without 
consciousness: he returns to the base consisting of nothingness and settles 
down there. 

45. And here the simile of the man and the road not previously travelled may 
be told. A man who had not previously travelled a certain road came to a ravine 
cut by water, or after crossing a deep morass he came to a rock heated by a fierce 
sun. Then without arranging his inner and outer garments, he descended into 
the ravine but came up again for fear of wetting his belongings and remained 
on the bank, or he walked up on to the rock but on burning his feet he returned 
to the near side and waited there. 

46. Herein, just as the man, as soon as he had descended into the ravine, or 
walked up on to the hot rock, turned back and remained on the near side because 
he had not seen to the arrangement of his inner and outer garments, so too as 
soon as the meditator has attained the base consisting of neither perception nor 
non-perception, he turns back and remains in the base consisting of nothingness 
because the preparatory task has not been done. 

47. Just as when a man who has travelled that road before comes to that place, 
he puts his inner garment on securely, and taking the other in his hand, crosses 
over the ravine, or so acts as to tread only lightly on the hot rock and accordingly 
gets to the other side, so too, when the bhikkhu does the preparatory task and 
then attains the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception, then 
he achieves cessation, which is the other side, by becoming without 
consciousness. 

48. (vii) How is it made to last! It lasts as long as the time predetermined for its 
duration, unless interrupted meanwhile by the exhaustion of the life span, by 
the waiting of the Community, or by the Master's summons. 

49. (viii) How does the emergence from it come about? The emergence comes about 
in two ways thus: by means of the fruition of non-return in the case of the non- 
returner, or by means of the fruition of Arahantship in the case of the Arahant. 

50. (ix) Towards what does the mind of one who has emerged tend? It tends towards 
Nibbana. For this is said: "When a bhikkhu has emerged from the attainment of 
the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, his consciousness 
inclines to seclusion, leans to seclusion, tends to seclusion" (M I 302). [709] 



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51. (x) What is the difference between one who has attained and one who is dead? 
This is also given in a sutta, according as it is said: "When a bhikkhu is dead, 
friend, has completed his term, his bodily formations have ceased and are quite 
still, his verbal formations have ceased and are quite still, his mental formations 
have ceased and are quite still, his life is exhausted, his heat has subsided, and 
his faculties are broken up. When a bhikkhu has entered upon the cessation of 
perception and feeling, his bodily formations have ceased and are quite still, his 
verbal formations have ceased and are quite still, his mental formations have 
ceased and are quite still, his life is unexhausted, his heat has not subsided, his 
faculties are quite whole" (M I 296). 

52. (xi) As to the question is the attainment of cessation formed or unformed, etc.? It is 
not classifiable as formed or unformed, mundane or supramundane. Why? 
Because it has no individual essence. But since it comes to be attained by one 
who attains it, it is therefore permissible to say that it is produced, not 
unproduced. 18 

This too is an attainment which 
A Noble One may cultivate; 
The peace it gives is reckoned as 
Nibbana here and now; 

A wise man by developing 

The noble understanding can 

With it himself endow; 

So this ability is called 

A boon of understanding, too, 

The noble paths allow. 

[D. Worthiness to Receive Gifts] 

53. And not only the ability to attain the attainment of cessation but also 
achievement of worthiness to receive gifts should be understood as a benefit of 
this supramundane development of understanding. 

54. For, generally speaking, it is because understanding has been developed 
in these four ways that a person who has developed it, is fit for the gifts of the 



18. The subtleties of the word nipphanna are best cleared up by quoting a paragraph 
from the Sammohavinodani (Vibh-a 29): "The five aggregates are positively-produced 
(parinipphanna) always, not un-positively-produced (aparinipphanna); they are always 
formed, not unformed. Besides, they are produced (nipphanna) as well. For among 
the dhammas that are individual essences (sabhava-dhamma) it is only Nibbana that is 
un-positively-produced and un-produced (anipphanna)." The Mula Tika comments on 
this: "What is the difference between the positively-produced and the produced? A 
dhamma that is an individual essence with a beginning and an end in time, produced 
by conditions, and marked by the three characteristics, is positively produced. But 
besides this, what is produced [but not positively produced] is a dhamma with no 
individual essence (asabhava-dhamma) when it is produced by the taking of a name or 
by attaining [the attainment of cessation]" (Vibh-a 23). Cf. also XIV72 and 77. 



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Chapter XXIII The Benefits in Developing Understanding 

world with its deities, fit for its hospitality, fit for its offerings, and fit for its 
reverential salutation, and an incomparable field of merit for the world. 

55. But in particular, firstly, one who arrives at development of under-standing 
of the first path with sluggish insight and limp faculties is called, "one who 
will be reborn seven times at most"; he traverses the round of rebirths seven times 
in the happy destinies. One who arrives with medium insight and medium 
faculties is called, "one who goes from noble family to noble family"; with two or 
three rebirths in noble families he makes an end of suffering. One who arrives 
with keen insight and keen faculties is called, "one who germinates only once"; 
with one rebirth in the human world he makes an end of suffering (see A I 133). 

By developing understanding of the second path, he is called a once-returner. 
He returns once to this world and makes an end of suffering. [710] 

56. By developing understanding of the third path he is called a non-returner. 
According to the difference in his faculties he completes his course in one of five 
ways after he has left this world: he becomes "one who attains Nibbana early in 
his next existence" or "one who attains Nibbana more than half way through 
his next existence" or "one who attains Nibbana without prompting" or "one 
who attains Nibbana with prompting" or "one who is going upstream bound 
for the Highest Gods" (see D III 237). 

57. Herein, one who attains Nibbana early in his next existence attains Nibbana 
after reappearing anywhere in the Pure Abodes, without reaching the middle of 
his life span there. One who attains Nibbana more than half way through his next 
existence attains Nibbana after the middle of his life span there. One who attains 
Nibbana without prompting generates the highest path without prompting, 
with little effort. One who attains Nibbana with prompting generates the highest 
path with prompting, with effort. One who is going upstream bound for the Highest 
Gods passes on upwards from wherever he is reborn [in the Pure Abodes] to the 
Highest Gods' becoming and attains Nibbana there. 

58. By developing understanding of the fourth path one becomes "liberated by 
faith," another "liberated by understanding," another "both-ways liberated," 
another "one with the triple clear vision," another "one with the six kinds of 
direct-knowledge," another "one of the great ones whose cankers are destroyed 
who has reached the categories of discrimination." It was about one who has 
developed the fourth path that it was said: "But it is at the moment of the path 
that he is said to be disentangling that tangle: at the moment of fruition he has 
disentangled the tangle and is worthy of the highest offerings in the world with 
its deities" (1.7). 

59. The noble understanding, when 
Developed, will these blessings win; 
Accordingly discerning men 
Rejoice exceedingly therein. 

60. And at this point the development of understanding with its benefits, which 
is shown in the Path of Purification with its headings of virtue, concentration, 
and understanding, in the stanza, 



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"When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding, 
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious, 
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle" (1.1), 
has been fully illustrated. 

The twenty-third chapter called "The Description of the 
Benefits of Understanding" in the Path of Purification 
composed for the purpose of gladdening good people. 



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Conclusion 

After we quoted this stanza, 

"When a wise man, established well in virtue, 
Develops consciousness and understanding, 
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious 
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle" (1.1), 

we then said: 

"My task is now to set out the true sense, 
Divided into virtue and the rest, 
Of this same verse composed by the Great Sage. 
There are here in the Victor's Dispensation 
And who although desiring purity 
Have no right knowledge of the sure straight way- 
Comprising virtue and the other two, 
Right hard to find, that leads to purity — 
Who, though they strive, here gain no purity. 
To them I shall expound the comforting Path 
Of Purification, pure in expositions 
Relying on the teaching of the dwellers 
In the Great Monastery; let all those 
Good men who do desire purity 
Listen intently to my exposition." (1.4) 

Now, at this point that has all been expounded. And herein: 

Now, that the exposition as set forth 

Is almost free from errors and from flaws 

After collating all the expositions 

Of all these meanings classed as virtue and so on 

Stated in the commentarial system 

Of the five Nikayas — for this reason 

Let meditators pure in understanding 

Desiring purification duly show 

Reverence for this Path of Purification. 



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Path of Purification 

What store of merit has been gained by me 
Desiring establishment in this Good Dhamma 
In doing this, accepting the suggestion 
Of the venerable Sarighapala, 
One born into the line of famous elders 
Dwelling within the Great Monastery, 
A true Vibhajjavadin, who is wise, 
And lives in pure simplicity, devoted 
To discipline's observance, and to practice, 
Whose mind the virtuous qualities of patience, 
Mildness, loving kindness, and so on, grace — 
By the power of that store of merit 
May every being prosper happily. 
And now just as the Path of Purification, 
With eight and fifty recitation sections 
In the text, has herewith been completed 
Without impediment, so may all those 
Who in the world depend on what is good 
Glad-hearted soon succeed without delay. 

[Postscript] 

This Path of Purification was made by the elder who is adorned with supreme 
and pure faith, wisdom and energy, in whom are gathered a concourse of upright, 
gentle, etc., qualities due to the practice of virtue, who is capable of delving into 
and fathoming the views of his own and others' creeds, who is possessed of 
keenness of understanding, who is strong in unerring knowledge of the Master's 
Dispensation as divided into three Pitakas with their commentaries, a great 
expounder, gifted with sweet and noble speech that springs from the ease born 
of perfection of the vocal instrument, a speaker of what is appropriately said, a 
superlative speaker, a great poet, an ornament in the lineage of the elders who 
dwell in the Great Monastery, and who are shining lights in the lineage of elders 
with unblemished enlightenment in the superhuman states that are embellished 
with the special qualities of the six kinds of direct-knowledge and the categories 
of discrimination, who has abundant purified wit, who bears the name 
Buddhaghosa conferred by the venerable ones, and who should be called "of 
Morandacetaka." 

May it continue here to show 

The way to purity of virtue, etc., 

For clansmen seeking out the means 

To ferry them across the worlds 

For just as long as in this world 

Shall last that name "Enlightened One," 

By which, thus purified in mind, 

Is known the Greatest Sage, World Chief. 



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Conclusion 

[The following verses are only in Sinhalese texts:] 

By the performance of such merit 
As has been gained by me through this 
And any other still in hand 
So may I in my next becoming 
Behold the joys of Tavatimsa, 
Glad in the qualities of virtue 
And unattached to sense desires. 
By having reached the first fruition, 
And having in my last life seen 
Metteyya, Lord of Sages, Highest 
Of persons in the World, and 
Helper Delighting in all beings' welfare, 
And heard that Holy One proclaim 
The Teaching of the Noble Dhamma, 
May I grace the Victor's Dispensation 
By realizing its highest fruit. 

[The following verses are only in the Burmese texts:] 

The exposition of the Path of Purification 

Has thus been made for gladdening good people; 

But this, by reckoning the Pali text, 

Has eight and fifty recitation sections. 



End 



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Index 



Glossary 



Tables I to VI 






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INDEX 

of Subjects & Proper Names 

All references are to chapter and paragraph numbers 



Abandoning (pahana) 1.12, 140f.; XX.89; 
_ XXII.34, 47f., 78f v 92, 108, 113; XXIII.4 
Abhassara (Streaming-radiance) Deities 

XIII.41 
Abhaya Thera, Tipitaka Cula 11.35; 111.53; 

XII.89, 101; XIII.n.38 
Abhaya Thera, Dighabhanaka 1.99; 

VIII.142 
Abhaya Thera, Pitha 11.74 
Abhayagiri (Monastery) I.n.18; XII.n.25; 

XIVn.31; XXIII.n.5 
Abhidhamma XII.72; XIII.n.20; XIV24, 58, 

185; XXI.72, 126 
abiding (vihara) VII. 63, see divine a. 
abode (senasana) , see resting-place; a. of 

beings (sattavasa) VII. 38; XIII. 69; 

XVII. 148; XXI.35 
absence (abhava) VIII.147; IX.123; XVI.68 
absorption (appand) III. 5, 6, 106; IV.33, 
72, 74f., 102; XIII.5; XVI.77; XXIII.6 
abstaining (viramana) XXII.39 
abstention (veramanl) 1.28, 140; XVII.40 
abstinence (virati) 1.18, 28, 84; XIV133, 

155f., 181, 184; XVI.26, 78f. 
abuse (akkosa) I.n.24 
access (upacara) III.5, 6, 8f., 15, 106; IV32f., 

74, 185f.; X.9; XVIII.l; XXI.129 
accumulation (ayuhana) 1.140; XIV 132, 

135; XVII. 61, 292f.; XIX.13; XX. 90; 

XXI.37, 38, 80; XXII.5, 79, 97, 113, 115 
action (kammanta) XXII.42, 45, 66 
adherence (paramasa) 1.35; VII. 104; 

XVII. 293, 308, XXII. 48, 58, 71. See 

also misapprehension 



adverting (avajjana) 1.57; IV74, 78, 132, 
138, n.13; XIII.5, 27, 101, 118; XIV107; 
115f., 121f., 152; XV34f., n.5; XVII.137, 
232; XX.44, 121; XXI.129; XXII.lf., 10, 19, 
26; XXIII.27, 38 

affliction (abadha) 1.92, 97; 111.50 

aging (jam) IV63; VII.16; XI.36; XIV68; 
XVI.31, 44f., 59; XVII.48; XIX. 11 

aging-and-death (jara-marana) VII. 7f.; 
VIII.9; XVI.71; XVII.2, 272f., 287; XIX.ll; 
XX.6f. 

aggregate (khandha) VII.16, 28, 38; VIII.39, 
234, 236; X.41, 53; XII.52; XIII.13, 17f., 
120; XIV passim, 19, 33, 213f., 216f.; 
XV21; XVI.33, 44, 57, 68f., 73; XVII.77, 
113, 159, 258, 263, n.4; XVIII.13f.; XX.9, 
20, 28, 97£; XXI.6, 18, 35, 87, 111, n.14; 
XXII.45, 48; XXIII.4, n.18; a. as object of 
clinging (upadana-kkhandha) VII. 38; 
XIV214; XVI.31, 57f., 92 

agitation (uddhacca) 1.140; 111.95; IV47, 72; 
VIII.74; XII.17; XIV93, 159, 165, 170, 176, 
178; XVII.61; XX.106; XXII.28, 45, 48, 
49; a.-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca) 
IV86, 104 

air (vata) VIII.182; XIII.42; a. (vayo) XIII.30, 
59; XIV35f.; XV39; a. element (vayo-dha- 
tu) XI.28f., 37, 41, 87; XIV35, 61, n.27, 
n.32; XV.30; a. kasina (vayo-kasina) 
III.105; XII.132; XIII.35 

Akanittha (Highest) Gods XII.78; XIV193; 
XXIII.56f.; akanitthagamin XXIII.56 

Akasacetiya IV96 

Alara Kalama X.19 

all(saMw)XXII.106,126 



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alms food (pindapata) 1.68, 89; II. 5; a. -eater 

(pindapatika) II.2f., 27 
aloofness (atammayata) XXI. 135 
alterability alteration (vikara) XIII. 112; 

XIV65, 77; XVII. 14 
Ananda Thera 1.103; XIV27 
Anathapindika XII. 74, 106 
Anathapindika, Cula XII. 74 
Andhaka XXIII.n.l 
anger (kodha) 1.151; 111.95; VII.59, 103, n.25; 

IX. 15 
Arigulimala Thera XII. 125 
animal generation (tiracchanayoni) XIII.93; 

XIV207; XVII.154 
annihilation view (nccheda-ditthi) XIII. 74; 

XVI.85; XVII.10, 23, 235^286, 310f.; 

XX.102;XXII.112 
annoyance (aghata) IV.87; IX. 21, 93; 

XIV143, 171 
Anoja-devI XII.82 
Anotatta, Lake XII.73; XIII.38 
antaraparinibbayin XXIII.56 
Anula Thera, Maha XII.128 
Anuradhapura 1.55; 11.48; 111.31 
Anuruddha Thera 11.18; XII.74 
any-bed-user (yathasanthatika) II.2f., 69 
Aparagoyana VII. 436 
aperture (vivara) XIV42, 63; XV39 
apparitionally-born (opapatika) XVII.154, 

191, 286; XX.26; XXII.27 
appearance as terror (bhayatupatthana) 

XXI.29L, 99, 131; XXII.120 
appellation (pannatti), see concept 
applied thought (vitakka) 1.140; III.5, 11, 

21, 25f., 122; IV74, 86, 88£, 132; VI.86; 

VII.28, 59, n.25; VIII.233, 238; IX.112f.; 

XIV86, 133, 136, 157f., 170, 176, 180; 

XVI.86, 99; XVII. 160; XVIII.3; XX.9; 

XXIII.24,26 
approval (anunaya) VI. 67; IX. 88, 96; 

XXII.51 
arahant (arahant) 1.139; VII.4f.; XIII.110; 

XIV108f., 206; XXII.45; XXIII.7, 11, 14, 

18, 58 
arahantship (arahatta) 1.14, 37, 140; 

VIII.224, 243; IX.118; XIV124; XVI.69; 

XVII.245; XXII.lf.; XXIII.25, n.l 
arisen (uppanna) XX.47; XXII.8H. 
arising (uppada) 1.140; IVn.33; VIII.242, 

n.54; XIII.lll; XIV80, 190; XX.22, 26; 



XXI.10, 27, 37, n.6; XXII.5, 44, 79; XXI-II.7 

ascetic practice (dhutanga) 1.112; II passim 

Asoka III.lll; VII.23; VIII.14 

Assagutta Thera 111.63; XIII.107 

Assakannapabbata VII. 42 

assembly (parisa) IVn.28 

asura (demon) VII.43f., n.15; XII.137; 
XIII.93 

atom {ami) XI.n.31; XVI.72, 91; XVII.117 

attachment (nikanti) X.6; XI.3; XVII.292; 
XIX.13; XX.82, 122; XXI.28 

attained-to-vision (ditthippatta) XXI.74, 89 

attainment (samapatti) XII.2; XIV188, 197, 
201; XVII.264; XVIII.l; XX.9; XXII.46; 
XXIII. 18, 20 

attention (manasikara) 111.22, 26; IV52, 59; 
VII.59; VIII.4f., 48, 61f.; XIV133, 152, 
159, 163, 170, 176, 178f.; XV39; XVI- 
II.8; XIX.8; XX.44; XXIII.12. See also 
bringing-to-mind; a. directed to ele- 
ments (dhatu-manasikara) VIII.43; XI.27; 
a. (avadhana) 1.32 

avarice (macchariya, macchera) 1.151; 111.95; 
VII.59, 107f.; XIV170, 173; XXII.52, 67 

aversion (arati) 1.140; IX.95, 100; XXI.28. 
See also boredom 

Avici VII.44; XII.71, 78, 80; XIII.93; XV27 

bad way (agati) VII.59; XXII.55, 69 

Bahula Thera 111.84 

Bakkula Thera 11.82; XII.26 

Baladeva VIII. 19 

Bandhumant XIII. 123 

Bandhumati XIII.123 

bare-insight worker (sukkha-vipassaka) 
XXI.112; XXIII.18 

base (ayatana) 1.2; VII.12, 28, 38; X.24; 
XVlf., 4; XVII. 1, 48, 51, 56, 204f., 294; 
XVIII.12; XIX.13; XX.9; XXI.35 

base consisting of boundless conscious- 
ness (vinnanancayatana) 1.140; III.105f.; 
IX.119, 122; X.25f.; XIV87, 206; XV25f., 
XVII.125, 135; XXIII.21, 26, 34; b.c.o. 
boundless space {akasanancayatana) 
1.140; 111.1051; VII. 19; IX.119, 121; X.lf.; 
XIV87, 206; XV25, 26; XVII.125, 184; 
XXIII.21, 26; b.c.o. neither perception 
nor non-perception {nevasanhanasahha- 
yatana) 1.140; III.105f.; IV78; IX.104; 
XIV87, 206; XV25, 26; XVII.75, 125, 135; 
XXIII.14, 21, 26, 28, 31, 43; b.c.o. noth- 



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ingness (akincannayatana) 1.140; III.105f.; 
IX. 1 19, 123; XIV87, 206; XV25f.; XVII. 125; 
XXIII.21, 26, 34, 43 

base of mastery (abhibhayatana) V28, 32; 
VIII.n.37; X.n.3 

basic (padhana) XVII.107, 281 

Basic principle (padhana) XVI. 85, n.23 

basis, physical (vatthu) 1.53; X.16; XI.107; 
XIV47, 52, 78; XVII.51, 127£, 151, 189, 
193, 204; XVIII.7; XX.25, 31; XXI.83; 
XXII.29. See also heart-b 

basis for success, see road to power 

beauty, beautiful (subha) I.n.14; V.32; 
IX.120f.; XIV226; XV26, 40; XVI.16, 85, 
90; XVII.283; XXI.56. See also percep- 
tion of b; b. element (subha-dhatu) 
XV25f. 

becoming (bhava) 1.32; IV78; VII.15, 28, 
n.6; VIII.241; XI.2; XIII.28, 69, 114; 
XIV112, 124, 227; XVI.34, 92; XVII.2, 37, 
40, 48, 51, 126, 162, 176, 235, 250f., 273f., 
292, n.20; XVIII. 30; XIX. 13; XX. 9; 
XXI.34f.; XXII.56; XXIII.29 

beginning (adi) VIII.n.54; XVII.36, 280f. 

being (bhava) XVII.n.48, see becoming 

being, a living (satta) III.113; IV62; VII.37f., 
n.l, n.13; VIII.10, 39, 140; IX.53, 102, 120; 
XI.30, 117; XIII.44f., 74f., n.17; XIV111; 
XVI.54; XVII.113f., 162; XVIII.24, 28; 
XIX. 19; XX.82; XXI.58; XXII.48 

BhaddiyaTheraXII.110 

bhikkhu (bhikkhu) 1.7, 40, 43; II.90f.; II.n.12 

bhikkhuni (bhikkhuni) 1.40; II.90f. 

Bhimasena VIII. 19 

Bhutapala Thera XII.26, 29 

bile (pitta) VIII.127; XI.17; XIII.2, 73 

Bimbisara VII.23 

birth (jati) IV63; VII.16; VIII.10; XIII.28; 
XVI.32f., 58; XVII.2, 49, 51, 63, 270f. 

Blessed One (bhagavant) IV132; VII.55f.; 
XII.71f.; XX.n.20 

bliss (sukha) 1.32; III.5, 9, 12, 21, n.6; IV74, 
86, 99, 182; VIII.230; XII.131; XIV86, 
139; XX.117; XXI.37; XXIII.8, 26. See also 
perception of b, and pleasure 

bloated (uddhumataka) III.105; VI.l; VII.28; 
VIII.43 

blood (lohita) VHI.lllf., 130; XI.17, 72; 
XIII.9, n.5; XIV60; (ruhira) XIII.2, 73 

Bodhisatta (bodhisatta) 1.41; III.128; XIII.54 



bodily formation (kaya-safikhara) VIII. 175f., 
XVII.61; XXIII.24, 51; b. intimation 
(kayavinnatti) XIV61; b. misconduct 
(k.-duccarita) XIV155, 160; b.-pain facul- 
ty (dukkhindriya) XVI. 10; b-pleasure 
faculty (sukhindriya) XVI. 10; b-volition 
(k.-sancetana XVII.61 

body (kaya) III.105; VII. 1; VIII.42; XI.28, 
92; XII.130, 133; XIV41, 46, 52, 58, 117, 
128, 144; XV.3; XVI. 10; XVII.61; 
XVIII.n.9; XIX.4; XXII.34, 54; XXIII.n.14. 
See also contemplation of the b, & 
mindful, occupied with the b; b. base 
(kayayatana) XV3f.; b. consciousness 
(kaya-vinnana) XIV96, 117, 179, 220; b.-c. 
element (kaya-vinnana-dhatu) XV17f.; b. 
decad (kaya-dasaka) XVII.151, 156, 189; 
b. door (kaya-dvara) XVII.61; b element 
(kaya-dhatu) XV17f; b faculty (kayindriya) 
XIV128; XVI.l; b witness (kaya-sakkhi) 
XXI.74, 77 

bond (yoga) IV87; VII.59; XIV202, 226f.; 
XXII.56, 70 

bondage (samyoga) 1.140; XIV162; XX.90; 
XXII.97, 113, 121 

book (gantha) 111.51, 126 

boredom (arati), see aversion boundary 
(sfmfl)III.n.l6;IV127 

bowl-food eater (patta-pindika) II. 2, 39 

Brahma IX.106; XII.79, 137; XVII.156, 282; 
XVIII.24 

Brahma Sahampati VII.23 

Brahma's Retinue (brahmakayika) Deities 
XVII.190 

Brahmavati XIII. 127 

Brahma-world (brahmaloka) III.118; VII.18; 
XI.123; XII.71, 80, 136f.; XIII. 7, 32f.; 
XVII.134, 180, 264; XX.108 

Brahman (brahmana) 1.93 

brain (matthalunga) VI.25; VIII.44, 126, 136; 
XI.34, 68 

Brazen Palace (lohapasada) III. 55 

breath (assasa-passasa) VIII.27, 164, 209; 
XI.94; XVIII.6, 20 

breathing (anapana) III. 105; VI. 65; VII. 1; 
VIII.43, 145f. 

breathing thing (pana) 1.140; IX.54. See also 
living thing 

bright principle (satta) IX.53 



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bringing-to-mind (manasikara), see atten- 
tion 

Buddha (Buddha), see Enlightened One 

Buddharakkhita Thera IV135; XII.9 

Campa VII.51 

Candapadumasiri XII.42 

canker (asava) 1.32, 127, 131; IV87; VII.7, 
59; XIV8, 10, 72, 202, 214, 226f.; XVI. 104; 
XVII.36, 53, 275; XXII.30, 56, 70; XXI- 
11.18 

Canura VIII. 19 

Catumaharaja (Four Divine Kings) VII.42; 
XIII.41 

cause (hetu) XIV22f., 191, n.74; XV24; 
XVI.28, 85, 91, 104; XVII. 14, 67, 105, 
286f., 291, 310; XIX.2; XX.102; XXII.97. 
See also root-c. 

causeless (ahetuka) XIX. 3. See also root-c. 

cessation (nirodha) 1.140; IV78, 186; VII.27; 
XVI.15, 18, 23f., 62f., 94; XVII.62; XX.7, 
100; XXI.10, 77; XXII.5, 46, 92; XXIII.6, 
10, 28; c. attainment (nirodha-samapatti) 
III.120; IX.104; XI.124; XII.32; XVII.47; 
XXIII. 14; 17f. See also contemplation 
of c. 

Cetiyagiri IV10 

Cetiyapabbata 1.55; 11.13; VI.88 

Chaddanta, Lake XIII.38; XXI.43 

Chaddanta Nagaraja XXI.43 

change (annathatta) VIII. 234; (parinama, 
viparinama) 1.140; XVII. 63; XX. 97; 
XXI. 116. See also contemplation of c. 

change-of-lineage (gotrabhu) IV74, n.18; 
XIII.5; XIV28, 121; XVII.81; XXI.101, 
126, 134; XXII.5f., 44, 56; XXIII.7, 14 

characteristic (lakkhana) 1.20; VIII.180, n.62; 
XIV3, 8, 77; XVII.51; XVIII.19; XX.3f., 
45f.; XXI.2f., 52, n.4; XXII.99f., n.ll 

charnel-ground contemplation (swathika) 
VIII.43; XXIII.20; c.-g. dweller (sosanika) 
11.2,64 

child in the womb (gabbhaseyyaka) XVII.286; 
XX.22 

Ciragumba 1.122, 133 

Citrapataliya Tree VII.43 

Citta, householder XIV27 

Citta, Peak XXI.43 

Cittagutta Thera I.104f., V5, 15 

Cittalapabbata IV10, 36; V15; VIII.243; 
IX.39, 68; XX.109f. 



clansman (kulaputta) 1.18; XX. 105 
cleansing (vodana) 1.16, 143; 111.26; IV117; 

XVII.80, n.15; XXI.135; XXII.45, n.7 
clear-vision (vijja) 1.11, n.6; VII.30; VII.239 
clinging (upadana) 1.32; IV87; VII.15f., 59, 

n.4; XIV202, 214f., 225f.; XVII.2, 48, 51, 

239f., 292; XIX.4, 13; XXII.59, 72 
clung-to (upadinna, upadinnaka) VIII. 130; 

XI.31f., 97, 102; XII.104f., n.20; XIII.91; 

XIV52, 62, 72£, 204, n.23; XVII.255; XX.40 

also kammically-acquired 
code (matika) 1.27, n.ll; 111.31, n.9; IV19; 

IX.67 
cognitive series (citta-vlthi) 1.57, n.16; 

IVn.13; XIII.117; XIV103, 152, 188, 197, 

n.47; XV10; XVII.136f.; XIX.14; XXII.6, 

16; XXIII.3, 14 
coincidence (sangati) XVII. 308 
colour (vanna) IV.29; XI. 88; XIV.47; 

XVII.156; XVIII.5f. 
common to (sadharana) XVII.107; XIX.8 
community (sangha) 1.46; 111.57; VII.l, 89f., 

XXIII.38. See also Order 
compact (ghana) 1.140; XI. 30; XIV213; 

XX.90; XXI.4, 50, 122, n.3; XXII.114 
compassion (karuna) II.105f.; VII. 18, 32, 

n.7, n.9; IX.77f.^ 92, 94, 99, 119, 121; 

XIV133, 154, 157, 181, n.67 
comprehending, comprehension (samma- 

sana) 1.133, n.36; VIII. 224; X.38, 53; 

XVII.102; XVIII.15, n.5; XX.2£, 75f., 93; 

XXI.85£; XXII. 107, 112 
conceit (mada), see vanity 
conceit (mana), see pride 
conceit "I am" (asmi-mana) III. 122, n.18; 

VIII.n.71 
concentration (samadhi) 1.7, 32, n.3, n.4; 

III.2, 4, 21, 56, n.3; IV30, 45f., 51, 86, 99, 

117; VII.n.1; VIII.74, 231f.; IX.104, 112f., 

n.17; XI.44, 118f.; XII.17, 30, 50f.; XIII.n.1, 

n.3; XIV86, 133, 139, 159, 170, 177f., 183; 

XVI.l, 86, 95; XVII.314; XVIII.l; XXII.75, 

89; XXII.42, 45, 66, 128; XXIII.7, 26, 37 
concept (pannatti) II.n.18; IV29; VIII.39, 

66, n.ll; IX.54, 102, n.6; XI.n.17, n.18, 

n.30; XXI.n.4 
concern (abhoga) IV180; VIII.178; IX.123, 

n.21; X.45; XI.48f.. See also unconcern 
concomitant, see consciousness-c. 



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concrete matter (rupa-rupa) XIV.77; 
XVII.189, 191; XVIII.13 

concurrence (sannipata) XIV134; XVII.308 

condition (paccaya) VIII.180, n.54; IX.109, 
lllf.; XIV23, 73, 122, 191, n.74; XV14, 
32, 35f.; XVII.2, 66£, n.2; XIX passim, 2, 
13; XX.27f., 97; XXII.5 

conditionality, specific (idappaccayata) 
XVII.5f., 58 

conformity (anulomd) IY74, n.13; XIII. 5; 
XIV28; XX.18; XXI.l, 128f.; XXII.6, 16, 
23, 121, n.7; XXIII.14 

confusion (sammoha) 1.140; XVIII. 25; 
XX.90; XXII.113, 119 

conscience (hiri) 1.22, 48, 88; VII. n. 8; 
XIV133, 142, 155 

consciencelessness (ahiri) VII.59; XIV159, 
170, 176; XXII.49 

consciousness, (manner of) conscious- 
ness (citta) 1.7, 33; 11.12, 78; 111.24; IV115f., 
n.13; VIII.39, 145, 173, 231, 241; X.10; 
XI.94, 111; XII.12, 50, 130, 133; XIII.5f., 
118; XIV12, 47, 61f., 75, 82, 116; XV4, 26; 
XVII.72,193; XVIII.5; XIX.9; XX.26, 30f., 
71; XXI.ll, 129; XXII.15, 42 

consciousness (vinnana) 1.53, 57, n.14; 
Vn.5; VII.10, 28, n.13; IX.122; X.25f., 50; 
Xl.lf., 107; XII.n.21; XIV3, 6, 81f., 129, 
214; XV9f., 27; XVII.2, 48, 51, 54, 120f., 
294; XVIII.8, 11, 13, 21; XIX.13, 23; XX.6, 
9, 31, 43, 78, 94; XXI.ll, 56; XXII.36, 42, 
53, 126; XXIII.13, 18, 22, 30 

consciousness-concomitant (cetasika) 1.17, 
n.7; 11.12; III.3, n.2; IVn.13; X.22, 48; 
XIV6; XVII.72; XVIII.8; XXIII.18 

consciousness-originated (cittasamutthana) 
VIII.n.54; XIV61f.; XIX.9; XX.29 

constituent of becoming (vokara) VII.n.6; 
XVII.254 

contact (phassa) IV140; VII.13, 28; X.50; 
Xl.lf., n.2; XIV6, 133f., 159, 170, 176, 179, 
227, n.61, n.81; XVII.2, 48, 51, 56, 220f., 
294; XVIII.8, 11, 18f.; XIX.13; XX.9, 77, 
97; c. pentad (phassa-pancamaka) XX.77 

contemplation (anupassana) VIII.234, 236; 
the seven c. (sattanupassana) XX. 4; 
XXI.15f., 43; XXII.114; c. of body (kayan- 
up.) VIII. 168; IX. 113; c. of cessation 
(nirodhanup.) 1.140; VIII.233; XX.90; 
XXII.113; XXIII.22f.; c. of change (vipari- 



namanup.) 1.140; XX.90; XXII.113, 116; c. 
of danger (adinavanup .) 1.140; VIII.43; 
XX.90; XXI.35f.; XXII.113, 120; c. of the 
desireless (appanihitanup.) 1.140; XX.90; 
XXII.113, 117; c. of destruction (khayan- 
up.) 1.140; XX.90; XXII.113, 114; c. of 
dispassion (nibbidanup.) 1.140; VIII.233 
XX.90; XXI.43L; XXII.113; XXIII.22f.; c. 
of dissolution (bhahganitp.) VIII. 224 
XX.4; XXI.lOf., 25, 131; XXII.108, 114; c. 
of fading away (viraganup.) 1.140 
VIII.233; XX.90; XXII.113; XXIII.22f.; c 
of fall (vayanup.) 1.140; XX.90; XXII.113, 
115; c. of impermanence (aniccanup .) 
1.140; VIII.233; XX.4, 20, 90; XXI.26, 122; 
XXII.46, 108, 113; XXIII.22f. c. of not- 
self (anattanup.) 1.140; VIII.233; XX.4, 20, 
90; XXI.122; XXII.113; XXIII.22f.; c. of 
pain (dukkhanup.) 1.140; VIII.233; XX.4, 
20, 90; XXI.122; XXII.113; XXIII.22f.; c. 
of reflection {patisankhanup.) 1.140; 
XX.90; XXI.47, 62, 82; XXII.113, 120; c. 
of relinquishment (patinissagganup.) 
Vm.233, 236; XX.90; XXII.113; XXm.22f.; c 
of rise and fall (udayabbayanup) VIII. 224; 
XX.4, 93f.; XXI.l; c. of the signless 
(animittannp.) 1.140; XX.90; XXII.113, 
117; c. of turning away (vivattanup.) 1.140; 
XX.90; XXII.113, 121; XXIII.25; c. of void- 
ness (sunnatanupassana) 1.140; XX.90; 
XXII.113, 117 

contentment (santutthita) 1.151; II. 1, 83; 
XVI.86 

contiguous objective field (sampatta- 
visaya) XIV46, 76; XVII.56 

continuity (santana) VIII.n.11; XIII.13, lllf.; 
XIV114L, 123; (santati) XI. 112, n.21; 
XIII.lll, 113; XIV66, 114, 124, 186, 188f., 
197; XVII.74, 165, 170, 189, 204, 223, 271, 
310; XIX.23; XX.22, 26, 102, n.23; XXI.3, 
n.3, n.41; XXII.89, 128 

contraction (samvatta) XIII. 28f. 

conventional, convention (sammuti) VII.n.7, 
n.19; VIII.l; XVI.n.18; XVII.171 

conveying (abhiniham) XI.93, 117; XIII.16, 
95 

coolness (sitibhava) VIII. 77 

co-presence (santhana) XVII.76; (sahatthana) 
XIII.116 



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cords of sense desire, the five (pancakama- 

guna) I.155f.; IV87, n.24. See also sense 

desire 
core {sard) 1.140; XIV91; XX.16, 90; XXI.56, 

59; XXII.118 
correct knowledge (yathabhutanana) 

XIX.25 
correct knowledge and vision (yathabhuta- 

nanadassana) 1.32, 140; XX.90; XXII.113, 

119 
coupling, coupled (yuganaddha) IV117; 

XXII.46; XXIII.43 
course of action (kamma-patha) 1.17; VII.59, 

n.25; XXII.63, 75 
course of an existence (pavatta, pavatti) 

XVI.23, 42; XVII.89, 126f., 193; XIX.16; 

XX. 44. See also occurrence 
covetousness (abhijjha) 1.42, 140; XII.19; 

XVII.251 
craving (tanha) 1.2, 13; 111.17, 78; IV87; 

VII.7f., 15, 27f., 59, n.25; VIII.247; XI.26; 

XIV162, n.14; XVI.23, 28, 31, 61, 86, 93; 

XVII.37, 48, 51, 163, 233f., 286, 292; 

XIX.4, 13; XX.9, 82, 97, 125; XXI.19 
cruelty (vihimsa) IX.94, 99; XV28 
Cula-Abhaya, etc., see under individual 

names, Abhaya, etc. 
Cula-Naga-Lena (Cave) IV36 
curiosity (Thaka) XVIII. 31 
cutting off (samuccheda) 1.12; XXII.122 
Dakkhinagiri IV10 
Danava (Demon) XI.97 
danger (adlnava), see contemplation of d. 
Datta Thera, Maha XX.110; XXI.n.38 
Datta- Abhaya Thera III. 84 
death (cuti) IVn.13; VIII.241; XIII.14, 17f., 

24, 76; XIV98, 110, 123; XVII.113f., 131f., 

135f., 164, 232, n.43, n.45; XIX.24; XX.31, 

43, 47; (marana) 111.105; IV63; VII.l, 16, 

59; VHI.lf; IX.7, 75; XIII.91; XIV.lll; 

XVI.31, 46f., 59; XVII.48, 163, 278; XVI- 

11.30; XIX. 15; XX. 25; XXI. 24, 34; 

XXII.116, 118; XXIII.42, n.17 
deathless (amata) XV42; XVI.10, 15, 90; 

XXI.103; XXII.20 
decad (dasaka) XVII.149, 151f., 156, 189f., 

n.26; XVIII.5f.; XX.22, 28, 70 
decade (dasaka) XX..50f. 
deceit (mayo) 1.151; 111.95; VII.59 
dedicated (niyyatita) III. 124 



deeds, see kamma 

defilement (kilesa, sankilesa) 1.13, 54, 140; 

III. 18, 26; IV.31, 84f.; VII.59, n.25; 

VIII.236; XII.17; XIV145, 199; XVI.68; 

XVII.136, 140, 244, 281; XX.110; XXI.18, 

41, 105, 117; XXII.7, 19f., 45, 49, 65; XXI- 

II.2 
defining (vavatthana) XI.27; XIV11; XVHI.37; 

XX.130; d. of states (dhamma-vavatthana) 

1.140; d. of the four elements (catudha- 

tn-vavatthana) III.6, 105; XI.27f. 
deity (deva, devata) 1.150; 111.58, 118; VII.l, 

59, 115f., n.14; IX.69; X.24; XI.97; XII.72; 

XIV111, 193; XVII.134, 154, 278, n.43; 

XX.15 
delight (nandi, abhinandana) 1.140; VII.59, 

n.25; VIII.233; XVI. 61, 93; XVII.30; 

XX.90; XXI.11; XXII.113; XXIII.23; (rati) 

XXI.28 
delimitation of formations (sankhara- 

pariccheda) XVIII.37; XX.4; XXII.112 
delimiting-matter (pariccheda-rupa) XIV77 
deliverance (vimutti) 1.32; IV117; VIII.239; 

XIII.12; XXII.66, see mind-d. 
delusion (moha) 1.90, n.14; 11.84, 86; III.74f., 

95, 128; IV87; VII.59; XII.63; XIII.64, 77; 

XIV.93, 159, 161, 170, 176; XVI. 69; 

XVII.52, 292; XXII. 11, 49, 61 
dependent origination (paticca-samuppada) 

VII.9f., 22, 28; XVII passim; XVIII.n.8; 

XlX.llf.; XX.6, 9, 43, 98, 101 
dependently-originated (paticcasamup- 

panna) XVII.3f.; XX.101 
deportment (iriyapatha) 1.61, 70. See also 

posture 
derived materiality, derivative m. (upada- 

rupa) VIII. 180; XIV36f.; XVII. 77; 

XVIII.4, 14 
Descent of the Gods (devorohana) XIII. 72f. 
desirable (ittha) XVII.127, 178 
desire (panidhi) 1.140; XX.90; XXI.73, 122; 

XXII.113, 117 
desire, sensual, see sense d. 
desire for deliverance (muccitukamyata) 

XXI.45, 79, 99, 131f. 
desireless (appanihita) 1.140. See also 

contemplation of the d.; d. element 

(appanihita-dhatu) XXI. 67; d. liberation 

(appanihita-vimokkha) XXI. 70f. 
despair (upayasa) XVI.31, 52f.; XVII.2, 48 



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destiny, destination (gati) VIII.34; XIII.69, 

92f.; XIV111, 113; XVII.135, 148, 160 
destruction (khaya) 1.140; VIII.227, 231, 

233; X.38; XI.104; XIV.69; XVI. 69; 

XVII.102; XX.14, 21, 40; XXI.10, 24, 69; 

XXII. 122. See also contemplation of d. 
determining (votthapana) 1.57; IV.n.13; 

XIY108, 120; XV36; XVII.138; XX.44 
Devadatta XII.138 
Devaputtarattha VIII.243 
Deva Thera, Maha VIII.49 
development, developing (bhavana) 1.140; 

III.27f.; XIV13, 206; XVI.95, 102; XVII.60, 

76; XXII.92, 124, 128 
dhamma (dhamma) 1.34; VII.l, 60, 68£, n.l, 

n.4, n.7; VIII.245, n.54, n.65, n.68, n.70; 

X.n.7; XI.104; XII.n.21; XIV23, n.27, n.78; 

XVI.n.25; XXII.79; XXIII.n.18. See also 

law & state; dh. body (dhamma-kaya) 

VII. 60; VIII. 23; dh. devotee (dhammanu- 

sarin) XXI.74, 89 
Dhammadinna Thera, XII.80; XX.lll 
Dhammagutta XII.39 
Dhammarakkhita Thera, Maha 111.53 
Dhammasoka III. Ill 
Dhammika XIV27 
Dhananjaya XII.42 
Dipankara VII.34 
direct-knowledge (abhinna) 1. 11, 140, n.6; 

III.5, 14£, 120; IV75, 78; VII.30; XI.122; 

XII passim; XIII passim; XVII.61, 102; 

XX.3, 31; XXII.106; XXIII.58 
directing on to (abhiniropana) IV.90; 

XVI.77, 100 
discerning (pariggaha) IV114; VIII. 180; 

XVIII.3f.; XIX.4f.; XXII.39; d. of condi- 
tions (paccayapariggaha) XIX passim; 

XX.4, 130; XXII.112 
disciple (savaka) 1.98, 131; IV55; XIV31 
discipline (vinaya) 1.32 
discord (vivada) VII.59 
discrimination (patisambhida) 1.11; XIV21f.; 

XVII.33, 305; XX.lll; XXIII.58 
disease (roga) XI.21; XX.18; XXI.35, 48, 59; 

XXII.98 
dispassion (nibbida) 1.32, 140; III. 22; 

VIII.224; X.52; XXI.26, 135. See also 

contemplation of d. 
dispensation (sasana) 1. 10; VIII. 152 



dissolution (bhahga) VIII.234, 242; XIII.lll; 

XIV.59, XIX. 11; XX. 22, 26; XXI. 11; 

XXII. 115, 118. See also contemplation 

ofd. 
distension (vitthambhana) XI.37, 84f., 89f., 

93, n.23 
distinction (visesa) 111.22, 26, 128 
distraction (vikkhepa) III.4, n.3 
diversification (papanca) VII.59; XVI.n.17 
diversity (nanatta) XVII.309, 311; XX.102 
divine abiding (brahma-vihara) III.105f.; 

VII.63; IX passim 
divine ear element (dibba-sotadhatu) 

III.109; XII.2, 136; XHI.lf., 109 
divine eye (dibba-cakkhu) III.109; V30, 35f.; 

XII.100, 129, 136; XIII.9, 72f., 80, 124; 

XX.120 
divine world (deva-loka) XVII. 141 
doer (karaka) XVI.90; XVII.273, 282, 302; 

XIX.20; XX.16 
dog-practice (kukkura-kiriya) XVII. 246 
domain {gocara) X.20; XIV.26; XV.ll; 

XXII.46 
door (dvara) 1.53, n.16; IVn.13; X.17; X.22; 

XIV47, 78, 98, 108; 115£, 121, 141, 152; 

XV4, 36f.; XVII.51, 61, 127, 136f., 228; 

XIX.8; XX.9, 70. See also mind-d., etc. 
dominance (adhipateyya) XXII. 102 
doubt (kankha) VIII.224; XIX passim; 

XXII.112 
dream (supina) IX.62; XIV114, n.45 
duty (vatta) 1.17; III.66f.; IV3 
dyad (duka) XIII.n.20 
ear (sota) XIV36, 38, 49, 117; XV3; XX.70; 

e. base (sotayatana) XV3f.; e. conscious- 
ness (sotavinnana) XIV96f., 101, 117, 179 

e.-c. element (sota-vinnana-dhatu) XV17f. 

e. element (sota-dhatu) XIII.2; XV17f.; e 

faculty (sotindriya) XVI. 1 
earth (pathavt) VII.41; XI.28£, 33, 41, 87, 

XIII.43, 99; XIV35, 62; XV30, 34, 39, 

XVIII. 19; e. element (pathavl-dhatu), see 

earth; e. kasina (pathavi-kasina) III.105£, 

131; IV passim; XII.95, 132, 138 
effacement (sallekha) 1.116, 151; 11.84, 86 
effort (vayama) XXII.39, 66; (padhana), see 

endeavour 
eightfold path (atthahgika-magga) XVI.75£, 

95; XXII.33 
ekabijin XXIII.55 



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element (dhatu) 1.86, 97; 111.80; VII.28, 38, 

n.l; VIII.43, 60, 159, 180, n.43, n.68; 

IX.38; XI.27f v 87f., 93, 104, n.19; XII.37; 

XIV47, 65; XV17f., n.ll; XVI.59; XVII.156; 

XVIII.5, 9, 19; XX.9, 64 
elephant (hatthin) XXI.n.15 
embryo (kalala) VIII.30; XVII.117, 152 
emergence (vutthana) IV.131; XVI. 23; 

XX.44f.; XXI.83L; XXIII. 13, 49 
endeavour (padhana) IV.55; XII. 50f.; 

XXII.33f., 39, 42 
energy (viriya) 1.18, 26, 33, 111; 11.88; 

111.24; IV.45f., 51, 72, 113; VII.7, n.8; 

IX.124; XII.12, 17, 50; XIV133, 137, 159, 

170, 176, 183; XVI.l, 86; XVII.72; XX.119; 

XXII.35f. 
engagement (abhinipata) XVIII. 19 
Enlightened One (buddha) III.128; IV55; 

VILlf., 26, 52; VIII.23, 155; IX.124; XI.17; 

XII.l; XIII.16, 18, 31; XIV31; XVI.20; 

XXI.118; XXIII.ll 
enlightenment (bodhi, sambodhi) 1.140 
enlightenment factor (bojjhanga, sam- 

bojjhanga) IV51f.; VIII.141, 239; XVI.86; 

XX.21; XXI.lll; XXII.22, 33, 38f., 42 
ennead (navaka) XVII. 194. See also life-e. 

and sound-e. 
entering into (pakkhandana) XIV.140; 

XXI.18; XXII.n.2 
envy (issa) 111.95; VII.59; XIV170, 172 
equanimity (upekkha) I.n.14; III.5, 9, 12, 21, 

105f., n.6; IV.51, 112f., 156f., 182, 193; 

VII.18; VIII.74; IX.88f., 92, 96, 101, 119, 

123; XII.37, 131; XIII.9; XIV12, 83, 85f., 

119, 126f., 154; XV28; XVI.86; XVII.160; 

XX.44, 121; XXI.63, 83, 114; XXII.42; e. 

about formations (sahkharupekkha) 

XXI.61f., 79, 131, 135; XXII.23, 26, 29, 

121; e. faculty (upekkhindriya) XIII.9; 

XVI.l 
eon {kappa) XI.102; XIII.16; XI.205; XX.73 
equipoise (tadibhava) 1. 10; VII. 71 
escape (nissarana) 1.32; IV.82; VII. 29; 

XVI.15 
essence (bhava) 1.32; VIII. 234, n.68; 

XVII. 14; e., individual (sabhava), see 

individual e. 
eternity view, eternalism (sassataditthi) 

XVI.85; XVII.22, 235, 286, 310; XVII.29; 

XX.102; XXI.28; XXII.112 



eunuch (pandaka) V41; XIV111 

evilness of wishes (papicchata) 111.95 

exalted (mahaggata) II.5, 13; IV74; X.34; 
XIII.12, 106, 120; XIV15; XVII.53, 140; 
XIX.15; XX.44; XXIII.4 

event (samaya) VII.n.1 

exclusive, absolute (advaya) V38 

exertion (paggaha) VIII.74; XX.119; XXII.45 

existence (atthita) XVII. n.l; (atthibhava) 
XVII.n.16; (bhava) VII.n.6; IX.97. See also 
becoming 

existing (vijjamana) IX. 123; (vattamana) 
XVI.68 

expansion (vivatta) XIII.28f.; XX.73 

experiencer (upabhunjaka) XVII. 171; (veda- 
ka) XVI.90; XVII.273, 282; XX.16 

extension (vaddhana) III.109; IV126f.; V26; 
XIII.6 

extent (addha, addhana) IV78; VIII. 165; 
XIILlllf.; XIV186f. 

external (bahiddha, bahira) XI.107; XIII.106f.; 
XIV.19, 73, 192, 198; XX.73; XXI.83f.; 
XXII.5, 45; XXIII.4 

extinction (of craving, etc.) (nibbana, 
parinibbana), see Nibbana 

eye (cakkhu) 1.42, 53, n.14; VII.27; X.16; 
XIV36f., 47, 73, 115, 117, 213; XV.3; 
XVI.6; XVII.127; XX.6f., 44, 94, XXI.ll, 
55f., XXIII. 22; e. base (cakkhayatana) 
XV3£; XVI.10; e.-consciousness (cakkhu- 
vinnana) 1.57; XIV47, 54, 95f., 101, 107, 
117, 179; XVI.10; XVII.73, n.20; XX.44; 
e.-c. element (cakkhnvihhana-dhatu) 
XV17; XVI.10; e. decad (cakkhu-dasaka) 
XVII.156, 190; e-door (cakkhudvara) 
XIII.118; XIV117; e. element (cakkhu- 
dhatu) XV17; e. faculty (cakkhundriya) 
XVI.1 

faculty (indriya) 1.42, 56f., 100; 111.18; IV45, 
61, 117f., 186; XI.107; XIV58f., 73, 79, 
115, 134; XVI.lf., 10, 86; XVII.91, 127, 
150, 163; XVIII.n.8; XX.9, 21; XXI.75, 89, 
n.31; XXII.22, 33, 37, 42; XXIII.51, 55, 56 

fading away (viraga) 1.32, 140; VIII.235, 
245; XX.7; XXI.ll. See also contempla- 
tion of f.a. 

faith (saddha) 1.26, 68, 98; III.74f., 122; IV45, 
142; VII.7, 115f., n.4, n.8; XII.17; XIV133, 
140, 148, 155; XVI.l, 10, 86; XVII.84; 
XX.118; XXI.74, 89, 128, n.34; XXH.37, 42 



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faith devotee (saddhanusarin) XXI. 74, 89 
fall (vaya) 1.140; VIII.227, 231, 233; XIV69; 

XV15; XVI.35; XVII.102; XX.7, 94; XXI.6, 

22. See also rise and f., contemplation 

of {., and contemplation of rise and f. 
false speech (musavada) 1.140; XXII. 66 
far (dura) XIV73, 194, 209 
fatalism (niyata-vada) XVII.313 
fate (niyati) XVII. 117 
fear (bhaya) III. 124. See also terror, and 

appearance as t. 
feeling (vedana) IV182, 193; VII.14, 28, 38, 

n.13; VIII.230; IX.lll; X.50; XIV125f., 

134, 144, 197f.; XV14; XVI.35; XVII.2, 9, 

32, 51, 163, 228f., 294; XVIII.8, 13, 91f.; 

XIX.13; XX.7, 9, 94; XXI.ll, 56; XXII.22, 

34, 126; XXIII. 13, 22, 24 
femininity faculty (itthindriya) XIV58; XVI 
foetus (gabbha) IV34. See also embryo 
fetter (samyojana) IV87; XIV172; XXII.45, 

47, 48, 122; XXIII.2 
fewness of wishes (appicchata) 1.151; 

II.12£, 83f.; XIV155; XVI.86 
fictitious-cause view (visamahetu-ditthi) 

XVII.22; XXII.112 
field (khetta) XIII.31 

final knowledge {anna) XVI.3; XXIII.n.17 
fine-material becoming {rupa-bhava) IV78; 

VH.9f.; VIII.241; f.-m. sphere (rupavacara) 

111.13, 23; IV74, 138; X.2f., 18; XIII.5; 

XIV15, 86, 104, 112, 127, 157, 182, n.36; 

XVI.92; XX.31 
fire (tejo) XIII.32f.; XIV35; XV34; XVIII.6; 

f. element {tejo-dhatu) V30; XI.28L, 36, 

41, 87; XIV35; XV30; XX.40; f. kasina 

(tejo-kasina) III.105f.; V5; XIII.95 
Five-crest (pancasikha) XII. 79 
flavour (rasa) XIV47, 57; XVII.156; XVII.2, 

11; f. base (rasayatana) XV3f.; f. element 

(rasa-dhatu) XV17 
flood (ogha) IV87; VII.59; XIV202, 226f.; 

XXII.56, 70 
focus (apatha) 1.57; XIII.99; XIV116, 134; 

XVII.127, 136, 235; XXII.89 
food (ahara), see nutriment; (bhojana) 1.93; 

IV40 
forest (aranna) 11.9, 48; VIII.158; f. dweller 

(arannika) 11.2, 47 
formation (sankhara) IV62; VII.7f., 37, 59; 

VIII.175, 180, 236, 243; X.44f.; XIII.41; 



XIV131f., 214, n.81; XV14; XVI.35, 52, 

89; XVII.2, 44, 51, 53, 60f., 163, 173, 199, 

251, 292; XVIII.13, 19; XIX.ll, 13; XX.6f., 

21, 83, 94; XXI.21, 34, 57, 61f., 129; 

XXII.22; XXIII.10, 13, 22, 30 
formed (sahkhata) VII. 83; VIII. 245; 

XIV216, 223; XV15, 25, 40; XVI.23, 102; 

XVII.45; XX.17, 101; XXI.18 
foul, foulness (asubha) 1.103, 122; III.57f., 

122, n.27; VI passim; VIII.148; XIV224; 

XXII.34, 53 
foundation of mindfulness (satipatthana) 

1.6, 51; VIII.239, n.47; XIV141; XVI.86; 

XXII.33, 39, 42 
Four Divine Kings, see Catumaharaja 
fraud (satheyya) 1.151; 111.95; VII.59 
friend (mitta) 149; 111.611, 95 
fruit of cause (phala) XIV22; XV24; XVI.63, 

85; XVII.105, 168, 174, 250, 288f., 291, 

310; XX.102; XXII.48 
fruit of asceticism (samanna-phala) XVI. 89; 

XXIII.3 
fruition {phala) 1.35, 37; IV78; VH.91; XHI.120; 

XIV105, 121; XXI.125f.; XXII.15f.; XXIII.3, 

28, 49; f. attainment (phala-samapatti) IV78; 

XXIII.3, 5 
full awareness (sampajanna) 1.48; III. 95; 

IV172; VIII.43 
full understanding (parinna) XI.26; XX. 2£, 

89; XXII.92, 105f., 128 
function (kicca, rasa) 1.21; XXII.92 
functional (kriya) 1.57; X.14; XIV106f., 127, 

183f.; XIX.8; XX.31, 44 
gain (labha) 1.31, 42, 61, 65 
Ganga (Ganges in India, Mahaveli in Sri 

Lanka) 111.37, 53; IV24; XII.128; XIII.n.19 
Garula (demon) VII.43; XII.n.19 
General of the Dhamma (dhamma-senapati). 

See also Sariputta Thera 
generation (yoni) XIII.69; XVIII. 148 
generosity (caga) VII.107f. 
Ghosita XII.40f. 

ghost (peta) XIII.93; XVII.154, 178 
gift, giving (dana) VII.94, 107f.; IX.39, 124; 

XIV84f., 206; XVII.60, 81, 293 
Girikandaka-vihara IV96 
giving up (pariccaga) VIII. 236; XXI.18 
gladdening (pamujja) 1.32, 140 
gladness (mudita) III.105f.; VII.18; IX.84£, 

95, 100, 119, 122; XIV133, 154f., 181 



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Godatta Thera, Abhidhammika IV76 
goer (gamaka) XVI. 90 
going and coming back with the medita- 
tion subject {gatapaccagata) XIY28 
gossip (samphappalapa) 1.140; XXII. 66 
graspable entity (viggaha) XVn.l; XVI.n.6; 

XX.n.28 
grasping (adand) 1.140; VIII.233; XVII.308; 

XX.90; XXI.11; XXII.113, 118; XXIII.23 
Great Monastery (mahavihara) 1.4; 111.53; 

IX.65 
great primary (maha-bhuta), see primary 
Great Shrine (mahacetiya) IV95 
greed (lobha) 11.84; IH.95, 128; IV87; VII.59; 

XIII.64, 77; XIV90, 159, 161, 205; XVII.129; 

XXII.11, 49, 61; (raga) 1.90, 137, 140; 11.86; 

III.74f., 122; IV.85, 192, n.24; VII.76; 

VIII.233, 247; IX.97f., 101; XII. 63; 

XVI.61, 69; XVII.103, 138, 235; XX.90; 

XXI.11, 123; XXII.28, 48, 60, 113; XXI- 
II.23 
grief (domanassa) 1.42; IV184, n.48; IX.99, 111; 

XIII.9; XIV90, 127f.; XV28; XVI.31, 50f.; 

XVII.48; XX. 71; g. element (domanassa- 

dhatu) XV28; g. faculty (domanassa-indriya) 

XIH.9; XVI.l 
gross (olarika) VIII.176; XIV72, 192, 198, 

203 
group (kalapa) VIII. 224, n.45; XI.88; 

XIVn.27, n.32; XVII. 156; XVII.n.5; XIX 

passim; XX.76f. 
growth (upacaya) XIV66; XVII.74 
Gutta Thera, Maha Rohana IV135; XII.9 
habit (slla) 1.38 
Hamsapatana, Lake XIII.38 
"hand-grasping question" (hatthagahana- 

panha) VIII. 142 
Hahkana XX.110 
happiness (plti) 1.32, 140; III.5, 8, 12, 21, 

n.6; IV51, 74, 86, 94, 182; VIII.226, 230; 

IX.112; XIV86, 128, 133, 136, 156, 159, 

169, 180; XVI.86; XVII. 160; XX. 115; 

XXI.19;XXII.42;XXIII.26 
happy destiny (sugati) XVII. 135f., 160 
harsh speech (pharusa-vaca) 1.140; XXII. 66 
hate (dosa) 1.90; 11.86; III.74f., 95, 128; IV87, 

192; VII.59; IX.2, 15; XII.63; XIII.64, 77; 

XIV89, 92, 170f., 205; XVI.69; XXII.11, 

49,61 
Hatthikucchipabbhara III.102; IV10 



head hair (kesa) VII.28; VIII.83; XI.48 
hearing (savana) XIV117; XVII.127 
heart (hadaya) VIII. Ill; XI.59; XIII.9; 

XIV78; XV3; XVIII.4; h. basis Qiadaya- 

vatthu) XIII.99, n.5; XIV60, 78, 97, 108, 

128, n.13, n.26, n.47; XVII.128, 163, 209, 

n.36; XVIII.7; XX.70; XXIII.n.12 
heaven (sagga) VII.17, n.14; XIII.83, 94 
heavenly abiding (dibba-vihara) VII. 63, 

n.28 
hell (niraya) 1.156; VII.n.14; IX.20, n.3; 

XIII.33, 79, 92; XIV193, 207; XVII.137, 

153, 178 
higher consciousness (adhicitta) 1. 10; 

VIII.73f., 173 
higher than human state (uttari manussa- 

dhamma) 1.69 
higher understanding (adhipanna) 1. 10; 

VIII. 173 
higher virtue (adhisila) 1.10; VIII.173 
Himalaya (himavant) VII.42, n.16; XIII.38, 

48; XXI.43 
hindrance (nivarana) 1.140, III. 15; IV31f., 

86, 104; VI.67; VII.59; VIII.233; IX.102; 

XIV202; XXIII.57, 71 
house-to-house seeker (sapadana-carika) 

II.2, 31 
human (manussa) XIV111; XVII.154 
humour (dhatu) VIII.159; (dosa) 111.80 
hypocrisy (vimhapana) 1.67 
idea (anubodha) XVI. 84 
identity (ekatta) XVII.167, 309; XX.102; 

XXI.52 
idleness (kosajja) IV47, 72; VIII.74; XII.17 
ignorance (avijja) 1.140; 111.17; IV87; VII.7f., 

59; XII.17; XIV229; XV28; XVII.2, 36, 43, 

48, 51f., 58f., 103, 163, 274, 292; XX.8, 

97; XXII.28, 45, 48, 56, 60 
illumination (obhasa) XII.17; XX.107 
ill-will (vyapada) 1.140; 111.122; IV86, 104; 

IX. 93, 98; XIV.227; XV.28; XVI. 10; 

XXII.25, 54,62 
IllisaXII.127 
immaterial (arupa) VIII.180; XIVn.36; XVI- 

II. 8, 15; XX. 43; XXI. 86; i. becoming 

(arupabhavd) HI.118; IV78; VH.9£; XVII.150; 

XXI.34; i. septad (arupa-sattaka) XX.76, 126; 

i. sphere (arupavacara) III. 13, 23; X.10; 

XIV15, 87, 104, 109, 182, 206; XVI.92; 

XX.31; i. state (aruppa) III. 105; Vn.5; 



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VII.28; XI.104; X passim; XIV87; i. world 

(arupa-loka) XVI.85; XVII.134; XXIII.n.12 
impact (abhighata) XIV37 
impediment (palibodha) III.29f.; IV.20; 

XVI.23; XXII.97 
imperfection {upakkilesa) VIII.224; XIII.2; 

XX.105f.;XXI.l 
impermanent, impermanence (anicca) 

1.140; VIII.234, n.64; XI.104, n.18; XII.26; 

XIY3, 69, 224, 229; XVI.89, 99; XIX.26; 

XX passim, 47f., 85, 103, 126; XXI.3f., 

10f., 33, 48, 51, 59, 68, 88, 129, n.3; 

XXII.22, 53; XXIII.32 
imperturbable (anehja) X.19; XII. 16, n.l; 

XVII.44, 60, 252 
impinging (ghattana, sanghattana) 1.53; 

XIV73, 115, 134; XVII.308 
impulsion (javana) 1.57, n.16; IV33, 74f., 

132, 138, n.13, n.21, n.22; X.10; XIII.5, 

117; XIV.98, 121, 152, 188, 197, n.27; 

XV36f.; XVII. 87, 103, 129, 136f., 293; 

XIX.14; XX.44; XXI.129; XXII.16, 19 
incalculable (asankheyya) XIII. 16, 29, 55 
indeterminate (avyakata) 11.78; XIV94, 126, 

129, 132, 179f., 198, 209; XVII.51 
individual essence (sabhava) I.n.14; 

III.115f.; IV.45, 53; V.n.5; VI. 35, 84; 

VII.n.1; VIII.40, 246, n.12, n.16, n.68, 

n.70; IX.123; X.20, n.7; XI.25, 27, 42, n.18; 

XIV7f., 68, 73, 82, 91, 126f., 129, 143, 

163, 198, 200, 203£, n.4; XV14, 15, 20f., 

26, 32; XVI.35, 85, n.23; XVII.68, 110, 

312, n.6; XX.103; XXI. n.4, n.33; XXII.58, 

92, 100; XXIII.52, n.18 
individuality (sakkaya) IV155, 192; XVI.85; 

XVII.243; XXII.48, 112; XXIII.2 
Indra XII.137; XX.114, 121 
inductive insight (naya-vipassana) XX.2, 21 
inference (anumana) XII. n.7; XVII. 202; 

XX.n.13 
inferential knowledge (anvaya-hana) 

XXI.17;XXII.115 
inferior (hlna) 1.33; XIV193, 208; XV29; 

XVII.53, 138 
inferiority (hlnata) XVII.271 
inherence (samavaya) XVI.91 
inherent tendency (anusaya) 1.13; VII. 59; 

IX.88; XVI.64, n.18; XVII.238; XX.n.33; 

XXII.45, 60, 73, 83f. 



initiative, element of (arambh.a-d.hatu) IV52, 
124; XV25, 28 

inquiry (vimamsa) 1.33; 11.24; XII.12, 50; 
XVI.86; XVII.72; XXII.36 

insight (vipassana) 1.6, 7, n.3; III. 56, n.7; 
VII.30; VIII.43, 180, 222, 233, 236f.; IX.97, 
104; X.52; XI.121; XVIII.5, 8, n.2; XX.81, 
83, 91, 105£, n.33; XXI.lf., 73, 130; XXII. 1, 
25, 46, 89, 113, 118; XXIII.7, 20, 31, 33; 
L, eighteen principal (attharasa maha-vi- 
passana) I.n.38; XX.89£; XXII.113; i. into 
states that is the higher understanding 
(adhipanna-vipassana) 1.140; XX.90; XXI.ll, 
25; XXII.113, 118; i. knowledge (vipassana- 
nana) VII.30; VIII.43, 60; XXI.ll; i. leading 
to emergence (vutthanagamini-vipassana) 
XXI. 83f. 

insistence (abhinivesa) 1.140. See also in- 
terpreting 

intention (adhippaya) XIV61, n.27 

interestedness (vyapara) XVIII. 31. See 
also uninterest 

internal (ajjhatta) IV141; XI.32£; XIII. 105£; 
XIV.10, 19, 73, 192, 198, 224, n.75; 
XXI.83£ 

interpreting (abhinivesa) 1.140, n.14; 
XIII. 10; XIV.8, 19, 130, 164, 228, n.6; 
XVII.244; XX.90; XXI.73, 83£; XXII.54, 
113, 118, 120. See also misinterpreting 
& insistence 

intervention (vipphara) IV.89; XII. 27; 
XIV132, n.58 

intimation (vinnatti) I.n.16; XI.107; XIV61£, 
79, n.27, n.33; XVII.61; XX.31 

investigation (santlrana) 1.57; XIV97£, 119; 
XV36; XVII.129; XX.44 

investigation-of-states (dhammavicaya) 
IV51; XVI.86 

Isadharapabbata VII.42 

I-shall-come-to-know-the-unknown fac- 
ulty (anahnatannassamltindriya) XVI. If. 

Jambudipa (India) V2; VII.23, 42, 44; XII.75; 
XX.n.l 

Jambu (Rose-apple) River I.n.37 

Jambu Tree VII.42 

Jatilaka VIII.18; XII.40 

jhana (jhana) 1.6, 140; III.5, 8, 11, 21, 107; 
IV78, 79£; VIII.141£, 179, 227, 233, 241; 
IX.90; X passim; XII.2£, 130; XIII.5£, 35; 
XIV12, 86£, 127, 158, 206; XVII.66, 92, 



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143; XVIII.3; XX.9; XXI.75, 111, 116; 
XXIII.ll, 21, 26, 29; j. factor (jhananga) 
III.5, 21, 25; IV32, 86, 132; VI.67; VII.28; 
XII.7; XIV86; XVIII.3; XXI.113f. 

Jlvaka XII.61 

Jotika VIII.18; XII.40 

joy (somanassa) 1.140; IV184; IX.88, 100, 
111; XIII.9; XIV12, 83, 98£, 109, 119, 126f., 
180; XV28; XX.31, 71; XXI.114; j. faculty 
(somanassindriya) XIII.9; XVI. 1 

Kaccana Thera, Maha XXII.83 

Kadamba Tree VII.43 

Kakavaliya XII.127 

Kaladlghavapi VI. 77 

Kalyanagama XXII.89 

Kamboja X.28 

kamma (kamma) 1.6, 155, n.9; III.83f.; V40£, 
n.6; VII.16L; VIII.3; IX.23, 96; XI.lll; 
XII.n.12; XIII.2, 35, 73, 78; XIV37f., 45, 74f., 
lllf., 122, 188, 220, n.14, n.21, n.40, n.74; 
XVI.5; XVH.38£, 45, 51, 66, 88, 136, 139, 
174, 250; XIX.4, 8f., 13f.; XX.22, 27f., 43, 97; 
XXI.38; XXII.48, 81, 85, 88; k.-born (kam- 
ma-ja) X.2; XIV74; XVH.196; XX.27£, 70; 
k.-originated (kammasamutthana) XI. 35, 
88, 94, 111; XIV188; XVII.194, 199, 202; 
XVIII.5, 22; XIX.9, 27£; k. performed 
(katatta) XVII.89, 122, 174; k. -process be- 
coming (kamma-bhava) VII.16£; XVII.250£, 
292; XIX.15; k.-re-suit (vipaka) V40£; XV34; 
XVII.51, 66, 89, 120, 134; XIX.8; XXII.81. 
See also result 

kammically acquired (upadinna), see 
clung-to 

Kanada XIVn.19 

Kannamundaka, Lake XIII. 38 

Kappa Tree VII.43 

Kappina Thera, Maha XII.82 

Karanjiya-vihara, Maha VIII.243 

Karavlka bird, III.lll 

Karavika-pabbata VII.42 

Karuliyagiri (Karaliya-, Karuliya-) 111.52 

Kasina (kasina) 111.97, 105£, 119; IV pas- 
sim; V passim, n.5; VII.28; IX. 104, 121; 
X.lf.; XI.n.18; XII. 2£, 88£; XIII. 95; 
XVII. 143; XX.9; XXIII.20 

Kassapa Thera 1.41; 11.32; XII.126; XIII.107 

Katakandhakara VII. 127 

Khanu-Kondanna Thera XII. 30, 33 

Khattiya (Warrior Noble) XIII.54 



Khujjuttara upasika XIV27 

killing living things (panatipata) 1.17, 140; 
XVII.39, 60; XXII.62 

knowledge {nana) 1.18, 140; 11.84; IV118; 
VII.7, n.7; VIII.174; IX.124; XII.26; XIII 
passim, n.6; XIV2, 20£, 83, 126; XV21; 
XX.94, 114, 129£; XXI.12, 52; XXII.25, 46, 
66; XXIII.20; in conformity with truth 
(saccanulomika-nana) XXI.l; k. of dispas- 
sion (nibbida-nana) XXI.81, 131; k. of faring 
according to deeds (yatha-kammupaga- 
nana) XIII.78£, 103, 122, 128; k. of the 
future (anagatamsa-nana) XIII.80, 103, 122, 
125; k. of passing away and re-appear- 
ance (cutupapata-nana) XII.2; XIII.72; k. of 
penetration of minds (cetopariya-nana) 
111.96; XII.2, 136; XIII.8, 110, 120; k. of re- 
lations of states (dhammatthiti-nana) VII.20; 
XIX.25; XXI.135; k. of rise and fall (uday- 
abbaya-nana) XXI. 131; k. of the path 
(magga-nana) XXII.3£, 22£, 25f, 28; k. of 
reviewing (paccavekkhana-nana) 132; k. 
and vision of deliverance (vimutti-nana- 
dassana) 1.32 

kolankola XXIII.55 

Korandaka-vihara III. 36 

Kosala VII.23 

Kotapabbata VIII.243 

Kumbhakaragama III. 33 

Kumbhanda (demon) XII.n.19 

Kunala, Lake XIII.38 

Kurandaka-maha-lena 1.104 

lakes, 7 great (satta mahasara) XIII.38; 
XXI.43 

lamentation (parideva) XVI.31, 49; XVII.2, 
48 

language (nirutti) VII.58; XIV21£ 

lapsed kamma (ahosi-kamma) XIX. 14 

lastingness (dhuva-bhava) XVI. 16, 85, 90; 
XVII.283 

later-food refuser (khalupacchabhattika) 11.2, 
43 

law (dhamma) VII.68, n.l; XIV21£; XVII.25. 
See also dhamma 

lay follower (upasaka) 1.40; 11.92 

lesser stream-enterer (cula-sotapanna) 
XIX.27 

liberated in both ways (nbhatobhaga-vi- 
mutta) XXI.75, 89; XXIII.58; I. by faith 
(saddha-vimutta) XXI.75, 89; XXIII.38; I. 



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by understanding (panna-vimutta) 
XXI.74, 89; XXIII.58 

liberation (vimokkha) V.32; VII. 48, 63; 
IX.120; X.n.3; XIV31; XVII.281; XXI.66f., 
119 

life (jivita) VII.108; VIII.27f., 35; XIV47, 59, 
133, 138, 159, 170, 176, 179; XVII.156, 
190, 192, 217; XVIII.5f.; XXIII.42; I.-con- 
tinuum (bhavanga) 1.57; IV33, 74f., 78, 
132, 138, n.13; XIV98f., 107, 114, 115f., 
n.45; XV10, 37, n.5; XVII.129£, 136£, 193, 
201, 232; XIX.8; XX.24, 31, 43; XXI.129, 
n.41; XXII.19; XXII.14; I. ennead (jlvita- 
dasaka) XVII.156, 190, 192; I. faculty 
(jivitindriya) 1.91; XI.88; XIII.91; XIV59; 
XVI.l, 8, 10, 46; XVII. 190, 192; I. of 
purity (brahmacariya) 1.92, 144; VII. 69, 
72; I. span (ayu) VIII.3, 243; XIII.44; 
XXIII.42f., 48 

light (aloka) I.n.14; Vn.5; XIII.9, 79; XV39; 
XX.108f.; I. kasina (aloka-kasina) III.105; 
V21; XIII.95 

lightness (lahuta) XIV64, 76, 79, 133, 145; 
XVIII. 13; XX.23, 32, 36 

limited (paritta) 111.5, 13, 20, 112; IV74; 
XIII.105f.; XIV15; XVII.53 

lineage (gotta) IV74; XIII.123 

livelihood (Zftoa) 1.18, 42, 44, 60, 84, 111, 
123; XXII.42, 45, 66 

living being (satta), see being 

logical relation, double & quadruple (dvi-, 
catu-kotika) XXI.53 

lordship (issariya) VII. 61 

loving-kindness (metta) III.57f., 105f., 122; 
VII.18, 28; IX.lf., 92f., 98, 119f.; XII.34, 
37; XIII.34; XIV154 

lust (kamacchanda) 1.140; IV85, 104, n.24; 
XVI.10; XXII.57; (raga) IX.6. See also 
greed 

Magadha XIV25, 30; XVIII.25 

Magandiya XII. 35 

magnanimous ordinary man (kalyana- 
puthujjana) 1.35, 131 

Maha-Anula Thera, etc., see under indi- 
vidual names Anula, etc. 

Maha-Brahma XII.79 

Maha-cetiya, see Great Shrine 

Mahagama 1.106 

Mahaka XII.84 

Mahanama VII.lll; XXII.21 



Mahasanghika XIVn.16 
Mahasammata VIII. 17; XIII.54 
Mahatittha V2 
Mahavattani Forest 1.99 
Mahavihara, see Great Monastery 
Mahinda Thera XII.83 
Mahinda-guha (M.'s Cave) III. 102 
Malaya (Hill Country, Sri Lanka) 111.51; 

VIII.49 
malicious speech (pisuna-vaca) 1.140; 

XXII.66 
Mallaka Thera IV23; VIII. 142 
malleability (muduta) XIV64, 133, 146; 

XVIII. 13 
man (purisa) I.n.14; XI.30; XVII.n.4 
Maniliya IX.69 
Manduka Devaputta VII. 51 
Mara VII.59, 128, n.14; XII.10; XX.19 
masculinity faculty (purisindriya) XIV58; 

XVI.l 
mastery (vast) IV131; XX.102 
material becoming (rupa-bhava) XXI.34; m. 

body (rupa-kaya) XVIII. 36; m. septad 

(rupa-sattaka) XX.45f. 
materiality, matter (rupa) 1.140, n.14; 

VII.28, 38; VIII.180, 233; IX.121; X.lf.; 

XI.2, 26, 96; XII.n.20, n.21; XIII.9, 113, 

124, n.17; XIV8, 11, 33f., 195, 214, 244; 

XV13f.; XVI.93; XVII.48, 51, 69, 72, 148f., 

187, 193, 197; XVIII passim, 8; XX.7, 9, 

22f., 68, 73; XXI.10, 56, 86; XXII.22, 126; 

XXIII. 13, 22 
matika, see schedule & code 
meaning (attha) VII.72; XIV21£; XVII.25 
means (upaya) 1.85; XVI. 28 
measureless (appamana) III. 5, 13, 20, 112; 

XIII. 120; XIV15; m. state (appamanna) 

VII.28; IX passim, 105, 110; XX.9; XXI- 

II.4 
medicine (bhesajja) 1.96, 115 
meditation subject (kammatthana) III. 57, 

103f., XI.119; XIV28 
Mendaka VIII.18; XII.40f. 
mental body (nama-kaya) XIV133f.; XVI- 

11.36; XIX. 5; m. datum, m. object 

(dhamma) I.n.l; XXII. 34; m.-data base 

(dhammayatana) X.49; XV3; XVIII.14; 

m.-data element (dhamma-dhatu) XV17; 

m. fformation (citta-sankhara) VIII. 229; 



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XVII. 61; XXIII. 24, 51; m. volition 
(mano-sancetana) XIV228; XVII. 61 

mentality (natna) VII.38; XIV8, 11, n.35; 
XV13; XVII.48, 51, 187, 206f.; XVIII 
passim, 8 

mentality-materiality (nama-rupa) VII. 11, 
38; VIII.180, 222f.; XI.2; XII.24f.; XV13; 
XVI.92; XVII.2, 55, 186f., 218f., 294; XVII 
passim; XlX.lf.; XX.2f. 

merit (punna) 1.68; VI.22; VII.n.1; XII.40; 
XVII.60f., 102, 119, 177, 251 

merriment (pahasa) IX. 95 

method (naya) XVII.ll, 33, 309f.; XX.102; 
XXI.52 

Metteyya Bhagavant 1.135; XIII.127 

Milhabhaya Thera, see Abhaya Thera, 
Pltha 

mind (citta) 1.103; XIVn.35. See also con- 
sciousness; (mano) XIV.82; XV.3, 12; 
XVI. 10; XX. 70; m. base (manayatana) 
X.49; XV3f.; XVIII.12; m. consciousness 
(manovinnana) XVII. 120; m.-c. element 
(manovinnana-dhatu) 1.57; IV.n.13; 
VIII.lll; X.20; XIV60, 95, 97, 99, 108, 
116, 120f., 180, n.26; XV.17; XVII.73, 
120f.; XVIII.8, 11; XX.31, 44; m. deliver- 
ance (ceto-vimutti) IV191; IX.50, 115f.; m. 
door (mano-dvara) XIV.116; XVII. 61; 
XX.44, 70, 121; XXI.129; XXII.19; m. ele- 
ment (mano-dhatu) 1.57; IVn.13; VIII.lll; 
X.20; XIV60, 95f., 107, 115, 118f., 180, 
n.26; XV7; XVII.73, 120f.; XVIII.8, 11; 
XIX. 23, 31; m. faculty (manindriya) 
XVI.l, 10 

mindfulness (sati) 1.18, 26, 51, 56, 100; 
111.95; IV45, 49, 172, 194; VII.n.8; XII.17; 
XIII.13; XIV133, 141; XVI.l, 86; XX.120; 
XXI. 10; XXII.34, 38f., 42, 45, 66; m. 
occupied with the body (kayagata sati) 
III.105f.; VIII.42f.; XI.26; m. of breathing 
(anapana-sati) III.105f., 122; VIII.43, 145f.; 
XXIII. 20; m. of death (marana-sati) III. 6, 
57f., 105;VIII.lf. 

mind-made (mano-maya) VII. 30; XII. 135, 
139 

miracle, marvel (patihariya) XII. 71, 74 

misapprehension, see adherence 

misconduct (duccarita) 1.13; VII. 59, n.25; 
XIV155, 160 

misinterpretation (abhinivesa), see interpreting 



Missaka Grove XIII. 79 

Mitta Thera, Maha 1.104, 109 

mode (akara) I.n.14; XIV61f., 66; XVII.14; 
XVIII. 13; XXI.6f., See also aspect 

Moggallana Thera, Maha 1.117; IV.133; 
VIII.20; XII.76, 105f., lllf., 122, 127; 
XXI.118 

moment (khana) IV78, 99, n.22, n.33; XIV190, 
197; XVI.75; XVII.193; XIX.9; XX.22, 97, 
100f.; XXII.92f. See also instant momen- 
tary concentration (khanika-samadhi) I.n.3, 
n.4; IV99; VIII.n.63; IX.n.17; XIII.n.1, n.3; 
momentary unification (khanika-ekaggata) 
VIII.232, n.63 

monastery (Vihara) 1.69; IV2f. 

moon {canda) I.n.10; VII.44; XII.102; XIII.46 

moral-inefficacy-of-action view (akiriya- 
ditthi) XVI.85; XVII.23, 313; XX.102 

mortification of self (atta-kilamatha) 1.93; 
11.84 

motion (calana) XIVn.27, n.29 

movement (gati) VIII. n.54 

mundane (lokiya) 1.29, 32, n.4; III.5, 7, n.5; 
XIV9, 202; XVI.102; XVII.120; XVIII.8f; 
XX.43, 130; XXI.16; XXII.39, 46, 124, 128; 
XXIII.2, 52 

Naga XII.100, 106f., 137, n.19; XIII.93; 
XXI.43, 46 

Nagapabbata IV36 

Naga Thera, Maha XXIII.36 

Naga Thera, Karuliyagiri-vasin III. 52 

Naga Thera, Maha, Uccavalika-vasin 
XX.llOf. 

Naga Thera, Tipitaka Cula XII. 105; 
XXI.n.38 

name (nama) II.n.18; VII. 54; VIII.n.11; 
XIII.123; XVIII.n.4; XXIII.n.18 

naming (abhidhana) IVn.18; IX.n.6 

Nanda, see Nandopananda 

Nanda the brahman student (Nandamanava) 
XXII.83 

Nanda Thera XXII.99 

Nandana Grove XIII.79 

Nandopananda IV133; XII.106f. 

nature (pakati) 1.38; as Universal N, see 
Primordial Essence; (rasa) 1.21, see func- 
tion; (sabhava) XVI.85; XVII.n.3 

natural materiality (dhammata-rupa) XX. 73 

negligence (pamada) 1.140; VII.59; XII.17 



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neither-painful-nor-pleasant (adukkham- 
asukha) III.n.6; IV193; XIV200 

Nemindharapabbata VII. 42 

NettiXXII.n.ll 

neutral {majjhatta) IV163; IX.88f., 92, 96; 
XIY200; XVI.10; XVII.127 

neutrality, specific (tatramajjhattata) IV116, 
156, 164; XIV133, 153f. 

Nibbana (nibbana) 1.5, 32, 140; III.129, n.6; 
VII.33, 74f.; VIII.235f., 245, n.65, n.68, 
n.72; XI.124; XIV15, 67; XV14; XVI.26, 
31, 64f., n.6, n.18, n.25; XVII. n. 16; 
XXI.18, 37, 64, 71, 106, 124, n.33; XXII.5f., 
20, 40, 44, 88, 127, n.l; XXIII.9, 30, 50, 
n.4 

nihilism (natthi-vada) XVII. 23 

NikapennaXX.110 

noble (ariya) VII. n. 3; n. disciple (ariya- 
savaka) VII.121; XX.105; XXIII.10; n. one 
(ariya) XI.124; XIII.82; XIV164; XVI.20f., 
86; XXIII. 6, 8; n. ones' heritages (ariya- 
vamsa) 1.112; III, 28f.; EI.n.15; XX.78, 83; 
n. path (ariya-magga) XXI. 71; n. person 
[ariya-puggala) XXI.74f.; XXII.85 

no-cause view (ahetuka-ditthi) XVII. 22, 
313; XXII.112 

non-becoming (vibhava) XVI. 93; XVII. 135 

non-confusion (asammoha) VIII. 226 

non-covetousness (anabhijjha) 1.17 

non-cruelty (avihimsa) XV28 

non-delusion (amoha) 11.84; III. 128; XIII.77; 
XIV7, 133, 143, 156 

non-distraction (avikkhepa) 1.140; III. 5; 
XXII.45; XXIII.20 

non-existence (abhava) III. 115; X.45. See 
also absence 

non-greed (alobha) 11.84; III.128; XIII.77; 
XIV100, 106, 133, 143 

non-hate (adosa) III.128; XIII.77; XIV133, 
143, 154 

non-human (amanussa) 11.65, 70; VI.26 

non-ill-will (avyapada) 1.17, 140; XXIII.20 

non-owning (akincana) X.39 

non-percipient (asanna, asannin) XVII. 134, 
192, 201 

non-reflection (appatisahkha) 1.140 

non-remorse (avippatisara) 1.23, 32, 140 

non-returner (anagamin) 1.14, 140; III. 128; 
XIV206; XXII.2f., 21, 28f., 45; XXIII.7, 18, 
25, 28, 56f. 



non-trainer (asekha) 1.35, 37; XIV.27; 
XVI. 104 

non-transgression (avltikkama) 1.17, 41, 140 

non-wavering (avikampana) III.4; XXIII.20 

nose (ghana) XIV36, 39, 46, 50, 117; XVI.10; 
XX.70; n. base (ghanayatana) XV3£; n. con- 
sciousness (ghanavinnana) XIV95f., 117, 
179; n.-c. element (ghanavinnanadhatu) 
XV17f.; n. faculty (ghanindriya) XVI.l 

noseless (aghanaka) XVII. 157 

not-self (anatta) 1.140; VII.n.7; XI.104; 
XIV3, 224; XVI.99, n.25; XIX.26; XX pas- 
sim; XXI.3f., 48, 51, 59, 70, 88, 129, n.3; 
XXII.22, 53; XXIII.32. See also contem- 
plation of n.-s. 

nothingness (akincanna) X.32 

not-so-classifiable (na-vattabba) III. n. 32; 
XVII.134 

novice (samanera) 1.40; 11.92 

nutriment {ahara) 1.89; IV52, 63; VII.37£, 
n.13; VIII.27£; Xl.lf., Ill; XIV47, 75, 79, 
188, 226f.; XVI.92; XVII.66, 90, 194; XVI- 
II.5; XIX.9; XX.27, 68, 97; n. originated 
(aharasamutthana) XI.lll; XVII.194; XIX.9; 
XX.29, 35f. 

nutritive essence (oja) XI.2, 88; XIV70; 
XVII.256; XVIII.5f.; XX.29 

object (arammana) 1.2, 53, 57; III.3, 5, 20, 
108, 112; IV74; VIII.40, 226f., 236; IX.102; 
X.15, 28; XIII.2, 73, 122; XIV15, 96, 11 If., 
128, 139, 147, 150, 163, 201; XV.4; 
XVI.104; XVII.52, 66, 71, 127, 134f.; XVI- 
11.17, 21, n.4; XIX.8; XX.9, 43; XXI.n.3; 
XXII.4, 20, 44, 82, 89, 118; XXIII.10; o. 
triad (arammana-ttika) XIII. 104f. 

objective basis (vatthu) XXI. 83; o. field 
(visaya) VII.n.7; XIV46, 54, 76, 130, 134, 
197, 213; XV11; XVII.51, 163; XVII.ll 

obsession (pariyutthana) 1.13; VII. 65; 
XVI.85 

occurrence {pavatta, pavatti) XVI. 23, 28, 
92; XIX.26; XX.40; XXI.27, 33f., 37, 51£, 
80, 83; XXII.4£, 44; XXIII.7 

octad (atthaka, atthamaka) XI.2, 88; XVII.193; 
XVIII.5£ 

odour (gandha) XI.86; XIV56; XVII.156; 
XVIII.5, 11; o. base (gandhayatana) XV2; 
o. element (gandha-dhatn) XV17 

offence (apatti) 1.60, 125; IV3 

ogre (rakkhasa) XIII. 100 



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omnipotent being (vasavatti), see power- 

wielder 
omniscience (sabbannuta) VI. 32; VII.n.7; 

XII.121 
once-returner (sakadagamiri) 1.14, 140; 

III.128; XIV206; XXII.2, 23, 45; XXIII.7, 

18, 25, 55 
one defining, the {eka-vavatthana) 11.105 
one-pointedness (ekaggata), see unification 
one-sessioner (ekasanika) II. 2, 35 
open-air dweller (abbhokasika) 1.68; II. 2, 60 
opposites, substitution of (tadanga), see 

substitution of o. 
order (kama) XIV.211; o. of bhikkhus 

(bhikkhu-sangha), see Community; o. of 

beings (satta-nikaya) XIII.69 
ordinary man (puthujjana) 1.35, 135, 137; 

11.78; 111.56; XI. 121; XIII.110; XIV109, 202; 

XV42; XVI.67; XVII.39, 261; XXII.5, 85; 

XXIII.6, 18 
organic continuity (santati-sisa) XVII. 189f. 
origin, origination (samudaya) VII. 27; 

XVI.13, 61; XX.90, 100, 130; XXII.44, 92, 

113; o. of a sutta (uppatti) 111.88; VII.69; 

XXIII.n.166 
origination (samutthana) XI. 94; XVII. 196; 

XX.3W. 
or-whatever-state (ye-va-panaka-dhamma) 

XIV133f. 
outlet (niyyana) XVI. 15, 25; XXI. 67; 

XXII.38, 97 
over-generalization (atippasanga) XIV186 
Overlord (issara) XVI.30, 85, n.23; XVII.50, 

117; XIX.3; XXI.48, 57, n.3; XXII.119 
owning (kincana) X.39, n.9; XXI.54, n.19 
ox-asceticism (go-sila) XVII.241; o. practice 

(go-kiriya) XVII.246 
Paccekabuddha (Undeclared Enlightened 

One) 1.131; III.128; IV55; VIII.22, 155, 

211; XI.17; XII.ll; XIII.16; XIV31; XXI- 

11.11 
Pacmakhandaraji 111.31 
pain, painfui (dukkha) 1.140; IV184; IX.123; 

XI.104; XIV3, 102, 127f., 200, 220; XV28; 

XVI.l, 10, 31, 50, 99; XVII.2, 48; XIX.26; 

XX passim; XXI.3f., 34, 48, 51, 59, 69, 

88, 129, n.3; XXII.22, 53; XXIII.32. See 

also contemplation of p., & suffering 
Pancasikha (Five-crest) XII. 79 
Pandukambala-sila XII. 72 



Panthaka Thera, Cula XII.59f. 

Panthaka Thera, Maha XII. 60 

Paranimmitavasavatti Deities (Who Wield 
Power Over Others' Creations) VII.n.14; 
XIV207; XV27 

Paricchattaka Tree VII.43 

Pataliputta (Patna) IX.64; XII.123 

past (atlta) XIV185f. 

path (magga) 1.137; III.7, 13; IV78; VII.27, 
33, 76, 91; VIII.224; XIII.83, 120; XIV3, 
9, 23, 105, 121, 158, 206, n.67; XVI.26, 
68; XVII.62, 66, 81, 93; XX.100, 107, 130; 
XXI.71, 83, 85, 111, 116, 120, 129, n.34; 
XXII.2f., 33, 42, 78; XXIII.3, 14, 33 

patience (khanti) 1.18; IX.2, 124; XXI.28 

Patimokkha (patimokkha) 1.18, 42f., 98, 126, 
n.10, n.ll 

Pavarana (pavarana) III.n.10 

peace (upasama) 1.140; III. 105; VII. 1; 
VIII.245f. 

penetration (nibbedha) 1.39; III. 32 

penetration to (abhisamaya) XVI. 15; 
XXII.79, 92. See also convergence 

penetration of minds (cetopariya), see 
knowledge of p. 

perception (sanna) 1.55, 140; 111.22, 26; 
VII.28, 59; VIII.216, 230, 233; X.12, 50f.; 
XI.n.1; XII.49; XIV3, 129£, 141, 213£, 218, 
224; XV14, 42; XVIII.8, 13, 20; XX.6, 9, 
94; XXI.ll, 56; XXII.53, 126; XXIII.13; p. 
of beauty (subha-sanna) XXII. 34; p. of 
bliss (sukha-s.) XII. 119, p. of compact- 
ness (ghana-s.) 1.140; XX.90; XXH.113, 114; 
p. of foulness (asubha-s.) 111.57; VI pas- 
sim; XI.26; p. of impermanence (anicca.) 
III.122; p. of lastingness (dhuva-s.) 1.140; 
XX.90; XXII.113, 116; p. of light (aloka-s.) 
1.140; XXIII.20; p. of lightness (lahu-s.) 
XII.119; p. of a living being (satta-s.) XX.82; 
XXI. 122; p. of permanence (nicca-s.) 1.140; 
VIII.233; XX.90; XXI.ll; XXII.34, 113; 
XXIII.23; p. of pleasure {sukha-s.) 1.140; 
VIII.233; XX.90; XXI.ll, 122; XXII.34, 113; 
XXIII.23; p. of repulsiveness in nutri- 
ment (ahare patikkula-s.) III. 6; XI.4f.; p. 
of self (atta-s.j 1.140; VIII.233; XX.90; 
XXI.ll, 122; XXII.34, 113; XXIII.23; p., 
fictitious (visama-s.) VII.59 

perdition (vinipata) XIII.92 

Perfect One (tathagata) VII.n.10 



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perfection (parami, paramita) 1.33; VII. 34; 

IX. 124 
performedness of kamma (katatta) XVII.89, 

122, 174 
period (samaya) XIV186, 189 
permanent (nicca) 1.140; XXI.56. See also 

perception of p. 
person (puggala) 1.52; IX. 93; XI. 30; 

XIV.201. See also noble p.; in terms of p. 

(puggaladhitthana) IV92 
personality (sakkaya), see individuality 
perverseness (vipariyesa) VII. 59 
perversion (vipallasa) XIV226L; XVII.63; 

XXII.53, 68 
Pharusaka Grove XII. 79 
phenomenon (dhamma) VII.n.1; XIX.20 
phlegm (semha) VIII.128; IX.17, 70; XIII.2, 

73; XVII.16 
Phussa-Deva Thera VII.128 
Phussa Mitta XII.39 
physical (karaja) X.2; XII.131 
physical basis (vatthu), see basis 
physical nutriment (kabalinkarahara) XI. 1; 

XIV70, 226 
pisaca (goblin) X.4 
Piyankara-matar XII.39 
plane (bhumi) XIV83, 206 
pleasure, pleasant (sukha) 1.140; III.n.6, 

IV184; VIII.233; IX.123; XIV99, 102, 127, 

200, 227; XV28, 40; XVI. 1, 16, 85, 90, 

XVII.282; XX.86; XXI.56; XXII.53, 117 

See also bliss 
posture (iriyapatha) 1.94; III.88f., 97£; IV41 

VIH.27f., 43, 159; XI.92, 107; XX.31; XXI.4 
power (bala) IX.124; XVI.86; XXII.25, 42 

XXIII.20; (iddhi) XII.20f.; XXII.36. See 

also supernormal p.; p. of the Perfect 

One (tathagatabala) XIV31 
precept (slla) I.n.10. See also training p. 
preceptor (upajjhaya) 111.48 
predominance (adhipati) III.5, 24; XXI.119, 

n.39; XXII.37. See also dominance 
preparatory task (pubba-kicca) III. 16; 

XXIII.31f. 
preliminary work (parikamma) III. 6; IV25, 

74; XII.46, 59; XIII.4f., 9, 23, 98; XXI.129 
presence (thana) XX.31; (thiti) IVn.33; 

VIII.242; XIILlllf.; XVII.68, 193; XIX.9; 

XX.25f., 47; XXI.10, 27, n.6; p., moment 

of (atthi-kkhana) XIV59 



present (paccuppanna) XIILlllf.; XIV186f. 
pride (mana) 1.151; III. 78, 95, n.18; VII.59; 

XIV146, 168; XX.82, 125; XXII.28, 48f., 

60. See also conceit 
primary element (bhuta), great primary 

(maha-bhuta) VIII.27f., 45, 180; XI.96; 

XIV34, n.17, n.18, n.27, n.32; XVII.156; 

XVIII.4, 14, 24; XXI.35, 86 
Primordial Essence (pakati) XI.n.29; 

XVI.91; XVII.8, 36; XVIII.n.9 
produced (nipphanna) XLV72L, 77; XVIII.13; 

XXIII.52, n.18 
proficiency (pagunnata) XIV133, 148 
profitable (kusala) I.n.9, n.16; 11.78, n.18; 

111.13, 23, 75; X.14; XIV23, 82f., 94, 109, 

117, 126, 129, 132, 133f., 179, 193, 204, 

209, n.35, n.76; XV.26, 34; XVI.104; 

XVII.53, 93, 120; XIX.8; XX.28, 31, 44; 

XXII.35, 85 
profundity (gambhlratta) VII.71; XVII.ll, 

33, 304 
progress (patipada) 11.86; III. 5, 14f.; 

XXI.117 
prominence (ussada) III. 81, 83; XI. 88 
prompted, prompting (sasahkhara) XIV83, 

90, 100, 126, 156; XVII.52, 122 
proper way (samici) VII.90; XVII.24, 33 
Pubbavideha VII.43f. 
PunnaXII.42 
Punnaka VIII.18; XII.34 
Punnavallika IV95 

Pure Abodes (suddhavasa) XII.79; XXIII.57 
purity (soceyya) 1.22 
purification (suddhi, visuddhi) 1.29, 126; 

XVI.85 
purpose (attha) XIV22 
pus (pubba) VI.3; VIII.129; XI.17, 71 
Rahu XXI.46 
Rahula Thera XII.110 
Rajagaha XII.126 

Rakkhita, see Buddharakkhita Thera 
Rathakara, Lake XIII.38 
Ratthapala Thera XII.110 
razor-wheel (khura-cakka) XV42 
real, reality (tatha, tathata) XVI.24L; XVII.5; 

XXII.97 
realization (sacchikiriya) XXII.92, 124f. 
reappearance (upapata) XIII. 72; XVII. 114 
reasoning (cinta) XIV14 



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rebirth-linking (patisandhi) 1.7; III. 86; 
IVn.13; VII.10; VELIO; XI.2; XIII.14, Y7L, 
24, 76; XIV98, lllf., 124, 187; XVI.32, 
n.8; XVII.51, 89, 126, 133f., 164, 189f., 
232, 292; XIX.13, 15, 23f.; XX.22, 31, 43, 
47; XXI.37f., 80 

rebirth-process becoming (uppatti-bhava) 
VII.16f.; XVI.92; XVII.250, 294f.; XIX.13 

receiving (sampaticchana) 1.57; IVn.13; 
XI.93; XIV95, 101, 118, n.47; XV34, 36; 
XVII.128, 138, 231; XX.44 

recollection (anussati) III.6, 105f.; VII pas- 
sim, 28; VIII passim; XIII.13f.; XXIII.20; 
r. of the Community (sanghanussati) 
III.105f.; VII.89; r. of death (marananu- 
ssati), see mindfulness of d.; r. of deities 
(devatanussati) III. 105; VII.115f.; r. of the 
Enlightened One (buddhanussati) III. 6, 
105f.; VII.2f.; r. of generosity (caganu- 
ssati) III.105f.; VII.107f., r. of the Law 
(dhammanussati) III.105f.; VII. 68f.; r. of 
past life (pubbenivasanussati) XII. 2; 
XIII. 13f., 120; r. of peace (upasamanu- 
ssati) III.6, 105f.; VIII.245f.; r. of virtue 
(sllanussati) III.105f.; VILlOlf. 

rectitude (ujukata) XIV133, 149 

reflection (patisahkha) 1.85, 140; XXI.ll, 23. 
See also contemplation of r. 

refuse-rag wearer (pamsukulika) II. 2, 14 

registration (tadarammana) IVn.13; XIV98, 
100, 122, n.39, n.52; XVII.129f., 137f., 231; 
XX.43 

reliance (alaya) 1.140; VIII. 245; XX. 90; 
XXII.113, 120 

relic (dhatu) XIII. 107 

relinquishment (patinissagga) 1.140; 
III.128; VIII.236; XXI.18. See also con- 
templation of r. 

renunciation (nekkhamma) 1.140; III. 128; 
IX.124; XV28; XVI.86; XXIII.20 

repetition (asevana) 1.140; IV113, n.33; 
VIII.40; XVII.66, 87; XXI.130; XXII.6, 16 

repulsive (patikkula) I.n.33; III.6; Vl.lf.; 
VIII.43L, 69, 84, n.16; XI.4L; XII.36L; 
XXI.63 

requisite (parikkhara) 1.2, 68, 96; {paccaya) 
1.18, 42, 85, 96, 112f. 

resentment {patigha) I.n.14; IX. 14, 88, 96, 
101; XIV92; XXII.45, 48, 51, 60 



resistance {patigha) 1.140, n.14; X.12, 16; 

XIV74; XV11 
resolve, resolving (adhitthana) XII. 23, 57; 

XXIII.27, 35f. 
resolution (adhimutti, adhimokkha) III. 128; 

XIV133, 151, 159, 170, 178f.; XX.118; 

XXI.70, 75, 89 
resolution into elements (vinibbhoga), re- 
solved into e. (vinibbhutta) IX.38; XI.30, 

105; XVII.308; XXI.4,122; XXII.114 
resort (gocara) 1.45, 49; XVI.l 
resting-place (senasana) 1.68, 95; III. 97; 

IV19; VIII.158, n.42 
restraint (samvara) 1.17, 32, 42f., 53f., 126, 

140 
result, resultant (vipaka) 1.57; X.14; XIV22, 

94, Xl.lf., 127, 179, 199, 205; XV34; 

XVII.109, 120£, 252; XIX.8; XX.28, 44; 

XXI.38. See also kamma-r. 
Revata Thera, Majjhimabhanaka 111.51 
Revata Thera, Malayavasin 111.51 
reviewing (paccavekkhana) 1.32, 85, 124; 

IV.78, 129; VII. 77; VIII. 224; XI.48; 

XXII.19. See also knowledge of r. 
right action (samma-kammanta) XVI. 79, 86, 

95; XXII.45; r. concentration (s.-samadhi) 

XVI.83, 86, 95; XXII.45; r. endeavour (s.- 

ppadhana) 1.6; XII.51; XXII.33, 39, 42; r. 

effort (s.-vayama) XVI. 81, 86, 95f.; 

XXII.45; r. livelihood (s.-ajwa) XVI.80, 86, 

95; XXII.45; r. mindfulness (s.-sati) 

XVI.82, 86, 95f.; XXII.45; r. speech (&- 

vaca) XVI. 78, 86, 95f.; XXII.45; r. 

thinking (s.-sankappa) XVI.77, 86, 95f.; 

XXII.45; r. view (s.-ditthi) 1.17; XIV84; 

XVI.76, 86, 95; XVII.9; XXII.38, 45; XX- 

III.4; r. vision (s.-dassana) XIX.25 
Tightness (sammatta) V40; XX. 18 
rise (udaya) VIII.234; XV15; XVI.35; XX.94, 

100L; XXI.68 
rise and fall (udayabbaya) XIV224; XVI.35; 

XVII.283; XX.84, 93f.; XXI.2£; XXIII.10. 

See also contemplation of r. & f. 
rules and vows (sllabbata) XIV.229; 

XVII.24W.; XXII.48, 54 
rivers, five great (maha-nadi) XIII.36L 
road to power (iddhi-pada) XII.50; XVI.86; 

XXII.33, 36, 39, 42 
robe (civara) 1.68, 86 
Rohana 111.36, 53 



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Rohana-Gutta Thera, Maha IV135; XII.9 

root (mula) IV87; VII.27, 59 

root-cause (hetu) 111.83; XIV72, 94f., Ill, 

116, 127, 179, 206, n.2; XVII.54, 66£, 160 
root-causeless (ahetuka) 1.57; XIV95, 113f. 
round of defilement (kilesa-vatta) XVII.298; 

r. of kamma {kamma-vatta) XVII.298; 

XIX. 17; r. of kamma-result (vipaka-vatta) 

XVII.298; XIX.17; r. of rebirths (samsara) 

XV4, 20; XVII.62, 115, 244, 286, 314; 

XIX. 14; XXII.14, 18 
roundabout talk (parikatha) 1.63, 79, 113f. 
Sabbatthivadin, see Sarvastivadin 
sacrifice (yanna) XVII.62 
Saketa XII.71 
Sakka Ruler of Gods (Sakka-devinda) 

XII.77, 79 
SamavatI upasika XII.30, 35 
Samudda Thera, Cula XII. 123 
Sarigharakkhita Thera VI. 88 
Sarigharakkhita Thera, Maha 1.135; 111.85 
Sarigharakkhita Thera, (& samanera), 

Bhagineyya 1.130, 135 
Sarikassa-nagara XII.75, 122 
Sarikicca Samanera IX. 71 
Sankicca Thera VII.26, 28 
Sanjiva Thera XII.30, 32; XIII.37 
Sariputta Thera 1.117; 11.82; VII. n. 23; 

VII.213; X.53; XII.30f.; XXI.118; XXIII.37 
Sarvastivadin {Sabbatthivadin) VII.n.36 
Sasarikhara-parinibbayin XXIII.56 
sattakkhattuparama XXIII.55 
Savatthl XII.71, 122 

Schedule of Abhidhamma {matika) XIII.n.20 
science (vijja) XIV14 
scripture {pariyatti) VII.n.1 
search (esana) 111.58, 124 
season (utu) VII.159; XX.55 
seclusion (viveka, paviveka) 11.83; III. 128; 

IV82, n.23; VII.63; XXIII.50 
sectarian (titthiya) 1.45; XV21; XVI.63 
seeing (dassana) 1.5; IV45; XIV13, 117, 123; 

XVI.95; XVII.127; XXII.45, 127 
seen (dittha) XVII.202; XXI.17, 21 
seen, heard, sensed, cognized (dittha-suta- 

muta vinnata) XIV76 
self (atta) 1.34, 93, 140; VIII.233, n.65; IX.10, 

47, 54, n.6; XI.32, n.21, n.29; XIV213, 216, 

228; XV21, 40; XVI. 16, 24, 85, 90, n.25; 

XVII. 116, 282, 303, 312; XVIII. n. 9; 



XX.16, 84, 90, 126; XXI.53, 56, n.10; 
XXII.117f. 

self-doctrine (atta-vada) XVII.240f. 

sense-base, see base 

sense becoming, sense-desire b. (kama- 
bhava) VII.9f.; XVII.150, 180 

sense desire, sensual desire (kama) III. 26; 
IV82f., n.24; VII.n.4; XIV91, 226, n.36; 
XV.27; XVI. 93; XVII. 63, 240f., 262; 
XXI.n.13; XXII.48 

sense of urgency (samvega) III. 95; IV63; 
XIII.35 

sense sphere, sensual sphere, sense- 
desire sphere (kamavacara) III.5, 23; IV74, 
138; X.10; XIII.5; XIV15, 83, 95, 106, 111, 
122, 127, 133, 181, 206, n.36; XVI.92; 
XVII.129, 136, 180, 262; XX.31, 43 

sensed (muta) XIV76 

sensitivity, sensitive (pasada) 1.53, 57; 
XIII.2; XIV37f., 72, 78, 115; XV.34; 
XVII.294; XVIII.5, 9; XIX.13; XX.14 

sequence of meaning (anusandhi) VII. 69, 
n.31 

serenity (samatha) 1.8; 111.17, n.7; IV64, 111; 
VIII.60, 179, 237; IX.104; XVIII.3, 5, 8, 
n.2; XX.110, n.33; XXII.46, 89; XXIII.20f., 
43 

setting up (acaya) XIV66 

sex (bhava) XI.88; XIVn.74; XVII.150, 189; 
(liiiga) XI.89 

sexual misconduct (kamesu micchacara) 
1.140; XXII.62 

shackle, mental (cetaso vinibandha) VII. 59, 
n.25 

shame (ottappa) 1.22, 48; VII.n.8; XIV133, 
142, 155 

shamelessness (anottappa) VII.59; XIV159f., 
170,176;XXH.49 

shape (santhana) I.n.14; VIII.82; XIVn.32 

sickness (byadhi) IV63 

sign (nimitta) 1.42, 54, 63, 77, 100, 140, n.14; 
III.113f., 132, n.31; IV22f., 30, 72, 74, 111, 
126f.; VI.66; VII.51, 107; VIII.74, 141, 204, 
206, 214; IX.43; X.9; XI.25; XlVlllf., 130; 
XV26; XVII.136f., 278; XIX.26; XX.21, 90; 
XXI.10, 27, 33, 37f., 51f., 73, 83; XXII.4, 
11, 44f., 79, 113, 117; XXIII.4, 7, 12 

signless {animitta) 1.140; VIII.29; XVI.23. 
See also contemplation of the s.; s. ele- 
ment (animitta-dhatu) XXI.67; XXIII.9; s. 



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liberation (animitta-vimokkha) XXI.70, 89, 

121; s. mind-deliverance (animitta-cetovi- 

mutti) XXIII.12 
Slhapapata, Lake XIII.38 
Simbali Tree VII.43 
Sineru, Mount VII.23, 42, n.14, n.15; XII.72, 

78, 109f., 121, n.19; XIII.34, 41, 48 
Sirima XII.34 
Sirisa Tree VII.43 
sitter (nesajjika) 11.2, 73 
Siva Thera, Cula V2 

Siva Thera, Cula Samyuttabhanaka IX. 71 
sixfold base (salayatana), see base 
sleep (nidda) XIV114, 167, n.68 
solid food (kabalihkarahara), see physical 

nutriment 
solidity (pathavi), see earth 
Sopaka III.110; Xl.n.l 
Soreyya XXII.83 
sorrow (soka) IX.94; XVI.31, 48; XVII.2, 48, 

57, 272 
soul (jlva) IV.143; VII.n.1; XV.22, 32; 

XVII.n.9 
soulless (nijjlva) VII.n.1; XI.41; XV22; 

XVII.31, 162, 308 
sound (sadda) 1.59; XIII.3f., 109, 112; XIV55, 

96, 134, n.22, n.27, n.33; XV3; XVII.193; 

XVIII.6, 10; s. base (saddayatana) XIV76, 

79; XV3; s. element (sadda-dhatu) XV17; 

s. ennead (saddanavaka) XVII.193; XX.40 
space (akasa) V.28, n.5; IX.122L; X.lf.; 

XIII.41; s. element (akasa-dhatu) XV25; 

XVII. 13; XX. 32; s. kasina (akasa-kasina) 

III.105f.; V29, 37; XII.88 
special quality iguna) VII.l, 66; VIII.245 
speech (vaca) XXII.42. See also right s.; 

s.door (vacidvara) XVII. 61; s. utterance 

(vactbheda) XIV62 
spirit, sprite (yakkha) VII.42; XI.98£; XII.31, 

n.l9;XIII.100 
stage of life (vaya) XX.48 
stain (mala) VII.59; XXII.61, 74 
state (dhamma) VII.n.1, n.4; XI.104; XIV7; 

XVII.n.l; XIX.26; XX.8; XXII.20, 47. See 

also dhamma 
state partaking of enlightenment (bodhipa- 

kkhiya-dhamma) XXI.130; XXII.33 
state of loss (apaya) IV63; VII. 16; XIII.92; 

XIV113; XVII.262; XXII.14 
state of peace (santi-pada) XXI. 37 



station of consciousness (vinnanatthiti) 

VII.38, n.13; XIII.69; XVII.148; XXI.35 
stationariness (thiti) 1.39; 111.22 
steadiness of consciousness (cittatthiti) 

IV145; XIV139, 176f., 179; XVIII.8 
stealing (adinnadana), see taking what is 

not given 
stiffness (thlna) 111.95; XIV167; XXII.49 
stiffness and torpor (thina-middha) 1.140; 

IV86, 104; V35f.; XIV166, 175 
stream-enterer (sotapanna) III. 128; 

XIII.110; XIX.27; XXII.18; XXIII.7, 18, 55 
stream-entry (sotapatti) 1.14, 140; XIV206, 

n.63; XVII.245; XXI.75; XXII.2, 14, 45; 

XXIII.4, 7, 25 
structure of conditions (paccayakara) 

XVII.9 
Subhadda,CulaXII.71 
Subhakinha (Refulgent Glory) Deities 

XIII.57 
Subrahma XIII. 127 
substance (drabya) XVIII.n.8 
substitution of opposites (tad-anga) 1.12; 

VIII.236; XXI.18; XXII.110 
subtle (sukhuma) VIII.176; XIV73; XVI.34 
success (iddhi), see power, supernormal 

power, road to power 
successive arising in adjacent locations 

(desantaruppatti) VIII.n.45, n.54; XI.n.37; 

XII.n.21; XIVn.27, n.29 
Sudassa (Fair to See) Deities XIV193 
Sudassanapabbata VII.42 
Sudassin (Fair-seeing) Deities XIV193 
Suddhavasa, see Pure Abodes 
suffering (dukkha) IV63; VII.27; IX.94; 

XVI.13, 16, 32f.; XVII.2, 62; XX.47, 100, 

130; XXI.37, 41; XXII.14, 48, 93. See also 

pain, contemplation of pain 
suitable (sappaya) 111.16, 97f., 121; IV35 
Sumana-devi XII. 42 
Sumana Thera, Cula XX. 110 
sun (suriya) VII.44; XII.102; XIII.36, 45 
Sundari XXII.99 
Supanna (demon) IV135; VII.n.17; XII.100, 

115, 137, n.19; XXI.46 
superior (panlta) 1.33 
supernormal power (iddhi) III. 56; VII.30; 

XII passim, 20£; XIII.106, 122 
support (nissaya) XIV46, 60; XVII.66, 79 



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suppression (vikkhambhana) 1.12; IV31, 87; 

VI.67 
supramundane (lokuttara) 1.29, 32, 135, 

n.4; III.5, 7, n.5; VIII.40; XIV8f., 88, 105, 

127, 158, 182, 202, n.36; XVI. 102; 

XVII.120; XVIII.8; XX.12, 31; XXII.36, 

122, 124, 128; XXIII.2, 52; s. states, the 

nine VII.68, 74f. 
sustained thought (vicara) 1.140; III.5, 21; 

IV.74, 86, 88f., 132; VII.28; IX.112f.; 

XIV.86, 133, 136, 157, 170, 176, 180; 

XVI.86; XVII.160; XX.9; XXIII.24, 26 
Suyama XII.79 
syllogism, member of (vacanavayava) 

XVII.67 
taking what is not given (adinnadana) 1.140; 

XXII.62 
Talarigara XII.80; XX.lll 
Talaveli-magga 11.16 
talk, the ten instances of (dasa-kathavatthu) 

1.49; IV38; t, thirty-two kinds of aim- 
less (tiracchana-katha) IVn.15 
talking (lapana) 1.42, 62, 72 
Tambapanni-dipa (Sri Lanka) 1.99; IV36; 

IX.64; XII.80, 83, 123; XX.n.l 
tangible datum (photthabba) XIV128, n.32; 

XVIII. 11; t.-d. base (photthabbayatana) 

XV3; t.-d. element (photthabba-dhatu) 

XV17, 30 
Tavatimsa Thirty-three (Gods') Heaven 

VII.43f.; XII.72, 108; XIII.41 
teacher (acariya) 111.47, 126 
teaching (desana) 1.126 
temperament, behaviour (carita, cariya) 

11.86; III.74f.; 95, 121; VI.83, 85; VIII.112, 

159; XVII.286 
temperature (utu) 1.86; XIV.47, 188; 

XVII.106, 193; XVIII.5; XIX.9; t.-originat- 

ed (utu-samutthana) XIV61, 75; XVII.193; 

XIX.9; XX.27, 39f. 
terms of, in (adhitthana) 1.52; IVn.27 
terror {bhaya) XX.15; XXI.26, 29f., 61, 69 

see also appearance as t., and fear 
theory (patipatti) XIV163, 177; XVI.85; 

XVII.52, 303 
Therambatthala IV135; XII.9 
thing (dhamma) VII.n.1. See also dhamma 

thinking (safikappa) XXII.42, 66. See also 

right t. 
Thirty-three Gods, see Tavatimsa 



thirty-two aspects of the body (dvattimsa- 

kara) III.l, 105; VII.28; VIII.44f.; XVIII.5; 

XX.9 
thought, thought-arising (cittuppada) 

IV87; XXII.63, 76 
Thuparama III. 31 
tie (gantha) IV.87; VII.59; XIV202, 226; 

XXII.54, 69 
time (kala) VII.n.7; VIII.32; XIV.n.71; 

XVI.85; XVII.75, n.3 
Tissa-macca-matar 11.16 
Tissamahavihara XII.80 
Tissa Thera, Ciragumbavasik-amba- 

khadakamaha 1.122, 133 
Tissa Thera, Cula-pindapatika III. 127; 

VI.77 
Tissa Thera, Kotapabbatavasin VIII. 243 
Tissa Thera, Kutumbiyaputta 1.137 
Tissa Thera, Maha 1.55; IV95; VI.81, 88; 

XII.89 
Tissa Thera, Maha, Maha-Karanjiya-vi- 

hara-vasin VIII. 243 
Tissa Thera, Padhaniya, Nagapabbatavasin 

IV36 
Tissa Thera, Pindapatika, Devaputtarattha- 

vasin VIII.243 
Tissadatta Thera XII.124 
tongue (jivha) XIV40, 46, 51, 117; XVI.10; 

XVII.156; XX. 70; t. base (jivhayatana) 

XV3; t. consciousness (jivha-vinnana) 

XIV.96, 117, 179; t.-c. element (jivha- 

vinnana-dhatu) XV.17; t. element 

(jivha-dhatu) XV.17; t. faculty (jivhindri- 

ya) XVI.l 
torpor (middha) 111.95; XIV71 
trainer (sekha) 1.35, 37, 127, 131, 137; 11.78; 

XI.121; XIV27, 109; XVI.104; XVII.81; 

XXII.21; XXIII.10 
training (sikkha) 1.10; t. precept (sikkha-pada) 

1.40, 52, 98, 131; XIV8; training rule, 

minor (sekhiya-dhamma) 1.52; 11.29 
tranquillity (passaddhi) 1.32, 140; IV51, 99; 

XIV.128, 133, 144; XVI.86; XX. 116; 

XXI.75, 89; XXII.42 
transformation (vikubbana) XII.2, 137. See 

also versatility 
transgression (vitikkama) 1.13, 44 
transmigration (sankanti, sankamana) 

XVII.113, 162, 302 
treasures, the seven (satta dhanani) XXII.14 



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tree-root dweller (rnkkhamulika) 1.68; 

II.2f., 56 
triad (tika) II.n.18; XIII.104, n.20 
triple continuity (ti-santati) XI.112; XX.22 
triple origination (ti-samutthana) XVII. 196 
triple-robe wearer {ti-clvarika) II. 2, 23f. 
truth (sacca) VII.27, 62, n.l; XIV218; XVI.3, 

13f.; XVII.59, 300; XVIII.n.8; XX.98, 100, 

130; XXI.l, 130; XXII.7, 92 
Tuladharapabbata-vihara III. 53 
turning away (vivatta) 1.140; VI.43. See also 

contemplation of t. a. 
twin marvel (yamaka-patihariya) IV.132; 

VII.n.7; XII.72, 84 
UccavalikaXX.llOf. 
Uddhamsota XXIII.56 
Udena-raja XII. 35 
Ugga VIII.18 
ultimate sense (paramattha) I.n.14; II.n.18; 

VIII.39; XVI.n.18; XX.72, n.20 
uncertainty (vicikiccha) 1.140; 111.95; IV86, 104; 

XIY93, 176, 177f.; XIX.6, 10; XXII.48, 60 
unconcern (anabhoga) IV.171; IX. 108 
unconscious beings (asanna-satta) VIII.n.57; 

XVII.134 
understanding (panna) 1.7, 123; III. 15; 

IV45, 117f.; V41; VII.n.8, n.9; VIII.lll, 

173; IX.124; XII.17; XIV2f.; XVI.l, 86, 99; 

XX.3, 7; XXI.12, 37, 74f., 89; XXII.42, 45, 

98; XIII.2 
unformed (asankhata) VII.85; VHI.245; XV25; 

XVI.23, 102; u. element (asankhata-dhatu) 

XV34, 42; XVI.94; XXII.n.l 
unhappy destiny (duggati) XVII. 135f., 160 
unification (ekaggata) III. 2, n.2; IV74; 

VIII.232; XI.119; XXI.114; XXII.36, 46; 

XXIII.20, 26 
unincluded (apariyapanna) III. 23 
uninterest (avyapara) XVII. 312, n.14; 

XX.102 
unity (ekatta) IV112f., n.31; XI.95; XXII.97 
universal, see kasina 
unknowing (annana) 1.57; IX.96, 110 
unprofitable (akusala) 1.42, 52; IV.85; 

VII.59, n.25; X.16; XIII.64; XIV23, 89f., 

101f., 113, 117, 126f., 129, 132, 159f., 179, 

193, 199, 205, 209; XVI.104; XVII.120; 

XIX.8; XX.28, 31, 44, 124; XXII.35, 62, 

75,85 
unseen (adittha) XVII.202; XXI.17, 21 



unworldly (niramisa) XXI.37 

upahaccaparinibbayin XXIII.56 

Upananda Thera 11.82 

Upatissa Thera HI.n.19 

uposatha (uposatha-observance day) 1.40, 

n.10; 11.60; VII.125; XVII.81; XXI.n.15 
Uppalavanna Theri XXII. 83 
urgency (samvega), see sense of u. 
use (paribhoga) I.124f. 
Uttarakuru 1.41; VII.43f.; XII.73 
Uttara-matar XII.39 
Vakkali Thera IV45 
Vahgisa Thera 1.103 
vanity (mada) 11.67; VII.59; VIII.247, n.71. 

See also intoxication, conceit 
vanity, personal (capalya) III. 95, n.22 
variety (nanatta) 1.140; X.12, 20; XI.95f. 
Vattaniya-senasana XIII. 107 
Vasudhamma XIVn.16 
Vasudeva VIII. 19; XV5 
Vattakalakagama IV96 
Veda (veda) XII.44 

Vehapphala (Great Fruit) Deities XIII. 62 
Vejayanta Palace VIII.20; XII.110 
verbal formation (vacT-sankhara) XVII.61; 

XXIII.24, 51; v. intimation (vaci-vinnatti) 

XIV61; v. misconduct (vacl-duccarita) 

XIV.133; v. volition (vacl-sancetana) 

XVII.61 
versatility (vikubbana) IX. 44. See also 

transformation 
vehicle (yana) XVIII.3, 5 
Vibhajjavadin XVII.25 
view (ditthi) 1.13, 137, 140; 111.78; VII.59, 

n.25; XIII.74; XIV90, 146, 205, 218, 229; 

XVI. 93; XVII. 240f., 265, 286, 310f.; 

XIX.24; XX.82f., 125; XXI.26, 42, 92; 

XXII.48, 60. See also wrong v. 
village (gama) 11.48; VIII. 158 
Vimuttimagga III.n.19 
Vinatakapabbata VII.42 
Vipassin Bhagavant XIII. 123 
virtue (slla) I passim, 19£; II passim; VII. 7, 

101f.; VIII.173; IX.124; XIV206, 219; 

XVI.86; XVII.60, 81; XVIII.l; XXII.128 
Visakha Thera IX.64f. 
visible (sanidassana) XIV74f. 
visible datum, visible object (rilpa) 1.20, 

53, 57, n.14; III. 109; VII. 28; X.16; 

XIII.101; XIV54, 74, 96, 99, 107, 115, 134; 



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XVII.127, 180; XVIII. 11; XX.44; v.-d. base 
(rupayatana) XIV76; XV3; v.-d. element 
(rupa-dhatu) XV17 

Vissakamma XII.71, 77, n.14 

vital formation (ayu-sankhara) VIII. 244; 
XXIII.42 

void (sunna) X.33; XVI.90, n.25; XVII.283; 
XX.47; XXI.24, 34, 53f., 69f., 121, 123f.; v. 
liberation (sunnaia-vimokkha) XXI.70f., 89 

voidness (sunnata) 11.40; VII.n.1; XI.117, 
n.20; v. element (sunnata-dhatu) XXI. 67 

volition (cetana) 1.17, 140; 11.12, 83, 89; 
VII.28; Xl.lf., n.2; XIV133, 135, 159, 170, 
176, 179, n.81; XVI.10; XVII.44, 5I.60f., 
88, 251, 292f.; XVIII.8, 19; XX. 9, 29; 
XXII.66 

water (udaka) XIII.43, 67; (apo) XI.35, 41, 
87; XIII.30, 56; XIV35, 73, n.32; w. ele- 
ment (apo-dhatu) XI.28f., 87f.; w. kasina, 
(apo-kasina) III.105; VI; XII.92 

way (patipada) III. 42, n.15; VII. 74, 90; 
XVI.75f.; (patha) 1.85 

wheel of becoming (bhava-cakka) XVII.273f. 

wheel of the round of rebirths (samsara- 
cakka) VII.7f. 

wheel-turning monarch (cakkavattin) 
VIII.n.61; XII.40 

white kasina (odata-kasina) III.105f.; V16; 
XIII.95 

wieldiness {kammannata) XIV64, 133, 147 

wilderness in the heart (ceto-khila) VII. 59 

wisdom (veda) XXII.70, 75, 89 

wishes, see evilness of w. & fewness of w 

woman (itthi) I.n.14; XVII.n.4 



world (loka) 1.34; III.n.5; VII.36f.; VIII.39, 
n.ll; XIII.94; XIVn.36; XVI.85, n.23; 
XVII.134; XX.72; world apex, world 
shrine (loka-thupika) XVI.85; w. element 
(loka-dhatu) VII.44, n.14; XII. 78, 106; 
world-marshal deities {loka-vyuha-deva) 
XIII.34; w inter-space (lokantara) VII.n.14; 
XVI.43; w. soul, Purusa (purisa) XVII.8, 
n.3; XVIII. n. 9; w. sphere (cakka-vala) 
VII.40, 44, n.14; IX.103; X.6; XII.72, 78, 
88; XIII.3, 31, 48f. 

worldliness (amisa) XXI.n.13 

worldly (samisa) XXI.37, 41 

worldly state (loka-dhammd) VH.38; XXII.51, 67 

worm (kimi) Vl.77; VIII.25, 121 

worry (kukkucca) 111.95; XIV170, 174. See 
also agitation and w 

wrongdoing (dukkata) 160 

wrongness (micchatta) VII. 59; XVII. 53; 
XXII.50, 66 

wrong path (miccha-magga) XXII. 14; w. 
speech (miccha-vaca) XXII.50; w. view 
(miccha-ditthi) 1.140; V41; XIV159, 164; 
XVII.9, 243; XXII.45, 50, 56, 58, 66 

Yama-raja (King of the Underworld) 
VII.n.14 

Yasa Thera XII.82 

YuddhitthilaVIII.19 

Yugandharapabbata VII.42; XII.72, 121 

zeal (chanda) 1.33; 111.24; IV85, n.24; IX.102; 
XII.12, 50; XIV133, 150, 159, 170; XVI.86; 
XVII.72; XXII.36, 39, 42, 55 



773 






Pali-English Glossary 

of Some Subjects and Technical Terms 

This Glossary only includes (a) some epistemological and technical terms, and 
(b) meanings or words not in the PED, which are marked with an asterisk(*), 
though such compounds prefixes as e.g. anukaddhati = to keep dragging along 
(III. 68) or suffixes as e.g. vattabbata = ability to be called (IV148) and such verbal 
substantives as udikkhana from udikkhati are not always included. 



akiriya-ditthi — (moral-) inefficacy-of- 

action view 
akusala — (1) unskilful, (2) (kammically) 

un-profitable 
agati — bad way (the four) 
*agaru — aloe wood (spelled agalu in 

PED); VIII.47 
aiiga — (1) limb, (2) factor (of path, jhana, 

etc.), (3) practice, etc. 
ajjhatta — internally, in oneself 
*ajjhottharamana — also threatening: VI.56 
*ancita — outstretched: XX. 112 
anna — final knowledge (in the Arahant) 
*annati — to know ( = ajanati): VII.22 (Patis 

1122) 
atthaka, atthamaka — octad 
attharigika-magga — eightfold path 
*anima — minuteness: VII. 61 
*atammayata — aloofness; XXI. 135 (M III 

220) 
*atippasahga — over-generalization (logic): 

XIV186 
*atisara — flux (of bowels), diarrhoea: XI.21 
atlta-past 

*attata — selfness, oneself: IX.47 
attabhava — person, personality, selfhood, 

re-birth 
attavada — self-doctrine 
atta — self 
attanuditthi — self-view, wrong view as 

self 



*attanuvada — self-reproach: VII. 106 
attha — (1) benefit, result, (2) purpose, aim, 

goal, (3) meaning 
adinnadana — taking what is not given, 

stealing 
adukkha-m-asukha — neither-painful- 

nor-pleasant (feeling) 
adosa — non-hate 
addha, addhana — extent, period 
advaya — exclusive, absolute 
*adha-r-arani — lower fire-stick: XV41 
*adhikara — also treatise, heading: III. 133 

(Dhs-a 58) 
*adhikicca — as an integral part of, 

dependent on 
adhicitta — higher consciousness (i.e. 

jhana) 
adhitthana — (1) steadying, (2) resolve 
*adhitthana — also (3) in terms of: IV92, 

(4) habitat: X.24; XIV134 
adhipanna — higher understanding (i.e. 

insight) 
adhipati — predominance 
adhippaya — intention, purport 
adhimokkha — resolution 
adhimutti — resolution 
adhisila — higher virtue (i.e. virtue as basis 

for jhana and insight) 
anannatannassaml-t-indriya — I-shall- 

come-to-know-the-unknown faculty 
anatta — not-self 



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Pali-English Glossary 



anagata — future 

anagatamsa-nana — knowledge of the 
future 

anagamin — non-returner (third stage of 
realization) 

anicca — impermanent 

animitta — signless 

*anutthunana — brooding: XVI.59 

anunaya — approval 

anupabandhana — anchoring (of the 
mind) 

anupalana — maintenance 

anubodha — idea, ideation 

anubhava — power, influence 

anuloma — (1) in conformity with, (2) in 
forward order, or as "arising" (of 
dependent origination), (3) conform- 
ity (stage in development of jhana or 
insight) 

*anuvattapana — causing occurrence 
parallel to: XVI.10 (cf. Dhs p.5) 

anusaya — inherent (underlying) tendency 
(the 7) 

anussati — recollection (the 10) 

*anenja, aneja — unperturbed: XII. 55 

anesana — improper search 

anottappa — shamelessness 

anvaya-nana — inferential knowledge 

apariyapanna — unincluded (of supra- 
mundane states) 

*aparisanthita — turbulent: VI. 86 

*apavarita — opened up: VI.4 

apaya — state of loss 

appanihita — desireless 

appana — absorption 

appamanna — measureless state ( = divine 
abiding) 

appamana — measureless 

*appayati — to satisfy: XI.87 

appicchata — fewness of wishes 

*appita — done away with: IV146 (Vibh 
258) 

*abbhariga — unguent: 1.86 

*abyabhicarin — without exception (gram. 
and log.): XIY25 

*abyosana — not stopping halfway: XX.21 

abhava — absence, non-existence, non- 
entity 

*abhava — without sex: XVII. 150 

*abhigacchati — to rely on: VII. 60 



abhighata — impact 
abhijjha — covetousness 
abhinna — direct-knowledge 
abhinandana — delight, delighting 
abhinipata — conjunction, engagement 
abhiniropana — directing on to 
*abhinivesa — also insistence, interpreting: 

1.140; XIV130; XXI.84f., etc. 
*abhinihara — (1) conveying, (2) guidance: 

XI.93, 117; XIII.16, 95 (Patis 1 17, 61) 
abhibhayatana — base of mastery base for 

transcending (the sense-desire sphere) 
*abhisamharati — to make (a profit): IX. 65 
abhisankhara — (1) volitional formation, 

kamma-formation, formation, (2) 

momentum 
abhisamaya — penetration to, conver- 
gence upon (the 4 Truths) 
amata — deathless (term for Nibbana) 
amoha — non-delusion 
*aya— also a reason: XIII.92; XVI.17 
arati — aversion, boredom 
arahant — arahant (4th and last stage of 

realization) 
*aritthaka — kind of thorny plant: VIII. 83 
ariya — noble, noble one (i.e. one who has 

attained a path) 
*ariyati — to be served (CPD has "to 

approach"): XIV22 
arup a — immaterial 
alobha — non-greed 

*allina — unsheltered (pp. a+liyati): XX. 19 
*alliyitum — to give shelter (not in CPD; inf. 

a+liyati; see lena in CPD): (alliyitabba) 

XXII.120; (alliyana) VII.83 
*avakkhandana — hiatus: II. 6 
*avagaha — grasping: XVI. 104 
*avattha — occasion, position: IV.167; 

XVII.306; XX.19 
*avadhana— attention: 1.32 (Patis 1 1; M II 

175) 
*avadhi— limit (= odhi): 1.86 
avabodha — awareness, discovery 
*avarodha — inclusion: XIV216, 219 
*avasa — eviction: IV9, 12 
*avi — goat or sheep: XVII.110 
avikkhepa — non-distraction 
avijja — ignorance 
avyakata — (1) (kammically) indeterminate 

(i.e. neither profitable nor unprofitable), 



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(2) un-answered (by the Buddha) 

avyapada — non-ill-will 

asarikhata — unformed 

asannin — non-percipient 

asammoha — non-confusion, non-delu- 
sion 

asubha — foulness, foul, ugly 

assasa-passasa — in-breath and out- 
breath 

asekha — non-trainer (i.e. one who has 
reached the fruition of arahantship) 

asmi-mana — the conceit "I am" 

ahiri — consciencelessness 

ahetuka — without root-cause 

ahetuka-ditthi — no-cause view 

ahosi-kamma — lapsed kamma 

akara — mode, aspect, structure 

akara-rupa — matter as mode (e.g. "mark 
of the female") 

akasa — space 

akincanna — nothingness 

aghata — annoyance 

acaya — setting-up (of matter) 

ajiva — livelihood 

adana — grasping, taking 

*adina — wretched: XX. 19 

adinava — danger, disability 

*adharana — subserving: XIV60 (M-a II 
52) 

anantarika — (kamma) with immediate 
result (on rebirth) 

anapana — breathing 

anenja — imperturbable, the (term for the 
4th jhana) 

*apajjati — also to follow logically: 11.79; 
XVI.68f. 

*apajjana — logical consequence: I.n.19; 
XV68 

*apatti — also logical consequent: XVI. 72; 
XIX.3 

apatti — offence 

*apadana — production: 11.21 

*apo — water 

abandhana — cohesion 

abhoga — concern 

*ayatati — to actuate XV4 

ayatana — base 

*ayatana — actuating: XV4 

ayu — life 

ayu-sankhara — vital formation 



*ayuhana — also accumulation (of kamma) 
arammana — object (of consciousness or 

its concomitants), support 
aruppa — immaterial state (the 4) 
aropeti — also to attribute to: XX.47 
alaya — reliance, thing relied on 
aloka — light 

avajj ana — adverting (consciousness) 
"avatthika — denoting a period: VII. 54 
*avinjana — picking up (see PED avijjhati): 

XIV37 
*asana — also (flower) altar: V15 
*asava — canker (the 4) 
asevana — (1) cultivation, (2) repetition 
"ahanana — striking at: IV88 
ahara — nutriment, food 
ahara-samutthana — nutriment-originated 

(matter) 
ittha — desirable 

*itaratha— otherwise: 111.53 (Dhs-a 44) 
itthindriya — femininity faculty 
idappaccayata — specific conditionality 

(term for dependent origination) 
iddhi — power, success, supernormal 

power 
iddhipada — road to power, basis for 

success (the 4) 
indriya — faculty (the 22) 
iriyapatha — posture, deportment (the 4) 
issara — overlord, Lord Creator 
ihaka — having curiosity, activity 
uggaha — learning 
uggaha — nimitta-learning sign 
*ugganhita (ugghatita?) — decayed: VI.42 
*ugghati — removal: III. 115 
*ugghata — exhilaration: 1.117 
uccheda-ditthi — annihilation view 
ujukata — rectitude 

utu — 1) climate, (2) season, (3) temperature 
utu-samutthana — temperature-originated 

(matter) 
udaya — rise 

udaya-bbaya — rise and fall 
*udahariyati — to be uttered: XV3 
uddhacca — agitation 
uddhacca-kukkucca — agitation and worry 
upakkilesa — imperfection 
upacaya — growth (of matter) 
upacara — (1) approach, neighbourhood, 

precinct, (2) access (concentration) 



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*upacara — also (3) metaphor. XVI. 70; 
XVII.15;XXII.51 

*upatthana — also (1) establishment VIII.168: 
(2) appearance: XXI.29 

*upadharana — upholding: 1.19, 141 

*upanaya — inducement, application (log): 
VII.83 

*upanayana — also applying (log.), induc- 
ing, leading on: VII.83; XIV68 

upapatti — reappearance, rebirth 

upatthambhana — consolidation, stiffen- 
ing, supporting 

upabruhana — intensification 

*upabruhayati — to intensify: VIII. 121 

upabhunjaka — experiencer, user 

*upasatthata — menacedness: XX. 16 

upasama — peace (term for Nibbana) 

upadana — clinging 

upadana-kkhandha — aggregate (as object) 
of clinging 

upada-rupa — derivative (or secondary) 
materiality 

upadinna, upadinnaka — clung-to, kammically 
acquired (matter), organic (matter) 

upaya — means 

upayasa — despair 

upekkha — equanimity, onlooking 

uppatti — arising, rebirth 

*uppatti — also origin of a sutta (tech. term): 
111.88; VII.69 

uppatti-bhava — rebirth-process becoming, 
being as result of action 

uppanna — arisen 

uppada — arising 

ussada — prominence 

ussaha — activity 

*uhana — hitting upon: IV88 

ekaggata — unification (of consciousness) 

ekatta — (1) unity, (2) identity (3) single- 
ness 

*eta-parama — that at most: XIV.216; 
XVI.28 (M I 339) 

evam-dhammata — ineluctable regularity 

esana — search 

okasa — (1) location, (2) opportunity 

*okaseti — to scatter on (not as in PED): 
XII.85 (S IV 190) 

*okkhandhati — to descend into: XX. 120; 
XXII.34 

*ogalati — to run downwards: VIII. 124 



ogha — flood (the 4) 

ojatthamaka — material octad with nutri- 
tive essence as eighth 

oja — nutritive essence, metabolism 

ottappa — shame 

opapatika — apparitionally reborn 

*obhagga— looped: VIII.118; XI.64 

*obhanjati (or obhunjati) — to loop, to coil: 
XI.64 

obhasa — illumination 

*omatta — subordinate: XX. 64 

*oruhati — to come down: IV64 

olarika — gross 

*ovattha — showered down: XI. 72 

karikha — doubt 

katatta — performedness (of kamma), 
(kamma) performed 

*kanduyati — to be itchy: VIII. 127 

*kannika— fungus: VIII.88 

*kataka — also a kind of seed (used for 
clearing water) 

katha-vatthu — (1) name of Abhidhamma 
book, (2) instance of talk (the 10) 

kappa — eon, age 

kabalinkarahara — physical nutriment 

kampana — wavering, shaking 

kammannata — wieldiness 

kamma — (1) kamma, deeds, action, (2) 
work, (3) (legal) enactment 

kamma tthana — meditation subject 

kamma-patha — course of action, of 
kamma 

kamma-bhava — kamma-process becom- 
ing, being as action 

kamma-samutthana — kamma-originated 
(matter) 

kammanta — action, work 

karaja — physical 

karuna — compassion 

kalapa — (1) group, (2) material group 
(term for material octad, etc.) 

kalapa-sammasana — comprehension by 
groups (does not refer to the material 
octad, etc.) 

kalyana-puthujjana — magnanimous 
ordinary man 

kasina — kasina, universal (a contempla- 
tion device, and concept based thereon) 

kama — sense desire, sensual desire 



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kama-guna — cord of sense-desire (the 5), 

dimension of sensual desire 
kama-cchanda — lust, zeal for sense 

desires 
kama-raga — greed for sense desires 
kamavacara — sense-desire sphere, sense 

sphere 
kamesu micchacara — sexual misconduct 
kaya — (1) body, group, order, (2) the 

material body, (3) the mental body (i.e. 

the 3 namakkhandha) 
kayasakkhin — body witness 
kaya-sankhara — bodily formation (term 

for in-breath and out-breath) 
karaka — doer 
kala — time 
kicca — function 

*kincana — owning, ownership: XXI. 53 
*kinati — also to combat: VI. 8 
kiriya — (kammically) functional, inoper- 
ative 
kilesa — defilement 
*kukata— villainy: XIV174 
kukkucca — worry 
*kundika — also a four-footed water pot: 

V.3 
*kunapa— also ordure: VIII. 121; XL 19, 21 
kusala — (1) skilful, (2) profitable (con- 
sciousness), (3) good 
kuhana — scheming 

*kuta— wild, savage: VIII.53 (M-a II 82) 
*kutagara — also (1) catafalque (corny. To 

A I 150), (2) palanquin: XII.71 (M-a V 

90) 
*kupaka-yatthi — masthead (?), spar (?): 

XXI.65 
*kotthatthi — shoulder-blade bone (lit. 

"flat-bone"; not as in PED): VIII.101 
*kotthalika— flattened: VII.97 
*kosa — measure of length (about 1 mile): 

IV.37 
khana — moment, instant 
*khanati— also to consume: IV100; XVII.48 
khanti — (1) patience, (2) choice 
khandha — aggregate 
khaya — destruction, exhaustion 
khara — harsh 

*kharigata— harsh: XI.31 (M I 185) 
*khinna — exhausted: IV100; see khijjana 

14, n.2VI. 



*ganduppadaka — also sort of intestinal 
worm: VIII.121 

*gata-paccagata — (1) duty of going to and 
returning from the alms round with 
the meditation subject, (2) kind of 
refuse rag: 11.17; XIV28 

gati — (1) destiny, destination (on rebirth), 
movement 

*gadati — to enunciate (see gada in PED) 
VII.35 

gantha— (1) tie (the 4), (2) book 

gandha — odour 

*gandhayati — to be smelled: XV3 

guna — special quality 

gocara — resort, domain, scope 

gotrabhu — change-of-lineage (conscious- 
ness) 

*gopa— guardian, IV190; VIII.153 (M II 
180) 

ghattana — impinging, knocking together 

ghana — compact 

ghana-vinibbhoga — resolution of the 
compact (into elements) 

ghana — nose 

cakkavala — world-sphere 

*cakkhati— to relish: XV3 

cakkhu — eye 

catusamutthana — (matter) of fourfold 
origination (i.e. by consciousness, kam- 
ma, temperature and nutriment) 

cariya, carita — temperament; behaviour, 
exercise 

caga — generosity 

*capalya — also personal vanity: 111.95 (this 
meaning not in CPD, under acapalya or 
acapala) 

*caraka— prison: XIV221; XVI.18 

*cikiccha — wish to think: XIV177 

citta — (manner of) consciousness, con- 
sciousness, cognizance, mind 

citta-tthiti — steadiness of consciousness 

citta-vithi — cognitive series (of conscious- 
nesses) 

citta-sarikhara — mental formation (term 
for perception and feeling) 

citta-samutthana — consciousness- 
originated (matter) 

cittuppada — thought, thought-arising 

cinta — reasoning 

cuti — death 



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cetana — volition 

cetasika — consciousness concomitant 
(i.e. feeling, perception and formations) 

ceto — mind, heart, will 

cetopariya — penetration of minds 

ceto-vimutti — heart-deliverance, mind-d. 

chanda — zeal 

*jatuka— bat, pipistrelle: 111.97; XI.7 

*janaka— also father: XVII.271 

*jara— fever: XI.36 (A V 100) 

jara — aging, old age 

jara-marana — aging-and-death 

javana — (1) speed, (2) impulsion (con- 
sciousness) 

jati— (1) birth, (2) sort, kind 

jivha — tongue 

jiva — soul 

jivita — life 

*juttha— fostered: XVI.4 

jhana — jhana 

nana — knowledge (in general) 

thiti — (1) presence, (2) station, (3) relation, 
(4) steadiness, stability, (5) stationariness, 
stagnation 

*tacchati— also to pare: VIII.103 (M I 31) 

tanha — craving 

tatramajjhattata — specific neutrality 

tathagata — perfect one 

tadariga — substitution of opposites 
(function of insight) 

*tadarammana — (1) having that (afore- 
said thing) as its object, (2) registration 
(consciousness): XIV98; XVII.139 

*tanana — range: XV4 

*tavatva — just so much: XV 18 

tadi-bhava — equipoise 

tiracchana-yoni — animal generation 

tilakkhana — three characteristics (of 
impermanence, pain and not-self) 

*ti-santati-rupa — materiality of triple 
continuity (term for the three decads at 
moment of rebirth-linking): XI. 112; 
XX.22 

*ti-samutthana — materiality of triple orig- 
ination (by kamma, temperature and 
nutriment only): XVII.196 

tirana — judgement, investigation 

thaddha — stiffened 

thina-middha — stiffness and torpor 



*theriya — belonging to the Elders: epil. 
verse 

*dakasitalika — edible white water lily: 
VIII.119 

dasaka — (1) decad (of matter), (2) decade 

dassana — (1) seeing (the eye's function), 
(2) vision, (3) term for the first path 

dana — gift, giving 

*dana — gap: II. 6 

dittha — seen 

ditthi — view, (wrong) view, (right) view 

ditthi-pata — one attained to vision 

dibba-cakkhu — divine eye 

dibba-sotadhatu — divine ear element 

dukkha — pain, painful, bodily pain, suf- 
fering 

dukkha-dukkha — intrinsic suffering 

duggati — unhappy destination (on 
rebirth) 

duccarita — misconduct, misbehaviour 

*dutthulla — also (1) inertia, (2) irritability: 
IV124 (M III 151, 159) 

dura — far 

desana — teaching, instruction 

*desantar-uppatti — successive arising in 
adjacent locations (description of 
phenomenon of motion); VII.n.45 

domanassa — grief 

dosa — (1) hate, (2) flaw, (3) humour (of 
the body) 

*drabya — substance: XVIII.n.8 

*drava-fluid: XI.41 

dvattimsakara — the thirty-two aspects (of 
the body) 

dvara — door (i.e. the 6 d. of conscious- 
ness by the 6 bases; also the 3 d. of 
kamma by body, speech and mind) 

dhamma — (1) the Dhamma or Law (as 
discovered by the Buddha), (2) dhamma, 
state, thing, phenomenon, (3) mental 
object, mental datum (12th base) 

dhamma-tthiti-nana — knowledge of rela- 
tions of states, knowledge of structure 
of ideas 

dhammata-rupa — natural materiality (i.e 
trees, stones, etc.) 

*dhammani — rat-snake: XI. 64 

dhamma-vicaya — investigation of states 

dhammanusarin — dhamma devotee 



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dhatu — (1) element, (2) humour (of the 

body), (3) relic 
*dhatu— also (metallic) ore: XI.20; XV20 
dhutahga — ascetic practice 
*dhura-bhatta — meal given in a principal 

house (not as in PED): 11.27 
dhuva — everlasting 
nandi — delight 
naya — method 

naya-vipassana — inductive insight 
navaka — ennead 
*nahana — tying: 1.73 
*nagabala — kind of plant: XI.17 
nana-kkhanika — (kamma) acting from a 

different time 
nanatta — variety, difference 
nama — (1) mentality, (2) name 
nama-kaya — mentality body, mental 

body (aggregates of feeling, perception 

and formations) 
nama-rupa — mentality-materiality (term 

for the five aggregates, or for the four 

aggregates excluding consciousness) 
nama-rupa-pariccheda — definition of 

mentality-materiality 
*nayare — they are known ( — nayanti): 

VIII.29; cf. IX.42 (nayati— nayati) 
nikanti — attachment, attraction 
*nigghata — depression: XI. 117 
nicca — permanent 
nijjiva — soulless 

*nippadesa — comprehensive: XVI. 95 
*nippharipphanda — inactive: V4 
*nippimsati — to scrape, to grind: 1.81 
*nippunchati — to wipe off: 1.81 
*nippesikata — belittling (not as in PED): 

1.64 (M III 75) 
*nippeseti — to scrape off: 1.81 
*nipphanna — produced (term for certain 

kinds of derived materiality) 
*nibbacana — verbal derivative (gram): 

II.4; XVI.14 
nibbatti — generation, production, rebirth 
Nibbana — nirvana, extinction (of greed, 

hate and delusion) 
*nibbikappa — "without dismay" without 

thinking: 11.71; VI.81 
nibbida — dispassion, revulsion 
*nibbisa — without poison: XII. 115 
*nibbedha — penetration 



nimitta — sign 

niyati-vada — determinism, fatalism 

niyyana — outlet (from the round of 
rebirths; term for the path) 

nirutti — language 

nirodha — cessation 

nissaya — (1) support, (2) the dependence 
(given by teacher to pupil) 

nissatta — not-a-living-being 

nissarana — escape (from defilement by 
Nibbana) 

nivarana — hindrance (the 5 or the 7) 

"mharati — also to fix: 11.50 

nekkhamma — renunciation 

*nemittika — (name) signifying (an acquire- 
ment): VII.55 

*nemittikata — hinting (not as in PED): 1.63 
(M III 75) 

*pakattha— distant: VII.81 

pakati — (1) nature, natural, normal, (2) 
Primordial Essence, Prakrti 

*pakasa — illumination: XVII. 77 

pakkhandati — to enter into, to launch out 
into 

pagunnata — proficiency 

paccakkha — personal experience 

paccatta — for oneself 

paccaya — (1) condition (for what is con- 
ditionally arisen), (2) requisite (the 4 for 
the bhikkhu) 

paccaya-pariggaha — discernment of con- 
ditions 

paccayakara — structure of conditions 
(term for dependent origination) 

paccavekkhana — reviewing 

paccuppanna — present, presently arisen 

pannatti — (1) making-known, announce- 
ment, (2) appellation, designation, (3) 
concept, description 

panna — understanding (insight and path) 

panna-vimutta — one liberated by under- 
standing 

*patatantuka — intestinal worm: VIII. 121 

*patikkamana — refectory: 11.28 

patikkula — repulsive 

patigha — resentment, resistance 

paticca — (indecl. ger. of patiyeti) having 
depended, due to, dependent on 

*paticca — (deck adj.) ought to be arrived 
at: XVII.16 



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paticca-samuppanna — conditionally aris- 
en, dependency originated 

paticca-samuppada — dependent origina- 
tion 

*patinna — also proposition (log.) XVII. 67 
(Kv.2) 

patinna — claim 

patinissagga — relinquishment 

patipatti — way progress, practice 

*patipatti— theory: XIV163, 177; XVII.52, 
303 

patipassaddhi — tranquilization (of defile- 
ment by fruition) 

*patipassana — looking back: VIII. 189, 
225 

*patipatiyamana — following successively: 
VIII.69 

*patipadana — maintaining (on course): 
IV42 

patibhaga-nimitta — counterpart sign 

*pativeti — to vanish: XX. 96 

pativedha — penetration (of 4 Truths) 

patisarikha — reflection 

patisandhi — rebirth-linking (conscious- 
ness) 

patisambhida — discrimination (the 4) 

*patisiddha — excluded, rejected, refuted 
(log.): XVII.150 

*patihannati — to resent (as verb for 
patigha): IX.101 (cf. Dhs-a 72, Netti 13) 

*patihita (panihita?) — drawn on: VIII. 26 

panidhi — desire, aspiration 

panita — superior, sublime 

*patati — to gather, to wander for: II. 5 

*patiyamana — going back to: XVII. 16 

*patthamyata — famousness: IV2, 10 

pathavi — earth 

padhana — (1) endeavour, effort, (2) basic 

*padhana — Basic Principle, Pradhana: 
XVI.85 

papanca — (1) obstacle, (2) diffuseness, (2) 
diversification (as function of craving, 
conceit and wrong view; not in this 
sense in PED) 

*pabbhara — also overhang of rock: 11.61 

*pabhavana — production: VIII. 182 (Patis 
I 184) 

*pabhuti — encl.) and so on, etcetera ( = 
adi in that sense): VIII. 17, 121; X.51, etc. 

pabheda — class, category 



*pamukha — veranda, forecourt: IV.13; 
XI.7; XIII.6 

paramattha — highest sense, ultimate 
sense 

paramattha — misapprehended, adhered- 
to 

paramasa — misapprehension, adherence, 
pre-assumption 

parikatha — roundabout talk 

*parikappanata — conjecturing: III. 77 

parikamma — preliminary work 

parikkhara — (1) equipment, (2) requisite 

pariggaha — (1) inclusion, (2) embracing 
(as definition of right speech), (3) rein- 
forcement, (4) discerning, etc. 

pariccaga — giving up 

pariccheda-rupa — delimiting-materiality 
(term for space) 

parinna — full-understanding (the 3) 

parinama — change 

paritta — (1) small, (2) limited (term for 
the sense-desire sphere), (3) protection 
(term for certain discourses recited for 
that purpose) 

parideva — lamentation 

*parinijjhapana — obsessing, burning up: 
XVI.48 

*parinipphanna — positively produced 
XXIII. n.18 

parinibbana — attainment of Nibbana 

paripacana — maintaining, maturing, 
ripening 

*paripphandana — also interference, activ- 
ity: IV89; XIV144 

*paribhanda — also repair: XXIII. 36 

paribhoga — use 

pariyatti — (1) mastery, (2) scripture 

pariyapanna — included 

pariyahanana — threshing, striking on: 
IV.88 

pariyutthana — obsession 

*pariyonahana — covering, envelope: 
VIII.115 

*pariyosana — also intensity: VI.49 

*parivena — also surroundings of a build- 
ing, surrounding walk: IV.127; XI.7; 
XIII.6 

*parissavati — to run away: XI.90 

*parihara-vacana — explanation: XVII. 109 

palibodha — impediment 



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pavatta, pavatti — (1) occurrence, (2) course 

of an existence (between rebirth-linking 

and death) 
*pavana— draught: XI. 19; XVI.37 
pavicaya — investigation 
paviveka — seclusion 
pasada — sensitivity (of matter) 
pasadana — confidence, clarification 
passaddhi — tranquillity 
pahana — abandoning 
*paheyya — abandonable: XVI. 93 
*patibhoga — agent (not as in PED): 

XVII.174; Pet 215 
panatipata — killing living things 
paduddhara — footstep, lifting of foot 
*papaka — what reaches, causes to reach: 

XIV5, 68 
*papana — reaching XVI. 68 
*papana — denigrating: 1.81 
papicchata — evilness of wishes 
parami, paramita — perfection 
*paravata — pigeon (parapata in PED): XI.7 
*pavara — also a cloth, cloth: VIII. 117 
pindapata — alms 
*pindika— the calf of the leg: VIII.97; XI.l 1; 

cf.piridaatVIII.126 
*pidhanl— lid: XI.24 
pisuna-vaca — malicious speech 
pinana — act of refreshing 
piti — happiness 
puggala — person 
puthujjana — ordinary man (i.e. one who 

has not 
reached the path) 

*pupphaka — balloon, swelling: VIII. 117 
purisa — man, male 
*purisa — World Soul, Purusa: XVII. 8 
peta — ghost 
*pesika — scraper: 1.81 
pharana — pervasion, intentness upon 
pharusa-vaca — harsh speech 
phala — (1) fruit of (plants), (2) fruit of 

cause, (3) fruition (of path; the 4) 
*phalakasata— target: XXII.12 
phassa — contact 

*phasu— convenient: IV1 (D II 99; M 1 10) 
photthabba — tangible datum, t. object 
bala — power (the 5; the 10 of a Perfect 

One) 
bahiddha, bahira — external, externally 



*balatta— dotage: XVI.45 

buddha — enlightened one 

buddhi — (1) enlightenment, (2) intellect, 
discretion, speculation, (3) sensation 

*budha — possessed of wit: IV66 

bojjhanga — enlightenment factor 

bodhi — enlightenment, awakening 

bodhisatta — Bodhisatta, Being Destined 
to Enlightenment 

*byatti — see vyatti 

brahmacariya — life of purity the good life, 
the life divine 

brahma-vihara — divine abiding (the 4) 

bruhana — intensification 

bhagavant — Blessed One 

bhahga — dissolution 

*bhattar— employer: IV121 (cf. M II 123) 

*bhanti — they shine (3rd p. pi. of bhati): 
VII.36 (M I 328) 

bhayat' upatthana — appearance as terror 
(stage in insight) 

bhava — becoming, being, existence 

bhavanga — life-continuum (conscious- 
ness) 

*bhati— brother: XXI.54 

bhava — (1) essence, stateness, (2) sex, (3) 
verbal substantive (gram.) 

bhavana — (1) development (lit. making 
be'), (2) term for the 3 higher paths 

bhava-sadhana — formula of establish- 
ment by substantive (gram.): XVII.12 

bhikkhu — bhikkhu, Buddhist monk 

bhuta — (1) become, been, (2) creature, (3) 
primary element (entity) of matter, etc. 

bhutupada-rupa — matter derived upon 
the (four) primary elements (the 24 
kinds) 

bhumi — (1) ground, soil, (2) plane (of ex- 
istence; the 4) 

*bheda, vaci speech utterance: XIV62 

(cf. Dhs-a 90; M I 301) 

magga — path 

macchariya, macchera — avarice 

majjhatta — neutral, central 

majjhima — middle, medium 

mada — vanity, intoxication 

manasikara — attention, bringing to mind 

mano — mind 

marana — death, dying 

*maru— also cliff: XVII.63 



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mala — stain (the 3) 

mahaggata — exalted (a term for con- 
sciousness "exalted" from the 
"limited" sense-desire sphere to the 
fine-material or immaterial spheres) 

*mahacca — great pomp: X.46 (D I 49) 

maha-bhuta — great primary, great entity 
(the 4) 

maha-vipassana — principal insight (the 18) 

matika — (1) schedule of the Abhidhamma, 
(2) codes of the Patimokkha (the 2), (3) 
schedule, etc. 

mana — conceit (pride) 

maya — deceit 

miccha — wrong 

micchatta — wrongness (the 10) 

middha — torpor 

*milapana — withering, causing to with- 
er: XIV128 

muccitukamyata — desire for deliverance 

muta — sensed (i.e. smelled, tasted or 
touched) 

mudita — gladness (at others' success) 

muduta — malleability 

musa-vada — false speech, lying 

mula — root 

metta — loving-kindness, amity 

*mehana — private parts: VII. 64 

moha — delusion 

yatha-kammupaga-nana — knowledge of 
(beings') faring according to deeds 

yathabhuta — correct 

yuganaddha — coupling, yoking (of seren- 
ity and insight) 

ye-va-panaka — or-whatever (state) (term 
for certain formations) 

yoga — bond (the 4) 

yoni — (1) womb, (2) generation, (3) cause, 
reason 

yoniso — wise, wisely, with ordered rea- 
soning 

rati — delight 

rasa — (1) taste, flavour, (2) nature as func- 
tion or achievement, (3) stimulus (for 
feeling), (4) essential juice, filtrate 

*rasati — to taste: XV3 

*rasayana — elixir. XVII. 236 

raga — greed, lust 

rupa — (1) materiality (aggregate), fine 
materiality of fine-material Brahma- 



world, matter in general, material form, 
(2) visible datum, visible object, visible 
matter, visible form 

rupa-kaya — material body 

rupa-kkhandha — materiality aggregate 

rupupadanakkhandha — materiality ag- 
gregate (as object) of clinging 

rupa-rupa — concrete materiality (term for 
certain derived kinds of materiality) 

*rupayati — to be made visible: XV3 

rupavacara — fine-material sphere 

lakkhana — characteristic 

*laghima — lightness: VII. 61 

lahuta — lightness 

labha — gain 

loka — world 

lokiya — mundane (i.e. not associated with 
the path, fruition or Nibbana) 

lokiya dhamma — worldly state (the 8) 

lokuttara — supramundane (i.e. the 9 states 
consisting of the 4 paths, 4 fruitions and 
Nibbana, and states associated with 
them) 

lobha — greed 

vagguli — fruit bat, flying fox; XXI. 91 

*vacanavayava — member of a syllogism: 
XVII.67 

*vaci-bheda — speech utterance: XIV62 

vaci-sankhara — verbal formation (i.e. vi- 
takka and vicara) 

vatta — round (of kamma, etc.; term for 
the dependent origination as arising) 

vaddhana — extension, increase 

vata — vow, duty, ritual 

vatta — duty 

*vattana — performance of duties: III. 71 
(Vin I 61) 

*vatthika— clothable: VII. 79 

vatthu — (1) basis, physical basis (term for 
the six internal bases), (2) object, (3) 
instance, example, (4) story, etc. 

vaya — (1) fall, (2) stage of life 

vasatthana — defining 

vasa-vattana — exercise of mastery 

*vahanika — catamaran float (?): XVII. 196 

vaca — speech 

vata — air, wind 

*vana — fastening: VIII. 247 

vayama — effort 

vayo — air 



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*vikappa— alternative: XI.89 (cf. M-a 1 67) 

vikampana — shaking, wavering 

vikara — alteration 

vikara-rupa — materiality as alteration 
(term for certain of the 24 kinds of de- 
rived materiality, i.e. impermanence, etc.) 

*vikuppati — to be damaged: XXIII. 35 

vikubbana — (1) versatility (in development 
of divine abidings), (2) transformation (by 
supernormal power) 

vikkhambhana — suppression (of defile- 
ments by serenity) 

vikkhepa — distraction 

*vikkhepa — also spreading out: IV89; ges- 
ture: XI.100 

vicara — sustained thought 

vicikiccha — uncertainty 

*vijambhati — to stretch, yawn: IX. 61 

vijjamana — existing, actual 

vijja — (1) clear-vision (the 3 or the 8), (2) 
science, knowledge 

vinnatti — intimation 

vinnata — cognized 

vinnana — consciousness, cognition 

vinnanatthiti — station of consciousness 
(the 7) 

vitakka — applied thought 

*vitthambhana — also distension: XI. 37, 84 

*vinana — joining together: VIII.247 

vinaya — (1) Vinaya Pitaka or Book of 
Discipline, (2) discipline, removal, lead- 
ing away 

*viniddhunana — shaking off: XVI. 82 

vinipata — perdition 

vinibbhoga — resolution (into elements) 

*vippatipatti — wrong theory: XVI. 85 

viparinama — change 

viparinama-dukkha — suffering due to 
change 

vipariyesa — perverseness (the 4) 

vipallasa — perversion (the 3) 

vipassana — insight (the vision of what is 
formed as impermanent, painful, not- 
self) 

vipassana-yanika — one whose vehicle is 
insight 

vipaka — (kamma-) result 

*vipphandana — also excitement, wrong 
excitement: VI.42; VIII.190 



*vipphara — also intervention: IV89; XII.27; 
XIV132 

vibhava — (1) non-being, non-becoming, 
(2) success 

vimokkha — liberation (the 3 and the 8) 

vimutti — deliverance 

*viyojeti — to separate: VIII. 95 

virati — abstinence (the 3) 

viramana — abstaining 

*viraha — (subst.) absence: IV148 

viraga — fading away (of greed) 

viriya — energy 

vivatta — (1) cessation of the round (of 
kamma, etc.), the dependent origina- 
tion as cessation, (2) turning away, (3) 
expansion (of world after contraction) 

viveka — seclusion 

*visankharoti — to analyze: XX. 68 

visama-hetu — fictitious cause 

visaya — (1) abode, (2) objective field (of 
consciousness) 

*visavita— majesty: XII.49 (Patis I 174; II 
205; Dhs-a 109) 

*visahati — to suffer: 11.38 

*visadana — dejection: XVI. 59 

*visesa — distinction 

vihara — (1) dwelling place, abode, (2) 
monastery, (3) mode of abiding 

*vihatamana — being carded: XXI. 66 

vihimsa — cruelty 

*vltiharana — also shifting sideways: XI. 115 

vithi — (1) street, (2) cognitive series (of 
consciousness) 

vithi-citta — a consciousness of the cog- 
nitive series 

vimamsa — enquiry 

vutthana — emergence 

vutthanagamini-vipassana — insight lead- 
ing to emergence (of the path) 

veda — (1) wisdom, (2) joy, inspiration, (3) 
the Vedas 

vedana — feeling (i.e. of pleasure, pain, or 
neither) 

vedaka — experiencer, one who feels 

vedayita — feeling what is felt 

veramani — abstention 

vokara — constituent 

votthapana — determining (conscious- 
ness) 



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Pali-English Glossary 



vodana — cleansing (term for conscious- 
ness preceding absorption or path) 

vohara — conventional usage, common 
speech 

*vyatti — particular distinction: VIII. 72 
(M-a I 6) 

*vyappita — also gone away: IV.146 (Vibh 
258) 

vyapada — ill will 

*vyapara — also interest, interestedness: 
XVII.309; XVIII.31 

samyoga — bondage 

samyojana — fetter (the 10) 

samvatta — contraction (of world) 

*samvannita — also in detail: XIII. 14 

samvara — restraint 

samvega — sense of urgency 

*samvedanika — which feels: XIV.213 

samsara — round of rebirths 

sakadagamin — once-returner (term for 
2nd stage of realization) 

*sakalika — also scale (of fish): VIII. 91 

sakkara — sugar (spelled sakkhara in 
PED) 

sakkaya — individuality 

sakkaya-ditthi — false view of individual- 
ity (the 20 kinds) 

sagga — heaven 

sankanti — transmigration 

sahkappa — thinking 

sarikamana — transmigrating 

*sarikara — confounding, confusing: 
XIV58; epil. verses (see CPD asarikara) 

sankilesa — defilement, corruption 

*sanku-patha — also a path set on piles: 
IX.36 

sarikhata — formed 

sankhara — formation, formed thing 

sarikhara-dukkha — suffering due to 
formations 

sankhara-pariccheda — delimiting of 
formations 

sarikharupekkha — equanimity about 
formations 

sangati — coincidence, chance 

*sarigaha — also holding together: XI. 93 

*sarigahita — also held together: XI.90 

saiigha — the Order, the Community 

sanghattana — knocking together, 
impingement 



sacca — truth 

saccanulomika-nana — knowledge in con- 
formity with truth 
*sacchika — based on realization: VII. 55 

(Patis 1 174) 
sacchikiriya — realization 
*sanna — restrained: 1.158 
sanna — (1) perception, (2) sign, signal, 

label 
sannavedayitanirodha — cessation of per- 
ception and feeling 
santhana — (1) shape 
*santhana — also (2) settling down, station- 

ariness: III. 22; VIII. 69, (3) co-presence: 

XVII.76 
sati — mindfulness 
satta — a being, a living being 
*satta — Bright Principle, Sattva: IX.53 
satta-sanna — (1) perception of a living 

being, (2) the seven perceptions (first 

of the 18 principal insights) 
*sattavasa — abode of beings (the 9) 
sadda — (1) sound, (2) word, (3) grammar 
sadda-lakkhana — etymology 
saddha — faith 

saddha-vimutta — one liberated by faith 
saddhanusarin — faith devotee 
*saddheyya — inspiring faith: VII. 72 
sa-nidassana — visible 
santati — continuity 
santati-sisa — organic continuity 
santana — continuity 
santi-pada — state of peace (term for 

Nibbana) 
santirana — investigation (consciousness) 
*sandharana — also upholding: XIV44 
*sannikkhepana — also putting down: 

XX.62 
*sannittheyya — fit to be convinced about: 

XIV 151 
sannipata — concurrence 
*sannirujjhana — also fixing down: IV91; 

XII.51; XX.62 
*sannissaya — waiting on, dependence: 

XIV29 
*sappati — to be emitted (pass, of sapati, 

to swear): XV3 
*sabbhava — (presence): 1.141; 11.21; 

XIV98; XVI.73 
sabhava — individual essence 



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*sabhava— with sex: XVII.150 
*sabhava — Nature, Svabhava: XVI. 85 
samatha — serenity (term for jhana) 
samatha-yanika — one whose vehicle is 

serenity 
samaya — period, event, occasion, etc. 
*samabbhahata — also stretched flat: IV129 
*samabbhahata — also impelled: XI.92 
samavaya — inherence 
*samaveta — inherent: XVI.91 
samadhi — concentration 
samapatti — attainment (the 9) 
*samahata — also brought in: IV190 
samuccheda — cutting off (of defilements 

by the path) 
samutthana — origination (4 kinds), 

moulding 
*samutthapaya — rousable: IV51 
samudaya — origin 
samudirana — moving 
sampajanna — full awareness 
sampaticchana — receiving (conscious- 
ness) 
*sampatipadana — keeping on the track: 

VI.59 
*sampatta-visaya — having a contiguous 

objective field (i.e. smell, taste and 

touch) 
*sampasadayati — to make confident: 

IV142 
*sampindana — also conjunction (gram.): 

IV154 
samphappalapa — gossip, idle chatter 
sambojjhaiiga — enlightenment factor 

(the 7) 
*sambhaveti — also to judge: IX. 109 
*sambhoga — also exploiting: XIV.128; 

XVII.51 
sammatta — rightness (the 10) 
sammappadhana — right endeavour (the 4) 
samma — right 
samma-sambuddha — fully enlightened 

one 
sammuti — convention, conventional 
sammuti-sacca — conventional truth (e.g. 

kasina concept) 
*sammussana — forgetting: XVI. 82 
sammosa — forgetfulness 
sammoha — delusion 
*sarupena — also in its own form: XVI. 70 



salakkhana — specific characteristic (e.g. 
hardness of earth) 

sallakkhana — observation 

sallekha — effacement 

salayatana — sixfold base (for contact) 

savana — hearing 

savana — flowing 

*savana — exudation: XVII. 56 

sa-sankhara — prompted 

sa-sambhara-katha — "accessory locu- 
tion" (log.) 

sassata — eternal 

sassata-ditthi — eternity view 

*sahatthana — co-presence: XIII. 116 

satheyya — fraud 

*sadhika — accomplishing: IV105 

sadharana — common to, shared with 

samanna-phala — fruit of asceticism 

samanna-lakkhana — general characteris- 
tic (of what is formed, i.e. the 3 
beginning with impermanence) 

sara — core 

savaka — disciple, hearer 

sasana — dispensation 

sikkha — training 

sikkhapada — training precept 

*singa — also foppery: III. 95 (Vibh 351) 

*sittha — prepared: XVI.4 

*sippika— bag (?): XI.68 

*silesa — cement: XI.51 

*slta (?) — measure of area: XII. 41 

*slma — chapter house: IX. 66 

sila — (1) virtue, (2) habit, (3) rite 

silabbata — rules and vows (Nanamoli's 
original translation was "rites and ritu- 
als," but was changed in accordance 
with his later translation of this term. ) 

*sllaka — good-tempered: III. 84 

*sllana — composing: 1.19 

sukkha-vipassaka — bare- (or dry-) in- 
sight worker (one who attains the path 
without previously having attained jha- 
na) 

sukha — pleasure, pleasant, bliss, blissful, 
bodily pleasure 

*sukha — tepid: X.52 

*sukhana — act of pleasing: IV100 

sugata — Sublime One (the Buddha) 

sunna, sunnata — void 

sunnata — voidness 



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suta — heard sotapanna — stream enterer (1st stage of 

*suttaka — intestinal worm: VIII. 121 realization) 

subha — beautiful, beauty somanassa — joy, mental pleasure 

*surabhi— perfume: III.100; VI.90; X.60 hadaya— heart 

*sucayati — to betray, reveal: XV3 hadaya-vatthu — heart-basis (physical 

*sudana — cleansing: XI.125 basis of mind) 

sekha — trainer (term for one possess- hiri — conscience 

ing one of the four paths or first three hina — (1) abandoned, (2) inferior 

fruitions, so with training still to do) hetu — root-cause, cause 

soka — sorrow *hetu — also middle term (in syllogism; 

log.): XVII.67 



787 



Table I: The Materiality Aggregate 1 



Four Primary Elements or Great Entities (maha-bhuta) 

* Earth (pathavi — solidity, hardness) 1 Together = 1 

* Fire (tejo — heat, maturing) > tangible- / 

* Air (vayo — distension and motion) J datum J 

** Water (apo — liquidity, cohesion) cognized (vinnata) 



sensed (muta) 



Twenty-four Kinds of Derived Materiality (upada-rupa) * 



Eye-sensitivity of matter 
Ear- 



Nose- 
Tongue-' 
Body- ' 

Visible-datum 

Sound 

8 Odour 

9 Flavour 

(*) 

10 Feminity 

1 1 Masculinity 

Life 

Heart-basis 

Bodily intimation .... 
Verbal intimation .... 
Space element 

n 

Lightness of matter . . 
Malleability of matter 
Wieldiness of matter . 
Growth of matter .... 
Continuity of matter . 
Ageing of matter 



Sensed (muta) 



Seen (dittha) through eye 
Heard (suta) through ear 



12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 



Impermanence of matter. 
Physical food 



Sensed (muta) through nose, tongue, & body 



cognized (vinnata) through mind 



1 . (Ch. XIV, §34f., showing the divisions of materiality and certain of its classifications) 

2. Note: Listed in this way the total is 28. But in other lists (e.g. at M-a II 261) the three primaries, earth, 
fire, and air, are included together at (*) as the tangible-datum, while water is included separately at (**). 
The total is then 26 (see e.g. also Dhs 653, etc.). This is consequent upon the definition of three elements 
as apprehendable through sensing by touch (body-sensitivity) and the water (cohesion) element as appre- 
hendable only by cognizing with the mind. 

All except the four primary elements are 'derived' (upada). Nos. 1-5 and 10-12 always, and the others 
with the four primaries when kamma born, are 'clung-to' ( upadinna) (see Dhs. 596, 653). 



788 






Table II: The Formations Aggregate 1 



The fifty kinds of formations associated with consciousness (adapted from Nyanatiloka 
Mahathera's Buddhist Dictionary) 



General 

Five Primary: invariably present in any con- 
sciousness. 

(i) Contact 
(ii) Volition 
(vii) Life 

(viii) Concentration 
(xxx) Attention 
Six Secondary: sometimes present in any con- 
sciousness. 

(iii) Applied-thought 
(iv) Sustained-thought 
(xxix) Resolution 
(vi) Energy 
(v) Happiness 
(xxviii) Zeal 

Beautiful 3 

Nineteen Primary: invariably present in any 
beautiful consciousness 



(ix 

(x 

(xi 

(xii 

(xiii 

(xiv 

(xxxi 

(xvi 

(xvii 

(xviii 

(xix 

(xx 

(xxi 

(xxii 

(xxiii 

(xxiv 

(xxv 



Faith 

Mindfulness 

Conscience 

Shame 

Non-greed 

Non-hate 

Specific-neutrality 

Tranquillity of mental body 

Tranquillity of consciousness 

Lightness of mental body 

Lightness of consciousness 

Malleability of mental body 

Malleability of consciousness 

Wieldiness of mental body 

Wieldiness of consciousness 

Proficiency of mental body 

Proficiency of consciousness 



(xxvi) Rectitude of mental body 
(xxvii) Rectitude of consciousness. 
Six Secondary: sometimes present in beautiful 
consciousness, 
(xxxiv) Abstinence from bodily misconduct 
(xxxv) Abstinence from verbal misconduct 
(xxxvi) Abst. fr. wrong livelihood 
(xxxii) Compassion 
(xxxiii) Gladness 
(xv) Non-delusion 
Unprofitable 

Four Primary: invariably present in any 
unprofitable consciousness. 

(xl) Delusion 
(xxxvii) Consciencelessness 
(xxxviii) Shamelessness 

(xlii) Agitation 
Ten Secondary: sometimes present in unprof- 
itable consciousness 
(xiv) Hate 
(xlvi) Envy 
(xlvii) Avarice 
(xlviii) Worry 
(xxxix) Greed 

(xli) Wrong view 
(xliv) Conceit (pride) 
*(xliii) Stiffness 
*(xliii) Torpor 

(1) Uncertainty 



1. (Ch. XIV, §13 Iff.) 

2. The Roman numbering from (i) to (1) corresponds to that given in Ch. XIV. The total is 50. However 
(viii) concentration and (xlix) steadiness-of-consciousness are simply different grades of the same thing, 
consequently (xlix) steadiness-of-consciousness is not included in the list above. On the other hand (xliii) 
stiffness-and-torpor are treated as two separate formations and are therefore included above separately. 
Thus the total remains 50. The '52 concomitants of consciousness' (cetasika) sometimes mentioned are 
the 50 above plus feeling and perception. 

3. Beautiful (sobhana) consciousness includes all profitable consciousness, resultant consciousness with 
root-cause, and functional consciousness with root-cause. (Table III (1)-(21), (42)-(49), (57)-(69), (73)- 
(89).) 



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Table III: Consciousness Aggregate 1 







I. Profitable 


II. Unprofitable 




' 


(1) 


Accompanied by joy, associated 




(a) ROOTED IN GREED 






with knowledge, unprompted. 


(22) 


Acc. by. joy, ass. w. views, unprompted 






(2) 


Do., do., prompted. 


(23) 


Do., do., prompted 




at 


(3) 


Do., dissociated fm. kn., 


(24) 


Do., dissoc. fm. views, unprompted. 




h 
at 


(4) 


Do., do., prompted. 


(25) 


Do., do., prompted. 




Oh 


(5) 


Ace. by equanimity, ass. w kn., 


(26) 


Acc. by equanimity, ass. w. views 




t/1 




unprompted. 


(27) 


Do., do., prompted 




at 

M 


(6) 


Do., do., prompted. 


(28) 


Do., dissoc. fm. views, unprompted. 




"as 

at 


(7) 


Do., dissoc. fm. kn., 


(29) 


Do. da, prompted. 




D 




unprompted. 




(b) ROOTED IN HATE 




"i3 


(8) 


Do., do., prompted. 


(30) 


Acc. by grief, ass. w resentment, 




s 




(IMP. Attainment) 




unprompted. 




s 






(31) 


Do., do., prompted. 










(c) ROOTED IN DELUSION 




<! 






(32) 
(33) 


Ace. by equan., ass. w. unc:- . 
Do., do., ass. w. agitation. (IMP.) 


3 , 
ft 














(9) 


1st jhana. 








ai n a> 


(10) 


2nd 








.S'C £ 


(11) 


3rd 










(11) 


4th 








"§<* 


(11) 


5th 

(IMP. Attainment) 








at 


(14) 


Boundless space. 








■^ s 


(15) 


Boundless consciousness. 








S«3 


(16) 


Nothingness. 








(17) 


Neither-perception-nor-non- 








u« 




perception. 








'" 




(IMP. Attainment) 








■ 0) 


(18) 


Path moment — Stream entry. 








I ft 


(19) 


Once-return. 








(20) 


Non-return. 








y ui g 


(21) 


Arahantship (imp. 








dS 




Attainment) 










Total 21 kinds 


Total 12 kinds 



(Ch. XIV.81ff. — see Guide to the Abhidhamma Pitaka by Nyanatiloka Mahathera.) 

(a) Rebirth-linking (= R.): (41)-(49), (56)-(65), 19 kinds. 

(b) Life-continuum (= L.): same nineteen kinds. 

(c) Adverting (= A.): (70)-(71), 2 kinds. 

(d)-(h) Seeing, etc.: 5 profitable-, & unprofitable-result, ten kinds. 

(i) Receiving (= REC): (39) and (55). two kinds. 

(j) Investigating (= INV.): (40, (41) and (56), three kinds. 

(k) Determining (= DET.): (71), one kind. 

(1) Impulsion (=imp): (l)-(33), (66)-(69) and (72)-(89), fifty-five kinds. 

(m) Registration (=REG.): (40)-(49) and (56), eleven kinds. 

(n) Death (=D.): the same nineteen kinds as (a) and (b). 



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Table III: Consciousness Aggregate (Cont.) 



III. Indeterminate 


1. Resuitant 


2. Functional 


(a) PROFITABLE RESULT 

1. Without Root-Cause 

(34) - (38) Eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- 
consciousness, pleasant. (SEEING, etc.) 

(39) Mind-element. (REC.) 

(40) Mind-consciousness-element ace. by joy. 
(INV. REG.) 

(41) Mind-consciousness-element ace. by 

equan. (INV. REG. R L. D.) 

2. With Root-Cause. 

(42) - (49) =(1) - (8) (REG. R L. D.) 

(b) UNPROFITABLE RESULT 
Without Root-Cause Only 

(50) - (54) Eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- 
consciousness, painful. (SEEING, etc.) 

(55) Mind-element. (REC.) 

(56) Mind-consciousness-element. 

(INV. REG. R L. D.) 


1. Without Root-Cause 

(70) Mind-element (5-DOOR A.) 

(71) Mind-consciousness-element ace. by 
equan. (5-DOOR DET. MIND-DOOR A.) 

(72) Mind-consciousness-element ace. by joy 
(IMP.) 

2. With Root-Cause 

(73) - (80) = (1)- (8) (IMP.) 


(57) 

(58) 

(59) = (9) - (13) 

(60) 

(61) 

(R L. D. Existence) 


(81) 

(82) 

(83) = (9) -(13) 

(84) 

(85) 

(IMP.) 


(62) 

(63) 

(64) =(14) -(17) 

(65) 

(R L. D. Existence) 


(86) 

(87) 

(88) = (14) -(17) 

(89) 

(IMP.) 


(66) Fruition moment — Stream entry 

(67) Once-return. 

(68) Non-return. 

(69) Arahantship. (IMP.) 




Total 36 kinds 


Total 20 kinds 



Consciousness-element: (34)-(38) and (50)-(54), ten kinds. 
Mind-element: (39), (55), (70), three kinds. 
Mind-consciousness-element: all the rest, seventy-six kinds. 



791 






Table IV: The Combination of the Formations Aggregate and 
Consciousness Aggregate 1 

Profitable 

(l)-(2) 5 primary plus 6 secondary GENERAL, plus 19 primary plus 6 secondary BEAUTI- 
FUL =total 36 

(3)-(4) 5 prim. + 6 sec. GEN., + 19 prim. + 5 sec. (without non-delusion) BTFL. = 35 

(5)-(6) 5 p. + 5 s. (without happiness) GEN., + 19 p. + 6 s. BTFL. = 35 

(7)-(8) 5 p. + 5 s. (without happiness) GEN., + 19 p. + 5 s. (wt. non-delusion) BT'FL. = 34 

(9) 5 p. + 6 s. GEN., + 19 p. + 3 s. (wt. 3 abstinences) BTFL. = 33 

(10) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. applied-thought) GEN., + 19 p. + 3 s. (wt. 3 abstinences) BTFL. = 32 

(11) 5 p. + 4 s. (wt. applied-thought & sustained-thought) GEN., + 19 p. + 3 s. (wt. 3 absti- 
nences) BTFL. = 31 

(12) 5 p. + 3 s. (wt. applied-thought, sustained-thought & happiness) GEN., + 19 p. + 3 s. 

(wt. 3 abstinences) BTFL. = 30 
(13) — (17) ... 5 p. + 3 s. (wt. appl.-th., sust.-th., & hap.) GEN., + 19 p. + 1 s. (wt. 3 abst., compassion 

& gladness) BTFL. = 28 
(18) — (21) . . . Any =(9)~(13) 3 abstinences present; compassion, gladness absent. 

Unprofitable 

(22) 5 p. + 6 s. GEN., + 4 p. + 2 s. (greed & wrong-view) UNPROF. = 17 

(23) 5 p. + 6 s. GEN., + 4 p. + 4 s. (greed, wrong-view & sometimes stiffness & torpor) 

UNPROF. = 19 

(24) 5 p. + 6 s. GEN., + 4 p. + 2 s. (greed & sometimes conceit) UNPROF. = 17 

(25) 5 p. + 6 s. GEN.,+ 4 p. + 4 s. (greed & sometimes stiffness & torpor & conceit) UNPROF. 

= 19 

(26) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. happiness) GEN., + 4 p. + 2 s. (greed & wrong-view) UNPROF. = 16 

(27) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. happiness) GEN., + 4 p. + 4 s. (greed & wrong-view & sometimes stiff- 
ness & torpor) UNPROF. = 18 
(28) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. happiness) GEN., + 4 p. + 2 s. (greed & sometimes conceit ) UN- 

PROE=16 
(29) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. happiness) GEN., + 4 p. + 4 s. (greed & stiffness & torpor & conceit) 

UNPROF. = 18 
(30) 5 p. + 5 s. (wt. happiness, GEN., + 4 p. + 4 s. (hate & envy & avarice & worry) UNPROF. 

= 18 

(31) 5 As (30) + 2 s. (sometimes stiffness & torpor) UNPROF. = 20 

(32) 5 p. + 3 s. (wt. happiness, resolution & zeal-concentration weak) GEN., + 4 p. + 1 s. 

(uncertainty) UNPROF. = 13 
(33) As (32) but + 1 s. GEN. (resolution-concentration strong) & without s. (uncertainty) 

UNPROF. = 13 

Indeterminate 

(a) Resultant 

(34)-(38) .... 5 primary GENERAL (concentration weak) = 5 
(50H54) 

(39)-(41) 5 p. + 3 s. (appl.-th., sus.-th. & resolution) GEN. = 8 

(55)-(56) 

(40) 5 p. + 4 s. (appl.-th., susAh., res. & hap.) GEN. = 9 

(42)-(49) .... As (l)-(8) wt. 3 abst. & wt. compassion & gladness 

(57)-(69) . . . . As(9)-(21) 

(b) Functional 
(70) As (39) = 8 

(71) 5 p. + 4 s. (as in (40) + energy) GEN. = 10 

(72) 5 p. + 4 s. (as in (41) + energy) GEN. = 9 

(73)-(80) .... As (l)-(8) wt. 3 abst. 

(81)-(89) .... As (9)-(17) 



See Ch. XIV. (Adapted from Nyanatiloka Mahathera's Buddhist Dictionary.) 



792 






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Table V: The Cognitive Series in the Occurrence of Consciousness (citta-vithi) as Presented in the Visuddhimagga and 
Commentaries 



No. in 
Cog. 
Series 


Mind 
conscious- 
ness el. 


Mind-el. 


Conscious- 
ness el. 


Accompanied by 


No. of con- 
sciousness in 
Table HI 


Five-Door Series 


Mind-Door Series 


1 

2 
3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 
11 
12 
13 
14 

15 
16 

17 


Resultant 
Resultant 








One of the 19 
kinds 

(70) 

(34)-(38) 
(50)-(54) 

(39)-(55) 

(40)-(41) 
(56) 


Life-continuum 
L.-c. disturbed: occurs 2nd 
time differently 


Life-continuum 
L.-c. disturbed: occurs 
2nd time differently 




Functional 




Equanimity 


5-door adverting 

Seeing, hearing, smelling, 
tasting, touching 

Receiving 
Investigation 








Resultant 


Joy (pleasure) or grief (pain) 1 




Resultant 




Equanimity 


Resultant 






Joy or equanimity or grief 


Functional 






Equanimity 


(71) 


Determining 


Mind-door adverting 


1. Kamma 

2. Result or 
Funct. only 

3. Funct. 

Arahants 






1. Joy or equanimity or grief 

2. Joy or equanimity 

3. Joy or equanimity 


One of the 

fifty-five 

kinds 


Impulsion 


Impulsion 


Resultant 






Joy or equanimity 


(40)-(49) 
(56) 


Registration 
(sense sphere only) 


Registration 
(sense sphere only) 


Resultant 








As above 


Life-continuum 


Life-continuum 



1 . Mental joy in (34)-(37) and bodily pleasure in (38) ; mental grief in (50)-(53) and bodily pain in (54). 

2. The 1st impulsion (as kamma) gives result (kamma-result) in this same life. The 7th gives result in the immediately next life, including rebirth-linking 
consciousness. The 2nd-6th give result in lives subsequent to that. Each in the series possesses arising, presence & dissolution. One material moment = 16 
conscious moments in duration, its presence being that much longer. 






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Table VI: Dependent Origination (paticca-samuppada) 1 

Showing conditionality as extending over three lives (from Nyanatiloka 
Mahathera's Buddhist Dictionary). 

For other applications (e.g., as aplicable to a single conscious moment) see 
Ch. XVII note 48. 



Past 


1. Ignorance 

2. Formations 


Kamma-process becoming: 
five causes, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. 


Present 


3. Consciousness 

4. Mentality-materiality 

5. Sixfold-base 

6. Contact 

7. Feeling 


Rebirth-process becoming: 
five results, 3-7. 


8. Craving 

9. Clinging 
10. Becoming 


Kamma-process becoming: 
five causes, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10. 


Future 


11. Birth (as rebirth) 

12. Ageing-and-death 


Rebirth-process becoming: 
five results, 3-7. 



Ch. XVII.296ff. 



794 









Buddhism/ Meditation 



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The Visuddhimagga 



The Visuddhimagga is the "great treatise" of fheravada 
Buddhism, an encyclopaedic manual of Buddhist doctrine 
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Buddhist commentator, Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa. The 
author's intention in composing this book is to organize 
the various teachings of the Buddha, found throughout the 
Pali Canon, into a clear diid comprehensive path leading 
lo the final Buddhist goal, Nibbaiia, the stale of complete 
purification, In the course of his treatise Buddhaghosa 
gives hill and detailed instructions on the fortv subjects of 
meditation aimed at concentration, an elaborate account 
of the Buddhist Abhidhamma philosophy, and detailed 
descriptions of the stages of insight culminating in final 
liberation* 

"The present translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli ranks asan 
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